Hello all --

I seem to spend a fair percentage of my build time mitigating, removing, and cleaning up glue sqeeze out. I must admit, it's not one of my favorite tasks, and I figured the combined wisdom of fellow OLFers might shed some light on this sticky subject.

Each technique I try seems fraught with its own drawbacks -- minimizing sqeeze out risks compromising the joint, wiping it off with a damp rag introduces moisture into the wood, and chiseling/scraping/sanding afterwards is incredibly time consuming and frustrating.

What are your techniques? So far, the most promising thing I've found has been Hesh's hhg tutorial -- rolling off the sqeezed out boogers before the stuff fully kicks. I'll probably eventually go to this for braces, but in the meantime, what can one do to deal with good ol' Titebond?

Thanks in advance.

Ken

Great advice, guys. You're the best!

Is LMI's hhg as good as any other?

I learned a tip from Frank Finnochio about using titebond:

Use a small bottle to disperse your glue and then when you have enough glue on the piece use your little finger (pinkey finger) to spread it out (wipe your finger across the glue like a squeegee). This way, most excess glue is wiped away before you have do deal with it as squeezeout. Keep a piece of blue tape on the corner of your workbench to wipe yout little finger on. You usually dont use your little finger for this kind of work anyway, so just keep it curled up and out of the way until your work is clamped. What little bit of glue that is on your finger will peel off really easy in a few minutes. I have so little squeezeout using this method that it is hardly worth talking about. What little bit there is will pop right off with a light scrape of a 1/4" chisel after it has dried.

I tend to use a lot less glue also.

Great advice from everyone. Thank you. I'm definitely giving hhg a try. Where is titebond preferable over hhg, or vice versa? Perhaps bindings, where one needs longer working time, and the outside corners are easier to clean up?

I'm one who can't wait for the stuff to go leathery, cause I've usually moved on to something else, forgetting entirely. Looks like I'm swiping the timer from the kitchen. Great idea.

I think I also just need to refine my application technique to get just enough on there to ensure a strong joint, while also getting better at getting things in place before the glue seeps into the wood. So much to learn. At least when I need a break from the precision and attention to detail, I can go make some sculpture.