# Can you plane a glued up joint?



## Cato (May 1, 2009)

I glued up two boards I jointed and have a slight difference in height in a section of the jointed and glued boards.

Is it better to sand down the ridge section or can I run it back through the planer to even surfaces?

Not sure if the dried glue causes any problems with the planer blades.

The ridge height I discovered when I was wiping off the squeeze out and is maybe a 1/64 or a tad more.

Either an error on my part when clamping the glued sections, or my jointing technique with my new jointer.

Paying my dues I guess learning the planer and jointer which are both welcome additions.

I'll have to be a bit more meticulous with both procedures next time as I was in a hurry. Haste makes waste.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I've heard some people say that glue is hard on planer blades, but I know a lot of people run their glue-ups back through the planer.

It will be interesting to read the responses to your question.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

yes, you can plane them.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

I usually hand plane or chisel the extra glue off first, but I've never had problems hand planing them. Usually after I remove most of the glue with chisel/hand plane, only then would I put through planer. Mainly because I think its easier to sharpen hand plane irons than sharpening/replacing planer blades.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Cato, Yeah, its probably harder on the blades than, say, Poplar. But no worse on a hand-plane blade (or sandpaper for that matter). As a hobbiest, the difference is probably negligable. The questions are "what's your time worth?", "do you like hand-planing (being one with the wood)?", "which tools/methods do you have at your disposal?", and on and on. I'd say a quick swipe with a paint scraper and don't worry about the minisquile(sp?) wear. You could be asking the same question about certain woods as well. I'd be more concerned about running boards through my planer that contain silica than glue. And for darned sure, avoid wood with nails like the plague.  Hope this helps.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

I'll 2nd Eric… I didn't mention it earlier, but I will scrap off the glue squeezeout with a scraper, then hand plane it 'clean' - only then will I put the entire thing through the planer. so - yes, you can put glued up panels through the planer - but it's better to clean off the glue squeezeout first!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I agree with Eric and Sharon.


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

Thanks for the input. Yes I had planned on removing the squeeze out first and then getting the imperfect heights to match.

Running through the planer again would be a better solution for me to achieve a consistent thickness, rather than chancing dishing out with an ROS.

I guess there is a whole craft in woodworking in how to best fix your mistakes, if not then I am sure to create one for myself.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

FYI, I don't think it's unusual to plane glued up panels… I have yet to get a perfect flat and consistent panel in one go - I always have to plane it afterwards (by hand or with a planer).


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Say what, Sharon?! My glue ups always come out perfect.


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

You should be ok planing it. I think that would be the best method.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

PurpLev: thanks! I was starting to think that my glueups are embarrassingly bad (instead of just plain bad). A 1/64th ridge is doing pretty good, i think!


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## RBWoodworker (Mar 22, 2009)

One thing you can do in the future is to take a damp rag and clean off any squeeze out..it will prevent having to scrap off the hard dried glue later..I usually wait for the glue to skin over a little then scrape it right off no problem.at least that's what I do..before I started doing that..I would take a belt sander and give it quick once over to sand off the ridges left by dried glue..but not enough to affect the thickness of the pieces glued together..then run them thru the planer or wide drum sander..


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Charlie - my my glue ups are not always perfect, but my Screw Ups are always pristine!

AaronK - I think that if you search the web you'll find that planing glued up panels is very common as the wood always tends to want to wonder during those glue ups.

One trick I use to minimize movement is to take some sand paper, and rub it against itself over the strips after the glue is on them (before they are put together) - some of the glass particles will rub off on the glue, and when putting the strips together will add friction between them to keep them from wandering about.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Charlie, perhaps you can post on how to get the perfect glue up, because mine never are lol, although they have gotten much much better since I decided not to use dowels.

I thought doweling would make it easier, but only if the holes are correctly aligned and the boards are identical thicknesses. I find it easier and quicker now to just joint the edges and do a glue up with one side of all boards flush during the glue up.

PurpLev, that sounds like an interesting trick. I'll have to try that out.


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

In my case I should have probably checked for flatness a little better after I face jointed the boards.

They seemed to be flat to each other, but I was admiring how edge jointing made the two pieces fit nearly seamlessly that I didn't pay as much attention as I should have.

Sure showed up immediately when I put the clamps on and started wiping squeeze out.

I'm also learning I need to index the sides that are jointed so I don't loose track of opposing sides for planer and TS.

This process was not on rough lumber but on some wood that was fairly straight and I had already thickness planed a little oversize before beginning the jointing.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Eric, I agree with you. I've tried dowel joints and biscuits, but nothing is foolproof. And I'm the fool who can prove it.


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

Thats a good tip on the biscuits for me Barry as I do use biscuits, but on this joint I just glued them together, as they will be the top of a mantel I am making.


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## JSZ (Jan 5, 2010)

I know this isn't an answer to the specific question, but here's another approach to squeeze-out. First, use "just enough" glue. We all learn how much that is by practice. Then, wait until the glue skins over, and the squeeze-out is rubbery all the way through. Then scrape it off with a putty knife. it should come off with one easy scrape. Flip the panel over and do the other side, and it's all done.

Waiting until it dries makes the chore a lot harder, and it's hard on tools, no matter if it's a scraper, a hand plane or the thickness planer that's called to duty.

Wiping it off with a damp rag or sponge runs the risk of diluting the glue, letting it run into the pores of the wood, and turning into an unintentional application of glue size. Finishing can be a nightmare in this condition.


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## thatwoodworkingguy (May 19, 2010)

You can defenitly plane it. And if you feel its hard on blades you can most likely rent some time from a cabinet shop to run it through one of there massive sanders. Luckily one of my familys closest friends runs a two man cabinet shop so I can always use his 53 inch grizzly sander. its a beast!


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## fussy (Jan 18, 2010)

Cato,

My first glue-up was in 1972. My workbench was a pingpong table in an unheated garage in a Fort Wayne winter. I was using off the shelf pine to builds a fish tank stand for m lovely bride. WIth the help of my secret weapon-the tool dept. manager at my Sears store, I purchased a set of dowel centers-which i still have, and which worked splendidly. NO difference aT ALL ! It fit perfectly' Since then howeveer, all gklueps go through plANER. dID IT ON RED OAK LAST NIGT. WORKS FINE.;

sTEVE


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## Xtreme90 (Aug 29, 2009)

I ushally scrap as much dried glue off with a good sharp chisel. And then any little miss match if thier is gets tooken out by my 20" spiral cutterhead grizz planer. Mmmmmmm….. dried glue says the big grizz. Lol.


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

Since I had a little misalignment in height between the two boards I glued, I ended up using my block plane to begin the process of flattening the ridge in the center and also the glue squeeze out.

Once I had things fairly cleaned up and a bit of reduction in the ridge I ran a couple of light passes on both sides through the planer and now it looks good.


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## dustbunny (May 18, 2009)

Sharon - great tip using grit to keep pieces from wandering.
I clean up the bulk of the glue and run it through the planer.
Never had a problem.

Lisa


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## Eli (Mar 3, 2010)

You should try a spring joint. It holds better in the long term and allows you to fine tune your alignment as you glue up.

Eli


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## pvwoodcrafts (Aug 31, 2007)

First I scrape the glue joint with a paint scraper then I throw all my panels through the planer. Quickest way to level


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## docholladay (Jan 9, 2010)

Personally, I scrape off the exposed glue squeeze out first with a paint scraper. Then I either run it through the planer or plane it by hand.


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