# Cold weather and wood glue



## Firefighter (Oct 21, 2010)

I have some cutting boards that I need to get going and I am working in an unheated (32 F) garage. The glue bottle says 45 or higher. Will this make the glue not work or just extend drying time? Also, if I glue up and bring in the house (until my wife gets home 6hrs later) can they go back out in the cold garage to cure? If it just extends the dry time, what would the clamp time be? I am using titebond III. Thanks for the ideas.


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## depictureboy (Jun 5, 2008)

if you dont take them into the house, the glue will actually crystalize and turn a powdery white and will fail. I speak from experience. Either find a way to heat that area, or you will need to take the pieces in. It would be even better if you can take the pieces in, let them acclimate, take them back out glue them up and take them back inside.

The reason why i would take them in first is that the wood will be just as cold and will affect the glue curing just as much as the ambient temperature


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## MarcusM (Mar 29, 2010)

Hi Firefighter; before I had a heated shop I used to cover my glue-ups with an old electric blanket…works very well and I never had any problems. Just make sure that the glue is at or near room temp before you do your glue-up. Was always easy finding old electric blankets at second-hand stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army and such. Hope this helps

Regards, Mark


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## nate22 (Jul 12, 2010)

If I were you and if you can I would take them inside glue them and when the glue is completly dry then I would take them back out into the garage. I only say this because I tried glueing something outside in the garage when it's cold. I am like you I work in a garage and really don't have any heat source. So I glue everything inside in the winter time.


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## Greedo (Apr 18, 2010)

you could use PU glue, as long as it isn't freezing. don't worry too much about the min temp written on those bottles.
with waterbased glues you better do follow the indicated limit, and if the bottle has frozen you can toss it away.
a good indicator is to see if it cures and becomes transparent when yoy whipe it on a surface. if it turns white it is too cold!
and if you do bring them inside, let the wood heat up a while. its not the air temp that matter but the wood temp!


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## childress (Sep 14, 2008)

You could also call titebond. They have a great customer service and will answer all your questions about the glue…


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## Firefighter (Oct 21, 2010)

I decided to bring the wood and glue inside to acclimate and then glue up. I will just leave it inside to dry. Thanks for the ideas.


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## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

Titebond will disintegrate when it freezes. If you glue it up in the house, let it dry, and put it back in the garage in freezing temperatures, the joints will weaken and eventually fail. It says right on the bottle: "DO NOT FREEZE". I've been there and have the T-shirt to prove it.


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## snowdog (Jul 1, 2007)

I never thought of that. So I should not leave my 1 gal glue bottles in my shop if it drops below 32 degrees?


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

Don't let your water-based glue bottles freeze. The glue will be significantly weaker after.

Once the glue has cured it should be okay to freeze, though. I've never heard that you should prevent freezing of cured glue. Titebond II and III both indicate that they are "ideal for exterior woodworking projects, including outdoor furniture, birdhouses, mailboxes, planters and picnic tables." Most of these projects in most of the US will be exposed to freezing temperatures. Might be a good question for Titebond customer service.


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## Vercingetorix (Feb 1, 2013)

Just to add to the information for other bumbling unheated shop workers like myself, I just called the titebond tech support line after a failed glue up.

My situation was that I glued a butt joint and kept it clamped for about an hour. Ambient temperature was fairly high (50's) but it had gotten down to the 30's overnight. As soon as I took the clamps off, the boards fell apart, and there was a combination of overly runny glue and drier areas with a white, powdery appearance, i.e. "chalking."

In talking to tech support, I learned that the glue should stand up to 5-10 freeze cycles, but that as long as it has its usual creamy, liquid texture, it will be fine to use. The things that actually have an impact on the glue action are the temperature of the glue, the substrate (wood), and ambient temperature. However, even if the glue is on the cool side, the thermal mass of wood at the proper temperature should quickly get it up to the right level for proper bonding.

If the glue has undergone a permanent chemical change because of freezing, it will either be solid in the bottle, or have a grainy texture.

The Upshot: Don't throw away your glue just because it froze. If the texture is solid, gummy, or granular, throw it away. The main thing is to get the wood up to the proper temperature, which is around 55F minimum, before gluing your joints. This can take a while, unfortunately.


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## StumpyNubs (Sep 25, 2010)

Nothing is more frustrating that a failed glue joint. My shop is heated, I keep it around 60, but I still bring glueups inside during the winter and put them by the fireplace.

Thanks for the info *Vercingetorix*!


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## lumberjoe (Mar 30, 2012)

It won't work. If you glue has been left outside in that weather longer than 12 hours, it's trash (whether you warm it up or not)

It's important to note your workpieces need to acclimate as well. Din't just bring cold wood inside and slap some glue on them. Wait until they are at room temperature as well.

Edit - I saw the info from Titebond, but I'm not sure I would take a chance - especially on something like a cutting board, and especially something I would sell to someone else.


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

My question is: Why are you afraid of your wife?

Put something on that nice dining room antique walnut table so the glue doesn't hurt it, then tell the wife you can't move it until it dries completely.

Hint: don't use paper towels to go between the glue up and the table.


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

I don't know about freezing temperatures but my garage regularly dips down into the high 40's in the winter. For 20 years I've glued and clamped and stored the glue under those conditions. Never had anything break apart under those conditions.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

I once posted about these questions and included some information from Titebond customer service:
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/37234


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## WWADD (Jan 25, 2014)

I have a torsion box that I am working on for my new table saw cart base but my shop is the great outdoors, in WI. So I decided to try an experiment tonight. It is currently 4* outside with a real feel of -13 and a high tomorrow of only 20* before we plunge to -25* for the next few days. So I stepped outside and grabbed some of the cutoffs from the torsion box and hit them with Gorilla glue and clamped it up. Let's see how it goes. If I could have gotten some better light than a flashlight I would have taken video and made a video with the results tomorrow. Guess I'll just post the results tomorrow.


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## AllSweptUpChimney (Dec 6, 2018)

I know this thread is really old, but I came here looking for this answer. So, I thought I'd post my experience as well. I'd agree with Jeff in that I've glued in the unheated garage for years and never had an issues. However, it's attached and almost always stays above freezing. I've always used Titebond II.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> If I were you and if you can I would take them inside glue them and when the glue is completly dry then I would take them back out into the garage. I only say this because I tried glueing something outside in the garage when it s cold. I am like you I work in a garage and really don t have any heat source. So I glue everything inside in the winter time.
> 
> - nate22


I would agree with Nate!

Rick S.


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