The right glue for furniture repair?

2/10/07, 7:56 PM #1

Steve Yakoban
Guest

The right glue for furniture repair?

Steve Yakoban

>We just had a good sized wardrobe cabinet stripped for reclamation as a usable piece of furniture. The piece is probably about 65 years old, some pine type of paint grade wood with very few knots, intended to be repainted again.

There are a couple of cracked boards - one is from use of a corrugated fastener that caused a split about 10 inches long.

What is the best type of glue for fixing these splits/cracks? I have a good grade of yellow carpenter's glue, but is there something better? Will any chemical stripping residue have any affect on gluing?

Also, is there a recommended wood filler for this (to be painted) piece? Any other pre-painting tips?

Thanks guys!

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

2/11/07, 12:02 AM #2

Ed Mulligan
Guest

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

>Yellow glue is fine for furniture repair. Some folks use hide glue for joinery because it easy to 'unglue' should the need arise.

It is important that the surfaces to be glued are clean, fresh wood. Use sandpaper in the crack to clean out the stripper and get down to clean wood. If you can't get the crack clean you might be able to kerf it with a saw and install a new piece of wood in the kerf. Another workaround is to reinforce the crack from the underside with canvas or wood glued on.

For painted surfaces the best material for filling cracks and dings is autobody filler such as Bondo.

Ed

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

2/11/07, 3:10 AM #3

Steve Yakoban
Guest

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

Steve Yakoban

>Thanks. The two main cracks will be challenging to clean...

Bondo? Really? There's no issue with different expansion/contraction between the wood and filler causing problems?

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

2/11/07, 12:17 PM #4

David Yoho
Member
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Registered: 1/5/04

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

David Yoho

>Since you're painting the wood anyway, why not fill the remaining crack with a mixture of fine sawdust and glue? Either yellow or liquid hide would work. Although I prefer to use hide glue on old furniture like yours, the fact that it'll be covered by paint gives you a choice.

David

- - -

I live in Mechanicsville, VA (not far from Richmond) and I've been building furniture and cabinetry for well over 20 years now. It all started with my frustration of not being able to cut a straight line with a hand saw. About this same time, a guy named Norm appeared on my local PBS station. The more I watched, the more I learned. I also started thinking, "Hey, I can do that"! And so, I began with small projects and soon found myself moving up to increasingly advanced work. Word of mouth started the ball rolling and before I knew it, I was building all kinds of things for people. While this is not what I do to pay the bills, it has provided me with a means of equipping my shop over the years. The main downside to all of this is when my wife looks at a finished project and says, "I want one of those" and I know I don't have the time to make that happen right then. I take advantage of any slack time between commissions to work on things we want and this seems to keep her "on my side". She even surprised me one day with a new Tormek sharpening system. Sometimes it pays to leave that tool catalog lying around open! For me, woodworking is a type of therapy. I can go out to the shop and totally forget about the world outside. There have been days when I get out there early and before I know it, it's dark outside and I have no idea where the time went! I also enjoy challenging my skills and learning new things. Most of the time, since the majority of my work tends to be custom pieces, I'm working on projects I�ve never built before. While this takes me longer than if I were doing production work, I find it more appealing because there's always something new to learn. I haven't had any formal training in woodworking. My teachers have been experience, the many books and magazines I've read, WoodCentral, and of course, a guy named Norm.

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

2/11/07, 1:09 PM #5

Ed Mulligan
Guest

Yep, Bondo or equivalent

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

>Any filler except solid wood will have different expansion rates than wood. If you put it in a crack that hasn't been stabilized the crack will continue to crack, as it would with any filler.

Bondo is popular as a filler because it cures fast, sands easily, and takes finish well. For clear work it can be tinted.

Ed

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

2/11/07, 11:30 PM #6

Orion/.Denton, TX
Guest

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

Orion/.Denton, TX

>Bondo is an absolute yes. It will expand and contract with wood and will fill very large voids if necessary. If you sand it level you won't see it beneath the paint.

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

2/12/07, 4:00 AM #7

Steve Yakoban
Guest

Re: The right glue for furniture repair?

Steve Yakoban

>I'm sold! Thanks guys!

The right glue for furniture repair?

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