I’ve only been a woodworker for a short time so I will now ask my first stupid question (many more to follow, I’m afraid).
My shop is an unheated garage. In winter I work on days when the temp is under 45%. I use glue when I build doors, drawers, or anything else than I can bring into my warm house to dry. But the case construction is done in my garage. Are screws alone strong enough to hold the case, frace frames, etc.? Should I apply glue also, even though the directions say (titebond II) glue shouldn’t be used at lower temps? Is there a glue that is better in Winter?
Thanks
Replies
The very short answer is yes, you certainly build furniture with little or no glue. I build almost all of my furniture that way.
The Shaker chest in my bio section is built almost glue free, the only glue used was to make the wide floating panels in the upper part of the cabinet and to veneer the front of the drawer. All of the carcass construction, door frames, and drawer construction is entirely joined with screw joints. The screws, just ordinary sheetrock screws, are either hidden on the inside of the cabinet, covered with plugs, or hidden behind the nailed on moldings.
The arched top chest is also an all screw construction piece, even the staves in the arched top are joined edge to edge with screws.
While it is possible to build with little or no glue you will find almost no information on the subject, I pretty much invented all of the types of joints I use.
I grew up playing with Erector Sets, went to school to be an engineer, was a Volkswagen factory mechanic for awhile, and learned the machinists trade along the way so I'm well grounded in the various ways that components can be mechanically joined together. I hope someday to write a book on my way of building furniture, but for now I can't recommend any good sources of information.
John White
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