Glue on wood during glue-up!!!

[heyscott3214]

I'm beginning glue-up of some bookshelves prior to finishing. I am concerned that I will get wood glue on portions of the wood that should show, and that they will therefore not take stain.

What precautions can I take against having this happen? What can I do when it does happen? Obviously, I'll be ready with a rag to wipe off any glue that does drip onto my surfaces, what else can be done? If I don't notice a drip right away, is there anything to be done besides sanding it off? And does that even work, or will the glue have seeped into the wood too far? (By the way, I'm using red oak here.)

Thanks,

Scott

[David]

put blue tape next to all joints and be sure to securely press the edge of the tape down, adjacent to the glued joint. That beats starving the joint for glue because one is afraid of having too much squeeze out. wiping down excess glue with a wet rag doesn't work all that well. you'll still get glue in the pores, interfering with finishing.

Dave

[FriscoSoxFan]

Definitely use the blue tape as mentioned....

However, a couple of weeks ago I tried the new Elmer's stainable wood glue. According to the package, it uses sawdust or real wood as one of the ingredients to help absorb stain. I was building a whole bunch of "pot drawers" to go inside our kitchen base cabinets. Since these would not be visible and be filled with pots, I wasn't too concerned with

100% perfect finishing, so I skipped the tape and just sponged off excess with a damp rag during glue-up. The stain finish came out amazingly better than when I used to use just yellow glue. This was on red oak ply.

[Leif Thorvaldson]

What's this blue tape you are talking about??

Leif

[David]

3M's Painter's Tape

Dave

[Leif Thorvaldson]

Thanks!

Leif

[dadiOH]

Stain/finish areas that won't be glued before gluing _________________

If it's dripping you are using too much glue. If you are worrying about minor squeeze out at the joint - small droplets - let it dry and cut/scrape off with a chisel.

Alternatively, you could scrape it off while wet...I sometimes use a beveled piece of hardwood shaped like a chisel blade to do so; I then use a damp paper towel over my scraper and scrape again; finally, a dry paper towel over the scraper. But this is only it I was sloppy and got

*lots* of squeeze out; I prefer letting it dry and cutting/scraping it off.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[LP]

I typically use aniline dye so just prior to glue up I color all the areas in/near the joints where glue might smear. Once the glue is dry any squeeze out can be scraped/sanded off and the wood is still colored underneath. Then you can do your final sanding and stain the whole piece and any glue near the joints will all but disappear.

With the dye this only takes a few minutes of prep prior to glue up, but if you're using oil-based stains you'll have to wait out its normal drying time before gluing. And no, it wont interfere with your glue joint.

[heyscott3214]

Okay.... Why use aniline dye? Why not just touch the areas around the joint with the stain I'm planning on using anyway? Does the aniline give some advantage here?

[LP]

Sorry I guess I wasnt too clear on that point. I mentioned aniline because its what I use almost exclusively and thats the method I outlined. If you plan to use some other type stain on your project then by all means use it to touch up the joints prior to glue up.

Once your glue dries and you do a little sanding on the joints they look pretty nasty but forge ahead and once you get your stain/topcoat on it will look just fine.

[Brooks Moses]

It's a high-quality masking tape that's designed to not leave adhesive residue behind even if it's left on for a day or two.

- Brooks

[Eric Berning]

Just noticed a new product in the recent Wood. Called De-Glue Goo. They seemed to like it. Never tried it myself. Eric

[Ivan]

Mask where you don't want glue with painters tape.