# Gluing up curved objects



## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

I have a question about gluing up curved stock. I've watched some videos on cutting stock into thin strips. Then gluing them back together in a jig to follow a curve, (think curved arm rests for a chair). When doing this is the glue used straight or diluted? I remember seeing something about diluting yellow glue but I could not find that link again.

Thanks for any advice,

BJ


----------



## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

BJ, the book on yellow glue is that you can dilute it up to 10% and not lose any strength.

The only reason to dilute it (that I can think of) is to make it more spreadable. I do this in glueing up the bodies of my basses because I have a lot of ground to cover and it is all critical, strengthwise. I don't want it to be too thick or glue starved, so the diluting speeds the spreading and I've had no failures in well over 100 iterations.

Kindly,

Lee


----------



## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I don't dilute it but when I use white glue for laminating
I wet the brush well before starting and this helps the 
glue flow out.


----------



## realcowtown_eric (Feb 4, 2013)

If yer in Alberta or the prairies, any water based glue dries VERY quickly. Instructions fabricated in humid areas don't work well in dry environments. Just misting your laminations 10 minutes before the glue up will slow down the process a tad, but you gotta have all yer ducks in a row for the lamination process. I dunno how big yer project is, but when you get enuf clamps together, add a bunch more, cause once the process is in the works, you ain't got enuf time to go shopping for more.

If you look at the steam bending utube videos, you will see a lot of them use a stainless steel band on the outside when steam bending. Not a bad idea when just doing laminations,...helps "fair the curve" and distribute the pressure.

I use a roller glue dispenser for laminations such as I think your describing, and depending on the number of laminations, width, etc it can be a frantic excercise to get it all secured in the mold. Any texts just get ignored.

eric

Ducks in a row for bent laminations is an axiom well worth observing.

How did you figure out the "spring back"

Eric in Calgary


----------



## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice. When the time comes to make the attempt I'll post the results.

BJ


----------

