Replies

1. 
   joinerswork | Nov 10, 2004 04:49pm | #1

   Frank,

   Same thing happened to me once when I glued up a base for a Queen Anne highboy.  Clamped the sucker up last thing one afternoon, when I came in the next morning, and pulled off the clamps, it was at least two inches off diagonally.  I put a clamp across the long corners, and slowly pulled it a little past square.  Then I dovetailed a diagonal brace between the two corners that had been the short diagonal.  Relaxed the clamp, and it stayed put.

   As luck would have it, the guy who was getting the piece came into the shop to check on its progress later that week.  Walking over to the base, he laid his hand on the brace, and said, "This is for strength, right?" 

    The customer is ALWAYS right!

   Re; dissassembly of titebond--do you have a swimming pool to immerse the table??

   Cheers,

   Ray

2. 
   forestgirl | Nov 10, 2004 08:02pm | #2

   Frank, how many inches of glue do you need to loosen?  I know there's a way, but I'm not remembering.  Something tells me steam won't work, but there is a solvent........give me a little more time and coffee!

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
   Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

3. 
   JohnWW | Nov 10, 2004 08:29pm | #3

   What part of the table and what type of joinery?

   John W.

1. 
   Biscardi | Nov 10, 2004 09:00pm | #4

   4 mt Joints. Skirt to legs, 5 in long and 1/2 deep ( a light table).

   Frank------------------------

1. 
   jackplane | Nov 10, 2004 10:03pm | #5

   Mix a solution of hot water and vinegar 50/50. Saturate joint(s). As it softens the glue, pull or tap apart the pieces.

   best of luck, jp

2. 
   JohnWW | Nov 10, 2004 11:44pm | #6

   The warm water and vinegar approach should work for such shallow joints.  Be patient, give the moisture time to work and use spreader clamps if you have them rather than trying to knock the joints apart.

   John W.

1. 
   KeithNewton | Nov 12, 2004 02:01am | #7

   I would think hard about soaking the wood long enough with water long enough to soften the glue in a mortise and tenon joint. Whatever happens, you are going to need to wait 1 year per inch for it to dry enough to re-use, unless you have a kiln.

   If there is no way to spring things into shape with other parts, I would be thinking about cutting it apart, and starting over.

   Odds are, that if these are tight fitting m&t joints, you probably milled something out of square which would need to be milled over anyway.

   Look things over good. There may be a way to only have to re-do half of them.

   And try to look on the bright side. I am always telling younger woodworkers that "You can learn more about woodworking from one good screw-up, than you can from accidentally stumbling through life getting things right."

   Your lesson here is that you should always do a dry-run, before you glue up. and make sure that everything is just right before you leave it after you do glue things together.

1. 
   billballeza | Nov 13, 2004 01:59am | #11

   I did a table/apron assembly yesterday on a kitchen table I'm making for my daughter.

   The m&t joints were tight but I overcame the temptation to glue up without dry fitting.. instead, dry fitting it all to the point of clamp up. (2 5t bar clamps and 4 Bessey K bodys).

   I was so happy to see that assembly sit flat on the floor that it was a pure joy to unclamp.. tap everything apart and do the glue up. I was much more organized for the glue up.. and I had supreme confidence because I already knew the outcome.

   After glue up I kept walking up.. trying to rock the assembly.. just to see how solidly it sits on the floor. Oh, there are some good moments in this craft!

   (I still haven't attached the top.. or even laid it on the assembly to see how flat it is.. so I shouldn't be gloating yet.)

4. 
   BarryR | Nov 12, 2004 05:46am | #8

   Use a heat gun and/or a heat lamp to slowly heat the joint.  It can take a while - up to an hour - for the heat to penetrate the joint.  Once it does, the joint will come apart easily.

1. 
   Biscardi | Nov 12, 2004 10:55am | #9

   Thanks for everyone's replies.

   I put a clamp on diagonally and it tweaked into square. I'll put some corner braces on it and it will be fine.

   Thanks

   Frank

1. 
   AlanMikkelsen | Nov 12, 2004 06:06pm | #10

   Ditto on the heat gun.  Take your time and the joints will come apart.Alan & Lynette Mikkelsen, Mountain View Farm, est. 1934,  Gardens & Fine Woodworking, St. Ignatius, MT