How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

[lunchmoney]

Surprisingly, the instructions on my Titebond III Ultimate wood glue say that you only have to clamp for 30 minutes, and then don't stress the joints for 24 hours.

I'm going to give it two hours for good measure... I'm impatiently waiting for the glue to dry on one of my front baffles, as I don't have enough clamps to do the second one simultaneously :rolleyes:

[Guest]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

ANYTHING I glue, alays gets 24 hours to "SET"... don't get in a "rash"!!
:-)

GC

[Æ]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

Surprisingly, the instructions on my Titebond III Ultimate wood glue say that you only have to clamp for 30 minutes, and then don't stress the joints for 24 hours.

I'm going to give it two hours for good measure... I'm impatiently waiting for the glue to dry on one of my front baffles, as I don't have enough clamps to do the second one simultaneously :rolleyes:

You can still substitute string and or tape for clamps.
Some of the modern glues don't actually dry, they "cure."

[Tarhead]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

Their 30 minute recommendation assumes everything lines up square and plumb. If you need to correct a crooked cut or warp with the clamp probably need to leave the clamp on for at least a few hours or things can move once the clamp is removed. It is thicker than the TB II.
Mark

[lunchmoney]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

Just removed the clamps after 2 hours, nothing seemed to move. I think I'm good.

[lunchmoney]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

ANYTHING I glue, alays gets 24 hours to "SET"... don't get in a "rash"!!
:-)

GC

This is sound, 100-year-old wisdom... and a safe approach no doubt... but is it really necessary?

Has anyone ever had a problem when you only clamped for a couple of hours? (Assuming you're not clamping bent-plywood forms under a lot of tension or anything like that, or course... just simple cabinets with reasonably tight joints).

[Tarhead]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

You should be fine.
TB III is thicker and develops a tack sooner than the other TB glues.

[akgapong]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

Over night is work for me

Iggy

[bobbarkto]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

Generally I don't have problems using the manufacturers recommendations.
They have this stuff pretty well sorted out.

I follow the directions.
Except...
When the joints are stressed.
Then I leave the clamps on 24 hours.

Interestingly the 24 hour rule applies to almost every adhesive used in woodworking.
With few exceptions they all achieve 80 - 100% strength in that time.

Some exceptions are ca's, hot melts and heat or rf cured resorcinol adhesives (epoxy excluded). They can achieve >90% strength in as little as a few minutes.

Epoxy might be one of the slowest curing adhesives out there. Even tho it's exothermic it can take weeks to reach full strength. Typically you'll see ~80% strength when the epoxy has hardened. But once that occurs the reaction slows to a crawl until it completes.

For aliphatic glues (eg: titebond), if the joints are perfect, you can get away with very little or no clamping. Just like hot hide glue you can also "rub" the joint. Just press and rub the pieces together until they "stick". You'll know it when it happens. This was a common technique with hot hide and fish glues.

Bob (who just took the clamps off a cupped lamination, and the glue held!)

This is sound, 100-year-old wisdom... and a safe approach no doubt... but is it really necessary?

Has anyone ever had a problem when you only clamped for a couple of hours? (Assuming you're not clamping bent-plywood forms under a lot of tension or anything like that, or course... just simple cabinets with reasonably tight joints).

[dlneubec]

Re: How long do you leave clamps on for wood glue?

Hey Guys,

I had an interesting experience when assembling my Duo's. I had the back panel set in rabbit joints in the sides and had glued it up with Titebond III and clamped it. Somehow, it slid about 1/16" to 1/8" inch as I went about adding about 6 clamps along the length. I noticed the slip as I put on the last clamp. The wood pieces could not have been together more than 15 minutes at the most. After calling myself a few choice names, I thought, well I can probably loosen the clamps and use a rubber mallet and tap that little slip back out and the back panle back flush with the sides. I loosened the clamps and started tapping with a rubber mallet......No go. So now I tried hitting it hard numerous times........... no go. I took all the clamps off and beat on it again......... no go. Now I took out a hammer and with a spacer piece to protect the wood, I beat on it, hard!......... no go. :eek:

After 15-20 minutes, I could not move that piece, no matter how I tried. BTW, these were Baltic Birch panels, not mdf. I ended up throwing the box up on the the able saw and cutting the one long end off and then filling in a small section on the other end with a sliver of hardwood ripped to the appropriate width, all eventually hidden by veneer anyway.

I no longer clamp my Tightbond III projects any more than 2 hours, at most. YMMV!