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RobF -> RE: Glueing and cleaning up (Sep. 7 2021 16:26:02)
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quote:
But I find one of the most stressful parts of the process is anything involving glue. I guess its the fact that the clock is ticking the second you squeeze it onto whatever component youre glueing...Are there any major DOs and DONTs that you guys have in regards to glueing/cleaning up.
Hi Stu, I guess one of the big things is try not to panic. Depending on the glue you’re using the open time can be far greater than you think. But regardless of that, doing a couple of dry runs can help reduce the stress, take a good look at the fit, and remind yourself that if things start to go awry you can always pull the pieces apart, clean them up, and repeat the operation once you’ve calmed down.
Large surfaces being joined will tend to wander and this can cause stress. It helps to understand why the wander is happening. One reason can be due to the clamp placement. When a clamp is tightened its natural tendency will be to reduce the distance between the jaws (seems obvious, lol) and the shortest distance will be when the jaws are directly opposite each other. To accomplish this, the clamp will pull the pieces sideways to correct for any jaw offset. Note that this characteristic can be used to your advantage if you want to laterally butt two pieces together while one is being glued to a substrate.
A second cause of wander is poor fit. For instance, a heel block can take off in all directions when the fit is poor, regardless of the orientation to the clamp jaws. If you notice that the heel slides away in unexpected directions from the clamp, or becomes less stable when more than one clamp is used, then that is telling you that you quite likely have a small hump somewhere on one of the joining surfaces. The solution there is to pull it apart, clean up the surfaces, and touch them up with a plane until they are as flat as proverbial pancakes. The hump might be so slight that it’s invisible or imperceptible to the eye when mating the dry surfaces, so a good way to check is by using your sense of touch instead and gently rock the pieces and see if you feel any movement under your fingers.
As far as squeeze-out is concerned, I agree with John 100%. Small amounts of squeeze-out in interior surfaces that may appear sloppy when wet tend to shrink into insignificance once the glue is dry. I stopped worrying about that a long time ago, and then came to the conclusion that some visible squeeze-out was a desirable trait and not something to be disdained. I mean honest amounts, not gobs and drips. As Tom said, a damp cloth can work wonders if there’s an unsightly drip you want to get rid of. Also, once dry, drips can often just be snapped off with a gentle prod and tap with the end of a dull chisel, flathead screwdriver tip, or stick of wood. Most times, it’s best to just leave them be, however.
I’m just kind of rambling, but I tend to make my clean up sticks on the go before each job, or at least clean up my old clean up sticks.
On outer surfaces, such as the fingerboard to the top or neck, the dry fit is extremely important, as it’s really not ideal to rely on clamping pressure to eliminate any gaps (I guess that’s a general rule, actually). Wait until the glue gels a bit before cleaning off the squeeze-out, otherwise it’ll just get spread everywhere and make a mess. Also, be careful about using water for cleanup of squeeze-out. The water will tend to flow into the join and thin the glue, which will then proceed to squeeze out some more. And on and on. Even if the intent is to French Polish after the fingerboard is glued down, it still doesn’t hurt to wipe some shellac along the area where the edge of the fingerboard will rest to seal the wood and this will help with cleanup, too. Same applies to the bridge...
At any rate, I hope some of these tips help reduce stress/panic. Main thing is, if you’ve done all the dry fits and test runs, and things still go silly once the glue hits the wood, then take a deep breath, pull it apart, clean up and start over once the source of the silliness is understood. That’s better than powering through and having to redo the work later.
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