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I'm back on my dresser project after several weeks of focusing on other stuff, and I'm going to likely be finishing the dovetails for the drawers within the next week or so...I've been thinking about what kind of glue I should use for those joints. I'm looking for something that's relatively light in color (I'm using poplar for the drawer boxes) and has a very slow setup time (like 15 minutes or more where I can manipulate the project parts)...I know Gorilla glue dries light and has a long open time, but unless I'm gluing surfaces that have finish on them together, I prefer to avoid that stuff as it's pretty messy. There are a couple I'm considering, and I was wondering if you guys could comment on them or even suggest a different one that would work for me. The ones I'm considering are Titebond Extended (both I and II) as well as Elmer's Max Wood Glue (which seems to have a longer open time than either of the lighter-colored titebonds). The Extended ones seem to have a longer open time than the Elmer's Max, but Elmer's is available to me locally, and I prefer to pick up stuff in store. Would the Elmer's have a long enough open time for me to comfortably glue up dovetails, or would I be better off ordering something off the internet? I don't want to mess up these dovetails...they're not totally perfect, but I don't want to have to redo them.
Thanks!
Near future projects:
-Curly Maple display case
-Jatoba and Quilted Maple dresser
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Unless there is something I'm missing regarding the glue-up, regular Titebond should work fine. I've glued up quite a few dovetail drawers and have never really had a problem as long as I was prepared for the task. I use Titebond II, by the way.
If you're concerned about getting everything together before the glue starts to set, I would suggest going through the assembly "dry" a couple times to make sure you've got the process down. After that, it shouldn't be an issue...
Dave
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(09-30-2018, 12:31 AM)KingwoodFan1989 Wrote: I'm back on my dresser project after several weeks of focusing on other stuff, and I'm going to likely be finishing the dovetails for the drawers within the next week or so...I've been thinking about what kind of glue I should use for those joints. I'm looking for something that's relatively light in color (I'm using poplar for the drawer boxes) and has a very slow setup time (like 15 minutes or more where I can manipulate the project parts)...I know Gorilla glue dries light and has a long open time, but unless I'm gluing surfaces that have finish on them together, I prefer to avoid that stuff as it's pretty messy. There are a couple I'm considering, and I was wondering if you guys could comment on them or even suggest a different one that would work for me. The ones I'm considering are Titebond Extended (both I and II) as well as Elmer's Max Wood Glue (which seems to have a longer open time than either of the lighter-colored titebonds). The Extended ones seem to have a longer open time than the Elmer's Max, but Elmer's is available to me locally, and I prefer to pick up stuff in store. Would the Elmer's have a long enough open time for me to comfortably glue up dovetails, or would I be better off ordering something off the internet? I don't want to mess up these dovetails...they're not totally perfect, but I don't want to have to redo them.
Thanks!
I'm just starting a glue up of a complicated wine refrigerator storage cabinet and am using Old Brown Glue which is a urea modified hide glue. You have to warm it to lower the viscosity but it has a pretty long open time (not sure of the time but about 15-20 minutes). I've used it before on small complicated items but never on something this big. Just did one panel yesterday afternoon and it looks good this morning when I took it out of the clamps. Easy to clean up with warm water also.
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I use TB II for most stuff, including gluing up dovetailed drawers, or finger jointed ones which take even longer. If you are nervous it won't give you enough time, then switch to the extended time version or liquid hide glue. In any case Gorilla Glue would not be on my list of products to consider.
John
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You can slightly extend the open time by using a second acid brush with plain water and applying the water to the surface to be glued.
Gary
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Are we talking about open time or working time here?
It seems some of you have mixed up the two. In a complex glueup, working time, not open time, is what counts. If your glue had 1 hour open time, but 5 minute working time, you would still most likely screw up.
Open time is secondary. Most glues have 5 to 20 open time, and in reality, you won't apply a glue and then leave it there for more than a few minutes before joining the parts.
Simon
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Gary
Please don’t quote the trolls.
Liberty, Freedom and Individual Responsibility
Say what you'll do and do what you say.
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(09-30-2018, 12:23 PM)Gary G™ Wrote: https://www.wwgoa.com/article/measuring-...mbly-time/
The GOA experiment, despite its limitations, gave a better guide than the open time which people tend to rely on (mistakenly as the working time). However, if you are gluing up joints like M and T, don't go by the working time GOA's experiment suggests, because there are more glue surfaces involved. Err on the safe side. It is almost impossible to undo a dovetail or M and T joint applied with white glue without damaging the wood or joint after 15 minutes the joint is clamped. let alone 35 minutes as the experiment suggested.
All in all as I pointed out above, open time is often mistaken as working time.
Simon
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Okay, I'll have to read up on and remember the working time vs. open time difference from now on. Since I don't want to have to warm or mix anything if I don't have to, it seems the extended version of Titebond would work well (as John suggested). Still, anyone have experience with Elmer's Wood Glue Max? If it's got a longer working time than regular Titebond (1 or 2), that'd be ideal since I can pick that up locally. If that's not significantly different than Titebond, I'll just go with one of the extended Titebonds (1 or 2).
Near future projects:
-Curly Maple display case
-Jatoba and Quilted Maple dresser
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I've always just used Titebond Original.
Have everything prepared. Clamps slid close together, blocks to sit it on, wet rag for wiping laying there handy, etc. Mallet laying nearby....
Steve
Mo.
I miss the days of using my dinghy with a girlfriend too. Zack Butler-4/18/24
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
WaterlooMark 02/9/2020
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