Glue Squeeze-out

[BrianBDH]

I have had more than one project marred by getting glue in the grain and sealing it against the future stain. In the past I have employed the "Norm Abrams technique" of wiping sqeeze-out immediately with a very wet sponge.

I would sure like to hear from you more experienced folks about how best to handle squeeze-out without ruining my projects.

Thanks in advance.

Brian

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Let the glue dry to a rubbery state, then remove it w/ a sharp chisel, knife, or something like that. Rubbing it w/ a wet sponge or rag just smears it into the pores / grain of the wood and it acts like a sealer. Norm usually uses a stain / sealer all-in-one product (e.g. Minwax), which tends to lay on the surface rather than penetrate into the wood. That's probably why he never noticed the problem.

It was interesting that on the very first episode of Rough Cut w/ Tommy Mac he pointed out that you should never use a wet sponge or rag to clean up glue squeeze out.

Bill

 

[Canuck]

I too have tried his method with pretty limited success (wet sponge technique).

I now wait about 30 minutes, until the squeeze-out skins over and just use a putty knife and it comes right off. (If the clamps are in the way, I just loosen the clamp to get it out of the way and re-clamp when I have removed any squeeze-out.)

Another effective way I have found is to just mask the joint with some blue painters tape and remove it in about 30 minutes.

Squeeze out can be a pain if it hardens. (Break out a card scraper if it is too hard:BangHead:!)

Wayne

 

[Bob Carreiro]

So would I, Brian.
As careful as I am, I still get some squeeze-out! Sometimes with clamp placement and access to sites, makes wiping difficult and causes undetected smears that dry out and seal the pores.
Now, I carefully apply glue to begin with, and allow the glue to harden in areas where I don't have sufficient access, then simply remove it when hardened.
I still haven't mastered the art, but I'm getting better at it. I look forward to reading other responses.
Bob

 

[Mike Davis]

I usually have to do something else while it dries, so i use a card scraper after it is good and hard and all the clamps are out of the way.

 

[Joe Lyddon]

I have had good results in blue taping at the good edges everywhere, glue & let dry.

If you see some that made it onto the surface, after it's rubbery, scrape it off with a finger nail, knife blade, chisel, etc. - No problems.

It's worth using the tape... saves a lot of grief.

 

[BrianBDH]

Thanks everybody for the input.

I have taped a few joints in the past, but IMHO it is an acquired skill. If you get some tape trapped in between pieces by mistake, it can be impossible to pull it out. I speak from experience. I guess a hairline of glue would be better than a "little blue flag" in the joint.

The best tape experience I had was when I taped the cut lines on some plywood to prevent tear out. I left the tape in place for gluing up the edging and when it was removed, it looked very nice.

Has anybody ever taped an edge just priot to final sanding to get the tape perfectly true with the edge to be glued?

I also believe that Mark Spagnollo (the Wood Whisperer dude) endorses letting the glue skin over and scrape/cut it off.

Again, thanks for the input. This is the most helpful and supportive forum that I have ever seen. I think it says so much about our woodworking community and the type of people who are drawn to the craft. I appreciate all of you.

Brian

 

[Larry Rose]

I've tried all of the above. Another thing I sometimes do is stain and seal before glue up. The squeeze out is then easy to pop off as it won't stick to the sealer. Of course this doesn't work with panel glue ups.

 

[red]

I too let it set until rubbery or longer and then take a paint scraper and clean it up. I've been reamed by other woodworkers for saying that on other forums but it works and works well. No matter how careful you are you always get some glue squeeze out.

Red

 

[TOL Woodworks]

When i dry fit my joints i put paste wax where there would be squeeze out. Once the glue dries it just peels right off with a chisel. I've tried other methods and nothing compares. Starving your joints of glue to avoid squeeze out is never good...i don't feel comfortable with a glue joint unless i see a good bit of squeeze out. After you remove the glue then you can just rub some mineral spirits on there to remove the wax if necessary. If you are using a mineral spirits based finish (such as polyurethane) then you don't even have to remove the wax. Give it a try, it works great.

