panel glue up timing

End glue for anything under about 5/8 thickness and under I leave on minimum 2 hours with Titebond II before working. boards over 5/8 thickness I can work in about one hour. The thin boards don’t have as much surface so I leave them clamped longer for strength. I want to make sure that if I drop the work, or something bad like that it stays together.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

I use Titebond and leave the glue ups in clamps at least two hours.
Keith

-- Keith, Charlotte, MI www.julyswoodworks.com

T,

One thing I try to take into consideration when glueing up panels or anything for that matter that I have to put on clamps is the tempature in my shop. If it’s during the summer or in the winter and I’ve had the heat on for quite a while and the shop is toasty warm, then an hour is usually plenty of time. The colder your workplace is the more time I would allow.

I would also suggest that as long as you have a good glue joint and you don’t have to force the fit, then it doesn’t take much to hold things in place.

-- John @ http://www.thehuffordfurnituregroup.com

I think Titebond III suggests leaving in the clamps for 30 minutes and not stressing the joint for 24 hours. That is what I have been doing and have had no difficulties. Then again, I live in the desert. :D

-- Art

I’m doing some panels for end-grain boards right now, using Titebond III in NY where my garage temp is usually a steady 55-60 degrees, low humidity, and I leave them clamped for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how patient I am. No problems whatsoever. As an added bonus, it’s a lot easier to clean up squeeze out after 45 to 60 minutes than it is to do it after it’s dried fully. I have an old “scraper” I use for this, I cut it from a piece of a trashed hand saw blade.

-- - The mightiest oak in the forest is just a little nut that held its ground.

It depends on what I’m gluing. Cabinet boxes and face frames I usually leave at least 4 hours, just to be sure. If I’m gluing up raised panels to run through my planer and shaper then I leave them at least overnight, usually longer. Then I always error on the side of caution, especially where there’s a shaper involved.

I try to plan out my work so that while something is clamped and drying I have other task to preform.

Rick