# Panel glue up tips?



## leftcoaster (Jan 1, 2016)

When edge joining panels I rely on clamps and cauls to get a flat panel with good adhesion.

Anyone have tips for minimizing or managing squeeze out under the cauls and clamps? Especially but not exclusively on the bottom side?


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## John Smith_inFL (Dec 15, 2017)

use less glue
put a piece of plastic or masking tape on the clamp at the glue joint (top and bottom)
to minimize the darkening of the wood
put news paper under the panel to keep the glue off your work table.
use less glue

in my world, the dried glue on the underside is easier to clean up than the top.
[Use Less Glue to minimize the excess]

.

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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

wax paper works well. Store brand is cheaper.


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

I like to place the panels together (without glue), then apply some paste wax over the joint.

Use the tricks John and Lew mention to keep your clamps and work area clean and do the glue up.

After maybe 30 minutes, you can remove most of the squeeze out with an old credit card or whatever and not need to work as much about smearing it into the wood.

The wax keeps the glue out of the wood pores and after the joint is dry, you can remove any wax remains with a rag and mineral spirits


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Ive tried some various things, and the following works best for me:
- Cauls are waxed all over, faces have packing tape applied & then waxed
- Clamp bars are generously waxed 
- Something under the panel (I use the brown paper painters drape on a roll) to keep it off the bench
- develop a specific dried glue removal process, i.e. I use an old chisel to get the worst of it, then a #80 cabinet scraper to get up to ~95%, then the flattening planes get the rest.
- Dried glue is very easy to remove from waxed surfaces

I tried removing the glue before it sets up - hard to get the timing right. Limiting the amount of glue would cause joint areas without enough.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

I use duct tape on my cauls, but otherwise let-R-drip. Let the glue partially harden, and it'll scrape right off. 
A short length of blue painters tape on the clamp bar helps keep the clamp clean.

I gave up on wax paper years ago because it can keep the glue from drying.


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## recon49 (May 21, 2018)

I've seen how good the wax paper works.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

What they said + learn to apply the right amount of glue. Take some scrap the same thickness as the stock you will be gluing up and practice buy applying different sized beads until you find the right size. It won't take many to tries to figure this out. You don't have to actually glue up the test pieces. Just glue them, clamp them and see how much squeeze out you get then pull them back apart.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

To keep glue from sticking to clamps, I use Bates glue release. Just wipe the clamp bars down and glue will pop off. There's no need to apply it every time, so a $20 quart will last years.

On my cauls, I used to use packing tape, but have switched to vinyl stucco tape. Its red color means I'll never again put a caul on upside down and have it glued to my panel 

To protect my bench, I either use 24" wide craft paper that I buy in 2500' rolls, or grilling mats that glue does not stick to. Amazon sells a 70 by 16 inch roll of the grilling mat material for $13.


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## TravisH (Feb 6, 2013)

I bought about 6 feet of vinyl runner from the carpet section at the big box store. Catches any drips and when I roll it up they flake off. The stuff I bought was less than a 1.50 a ft. Been using it for about 6 years now without any issues. I do wish it was wider but easy enough to overlap if needed.


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