Gluing up pieces of project AFTER finishing

I made a sort of cubbyhole unit to mount over my desk. It's a long box about 5' x 1' x 1' with two vertical dividers splitting it into three sections. For reasons that no longer seem so smart, the main box is made of some sort of hardwood plywood (I was told it was oak but I'm pretty sure it isn't) and the face frame is made of 1 x 2 oak. All of it is stained a dark red/cordovan (to match other furniture in the room).

I have chosen to finish the face frame with Minwax Tung Oil finish (3 coats, steel wool in-between) and then wax. The "box" will just have two coats of satin poly for ease and durability. There will be all sorts of stuff in this unit (bills, books, fax machine) so the inside won't be that visible.

I decided that it would be easier to do the two different finishing methods before the face frame is glued to the box. But it has now occurred to me, after two coats of the Minwax product, that I will have to clamp the "finished" face frame on while gluing.

My plan is to put on the last coat of Tung Oil Finish on and let it dry for at least a day, then glue and clamp it WITHOUT steel-wooling. Once the clamps come off I'll steel wool the face frame and wax it. I'm hoping that any marks left by the clamping will be erased by the steel wool. If that fails, I guess I could sand it little more agressively and then put on another coat of the Tung Oil Finish.

I'm wondering if there's anything I should put between the pipe clamp jaws and the finished wood besides the usual wood blocks. Do you think the wood blocks might stick to the finish? Any other tips?

Greg Guarino

Reply to
Greg Guarino
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Cork works well and can be bought in sheets at many fabric and hobby stores.

Reply to
Swingman

"Greg Guarino" Snip

As swingman said, use cork on a wood block but I would add to cover the cork with clear packing tape or waxed paper. Sometimes the cork will stick to a fresh finish. Don't over tighten the clamps and when using PVA glues its not necessary to leave the clamps on more that a few hours.

Dave

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Reply to
Teamcasa

OK. I think I get it: Cork for no hard edges, like a wood block would have, something non-sticky and non-porous over it. But what about my idea of leaving the final steel wool step and the wax for AFTER I take the clamps off? Does this make any sense?

What is PVA glue? I've been using Titebond Wood Glue.

Thanks in advance.

Greg

Reply to
Greg Guarino

Greg Guarino wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Synthetic steel wool (the white 3M pad) and wax AFTER is just fine. Probably better if you wait a week, but hey, it needs to cure, not just dry.

Titebond is a PVA. Poly Vinyl Acytate (sp?), I think. Carpenters' glue.

You're welcome.

Patriarch (& others)

Reply to
Patriarch

I've gotten into the habit of putting a "protection" coat of poly on pieces before gluing them together (er, mill wood, poly, then cut mortises and tenons) so that I don't have to worry about glue ruining the finish later. However, I only do one or two thinned coats, and re-sand and re-finish after gluing.

I've also been finishing drawer bottoms and door panels before installing them, so I don't get unfinished lines around the edges when the panels shrink later.

Reply to
DJ Delorie

Pony sells some slip-on pipe clamp covers that are made of a sort of soft plastic and work pretty well.

Reply to
Prometheus

Most of what Titebond offers is PVA however Titebond also sells Polyurethane glue which is not PVA.

Reply to
Leon

"Leon" wrote in news:E9gfg.43396$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com:

And that stuff worked for me, too, on certain projects. Not all.

Threw the bottle out after it crytalized, although that took a couple of years past its expected stale date.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

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