removing glue from wood

[Randy C]

Other than sanding is there an easier way to remove tight bond III from wood surfaces? No matter how much I tape a project up, I still manage to get glue all over it.

Thanks

[fredhargis]

Card scraper does a better job for the final cleanup. To get squeezeout off I use an everyday paint scraper, usually one pass across the seam gets it.

[rwe2156]

Sounds like you're using too much glue, right?

My advice:

1. Do not let the glue dry before removing.
2. Do not try to sand off dry glue. You just end up sanding more wood than glue.

I remove the squeeze out immediately. (Some say wait an hour or so till the glue is soft, but I'm usually on to something else and forget.)

I also remove the bulk of the glue with a small putty knife, old scraper, old plane knife, etc. but you have to follow with wet rag to remove the glue that get smeared by the putty knife. You will hear people say never do this because glue gets into the grain and messes up the finish. I disagree. I've never had an issue with this so long as you thoroughly remove the glue and follow up with a dry rag. I smooth plane or scrape before finishing anyway. I rarely ever sand anything.

For corners, you can tape them off but generally use a toothbrush and water.

[Cooler]

I remove fresh squeeze-out with a wet paper towel and follow up with a dry towel. 

Or I wait for about a half an hour for it to get gummy and then I remove it with a scraper.

I was a picture framer for many years and I routinely dealt with squeeze-out with the wet/dry paper towel method.  But I was using pre-finished molding so it would wipe clean easily.

You need to really clean out oak and ash with wet towels immediately and do a thorough job or the glue will get in the pores and it will resist stains leaving an unacceptable result on stained projects.

Squeeze-out is much less of a problem with painted pieces.

[joe1086]

I'm in the wet rag, toothbrush in the corner group (if necessary). Right away.

[Phil S.]

I'm with Joe.  I find a toothbrush works great for capturing squeeze out without smearing glue over more surface than you start with.  One wipe over a short distance puts most of the glue in the toothbrush bristles.  A quick rinse in warm water and you're ready for another swipe.  Once most of the glue is picked up with the brush a bit of a scrub where needed will get the rest of it.  A final wipe with a rag or paper towel finishes it up.  Takes longer to describe than to do it.

[joe1086]

Forgot to add if I'm working with open grain I'll tape it off about 1/8th or so away from the glue line.

[fredhargis]

Something you guys might want to try for the corners. Take a large soda straw, the ones the are almost 3/8" in diameter (Taco Bell around here has them) and snip the end at 45° +/-, then use the sharp point to scoop the glue out of the corners. This only seems to work if you get t right away, but it works really well.

[Steve N]

Card scraper. If they are smallish pieces, and you aren't in a big hurry, pitch them in the freezer for enough time to let the glue freeze. Pops right off

[Chuck Nickerson]

For me a big part of defeating 'glue all over the place' was my approach.

I lay out the parts so to the greatest extent possible I can apply the glue without handling the parts.
While applying the glue I wear nitrile gloves. The gloves come off before I start handling the parts for assembly.

This greatly decreased my random glue problems.