David Nestler
Tree of Life Woodworks, LLC
www.tolwoodworks.com

 

[Bas]

When i dry fit my joints i put paste wax where there would be squeeze out. Once the glue dries it just peels right off with a chisel. I've tried other methods and nothing compares. Starving your joints of glue to avoid squeeze out is never good...i don't feel comfortable with a glue joint unless i see a good bit of squeeze out. After you remove the glue then you can just rub some mineral spirits on there to remove the wax if necessary. If you are using a mineral spirits based finish (such as polyurethane) then you don't even have to remove the wax. Give it a try, it works great.

+1. I use a product called Waxilit for this. It excels at preventing the glue from sticking, and comes off easily with a little mineral spirits. It's a little firmer than regular paste wax, which means you can apply it with a small brush into tight spaces.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

I have taped a few joints in the past, but IMHO it is an acquired skill. If you get some tape trapped in between pieces by mistake, it can be impossible to pull it out. I speak from experience. I guess a hairline of glue would be better than a "little blue flag" in the joint.

Brian

I've experienced the same thing Brian. I found that an Xacto knife and patience do a pretty good job of getting the tape out. :icon_thum

Bill

 

[Jeff]

+1 and more to all of the above suggestions. :icon_cheers

1. Glue squeeze out is a good thing.

2. Cleaning it up successfully is the key, but it's not an art or fine science. Water clean-up is your worst enemy.

Sometimes you'll have to use the chisel twice (do wipe it off often with a wet rag) to remove a second layer that hasn't skinned over yet. After the glue has fully dried a final clean-up with a card scraper does wonders. Partial pre-finishing before assembly and glue-up helps those anticipated hard to get at areas although it is more time consuming at the outset.

 

[tkpinsc]

I tape anywhere that will be visible and hard to clean up afterwards such as inside drawers. I usually just scarpe the big chunks and sand after dry where I don't tape.

Just watched a Charles Neil video where he used a heat gun to soften dry glue before he scraped it off. Haven't tried it myself yet.

 

[kooshball]

There is a new wood glue out by Elmer's that claims to be stainable; perhaps this would be suitable for use with the wet rag technique?

 

[CLetts]

:XXcompute Another technique not yet mentioned that I use often (especially if I don't have time to wait for it to skin over), is to use a plastic drinking straw and scoop the glue. This also works well on inside corners. Just apply enough pressure on the straw to form it against the glue line and push it foward. As the opening fills with glue just stop pushing, cut off the end of the straw and resume scooping. (My youngest daughter works at starbucks and saves me all the straws I need so no need to buy any)

 

[Gofor]

I'm of the card scraper after dry, and chisel when rubbery crowd. I do tape occasionally in difficult areas or on large joints like gluing a table top panel, where the squeeze out may run down a vertical surface (I glue thick panels vertically as it is easier for me to see when aligning and clamping the matching edges).

If going to do a lot of taping, buy one of these 3" "T" handled scrapers that use a razor sharp blade for wide tape, and sharpen a 1" putty knife to a chisel edge for narrower. Laid against the tape in the corner you can tear it off at an angle, getting a tight tape mask that is easy to remove. Also, bed the tape down with a squeegie. I learned taping through many years painting/masking acft, so it it relatively easy for me, but it is a learned skill. I do not use it more due to the price of good tape. Cheap tape is a waste of time and the road to much aggravation. I mainly use 3M bluer painters tape. but also have used clear cellophane packing tape (3M Scotch brand).

Go

 

[CrealBilly]

I used to use a wet rag till I found out it weakened my glue up. Now I wait till the glue is rubbery and use a scraper to scrape it off. Sometimes I get might get fussy if I'm gluing up open grain wood like red oak and use blue tape. But I found the key is not to use to much glue so it squeezes out all over the place. A little goes a LONG ways, it's amazing what one thin beed will glue.