I have almost finished assembling my first real piece of furniture. A mission style bed. I have definately learned alot, especially not to use quite as much glue - and to have things dry where the glue won't run. So.. how do I clean up glue drips, especially in tight places? Thanks.
Stacey
Removing the glue before it sets is sometimes easier. A wet rag or sponge works. Excess glue in the grain of the wood interferes with finishing.
Once it dries, use a flat chisel, corner chisel, or razor blade to cut it off. A bladed paint scraper can be used in some places. Sanding will not work.
Next time, consider the use of blue painters tape to limit where the squeeze-out is able to adhere.
FWIW,
Greg G.
Good advice. Especially on glue-ups like boxes and such, I take a little extra time to tape off the spots that will be tought to reach later on.
Also, if you let the squeezeout set up for 15-20 minutes (depending on temp), you can use a plastic tab (like the kind that used to come on breadbags) to peel off the excess glue.
I never almost use a wet sponge or rag, as I feel it forces the glue deeper into the pores of the wood and will interfere with finishing.
Chuck Vance
Good advice as well. When it does happen to me, I use a fresh wet rag, and have to scrub the bejesus out of it to get it out of the grain - turning the rag often to present a clean surface. This also results in grain raising. The subsequent sanding usually removes the residual glue - but not always, as there can be a slight lightening of the dye or stain in that area. But it sure beats a huge yellow spot! I have learned to eliminate the problem as best as possible with tape.
FWIW,
Greg G.
Use a scraper, or a piece of sand paper wrapped around a small block of wood.
I generally inspect the whole glue up after clamping to look for runs. For me I always use a water soaked paper towel to thoroughly wipe the glue off and turning frequently.
I tried those bread tabs, too small for my clumsy mitts.
I get a couple of credit card offers a week, and they usually have a fake card stuck to the flyer. They make _great_ glue scrapers. Really excellent when scraping not-quite-hardened glue off of table tops, as they're much less prone to tearring out the underlying wood fibers than steel scrapers are.
If you travel, you get a free future glue scraper every time they give you a card-type room key. ;>
Michael Baglio
And they make great glue spreaders too...
TWS
"Stacey" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
What glue you use seems to make a bigger difference than one might expect. Since Mission furniture uses a lot of mortise and tenon joints, getting the glue process right has a big influence on how well you succeed. And on how much pressure the worker is under.
I found this Titebond Molding and Trim Glue product at my local, full- service hardware store:
There are certainly drawbacks, I'm sure, but for fussy glueups, where the joinery provides sufficient strength, I like it.
My guess is that products offered by Lee Valley and Garrett-Wade have similar working characteristics, although I haven't tried them.
On a related note: Mission style often implies oak. Oak doesn't like having glue smeared, wiped, scrubbed or even pried off of the surface. Red oak, with its open grain structure, is even less tolerant of such processes. All the more reason to practice a little ahead of time, so as not to hurt your main project.
Now, go have some fun with your project!
Patriarch
On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 08:01:51 -0500, Conan the Librarian calmly ranted:
I find that the new masking tape (double the price of the old, thinner, much smoother) works as well as the totally overpriced blue painter's tape, but I don't leave it on there for very long.
Plastic tab, chisel, cabinet scraper, etc. Whatever fits.
Nahm's got Strings on that one.
I find the best way for me is to slice the dried glue bead off a sharp flush trim chisel and then a sharp cabinet scraper or chisel to tidy up. Paint scrapers tend to chew things up too much and water will spreads the glue around and leaves residue below the wood surface. Most times a faint glue stain won't affect things or be notice but for the furniture I make I won't take the risk. Painters blue or green masking tape can go along way to reduce the amount of squeeze out you have to clean up later, don't use regular white masking tape - you'll wished you haden't.
Chisel and scraper sounds like your only option. Remember, just paring flush can still leave glue ghosts, so make sure you scrape and/or sand what you can't see, too.
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