Hello All,
I may have made a rookie mistake this morning and wanted some input from the forum. I glued up two 5/4 pieces of walnut with TB3 and plan to use these as a seat blank. Good squeeze out and glue line doesn’t have any gaps. At the ~ 30 min point, I checked the clamps and everything seemed like it was tight, but I went back a few hours later and one of the two pipe clamps had loosened completely. The other still had some tension. Is this likely to still be viable for it’s intended purpose or is glue joint failure more likely? I know what the TB3 bottle states but I was looking for similar real world experiences! Thanks
Replies
So...after 30 min everything was clamped, in place, and looking fine.
3 hours later a clamp had loosened.
Does the joint look the same as it did at the 30 min mark?
Was it just 1 clamp?
I'd be inclined to say that you are ok as long as the glue line still looks good.
Correct. Yes, the joint seems to look the same as at the 30 min mark and there are no apparent gaps. And yes, it was one clamp but there were only two on the glue up to begin with- only about 11 inches of glue line for this stool seat blank.
Chair seat? I'm guessing that your blank was probably not more than 24" and that your clamp spacing was in the neighborhood of 12". Given that the clamps were tight at 30 minutes, the glue was nearly set and would have been set (but not strong) at 1 hour). Also, the remaining clamp would have still been applying quite a lot of pressure. That is a lot of assuming and wishful thinking, but I think you are likely OK; particularly if you don't see any gaps in the joint now.
You could clamp the blank to a work table with the joint at or near to the table edge and put some pressure on it. If the joint is weak, it will break apart easily. Also, it's a chair (or will be). So, you don't want it to break while someone is using it. For your own piece of mind, you might want to consider sawing it apart and re-gluing. How's that for wishy-washy?
Glue line looks great. I like the idea of testing the joint once it's cured. I will give that a whirl for reassurance. I certainly don't want it to break while someone is sitting in it...although is it going to be a gift for my mother-in-law...
I'd think you're OK. Check that clamp before you use it again.
Edge glue ups end up stronger than the wood itself. Bang the piece against your bench -- if it fails then the glue line didn't hold and you can then re-rip and re-glue. If it holds, you're good.