Glue Marks

[MICKYG]

Howdy

I have made eleven items of furniture from radiata pine and have used Triton woodglue on all projects. The problem is that when stain is applied to finished item occasionally there will be a white mark along a join or around a mortise and tenon joint or on some dovetail joint.

This has a very undesirable effect on what is otherwise a good job. I usually wipe of any excess with a damp cloth and it is not visible untill you put stain on when finishing. Its like as if the glue has soaked into the wood and shows as a stain or whitish mark and will only be in spots, it is never all around or for the full lenght of a long join.

Does anyone have a better woodglue which leaves no marks or a better technique they might pass on to me ? I am striving to obtain a better quality finish without the occasional glue mark.

Kind Regards

Mike


:) :) :)

[Ben from Vic.]

Mike,

I read a book were the author uses White Spirits (use in dry cleaning, easy to get a hold of) to give his work a once over with a wet rag, with the purpose of showing up glue spots (they'll go white).

He uses White Spirits as they evaporate quickly, and don't raise the grain of the timber like water would. It's basicly a thinner of some description (weak!!). I suppose metho may work, but not turps (oil based).

I have a little experiance with this, and it's never given me any problems.

Ben. ;)

[derekcohen]

I've always taken the view that, with soft woods, there is a risk of the glue soaking into the pores of the timber if I try and wipe it off, and that a wet rag only serves to dilute the glue and smear it around even more. Therefore, I let it dry to a hard, rubbery consistency and then pry it off with a sharp chisel.

I often wonder how much glue it enough. I see Norm smearing it on by the bucket load (I guess he gets it free), glue squirting out every corner of every joint. Then he hauls out this rag and wipes it off (polishes it is more correct). The rag is not necessarily wet, or even changed after it is charged with glue. Yet his finish is always perfect. I wonder how many times he and his workcrew make and remake the same piece?

Does one have to put on so much glue that there is squeeze out? Or just enough glue to thinly coat both sides of the timber? Thin coats. With the exception of epoxy, glues are not gap filling and have no structural integrity in themselves.

Back to Triton glue - one of the advertised advantages of this glue is its supposed ability not to interfere with stains. Do you believe everything you read?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[MICKYG]

Thanks Ben & Derek,

What you have commented on makes good sense so I will try this fix shortly. I believe the glue seeps into some of the soft wood around the join. Its just that it does spoil some jobs if it happens to be visible.

Kind Regards

Mike:D