Wood working question

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scott_l

Member
I am doing a wood working project (oak wood), that I want to stain and then varnish before I assemble it. Most of it will be assembled/held together with glue. My question is will the glue still do it’s “job” (bond to the wood) after I stain and vanish the wood?

I don’t want to assemble/glue it first and then stain and vanish it as I have some polycarbonate (similar to acrylic) sheets that will be a part of the project (hence don’t want to get stain and varnish on them).
 
gary_in_neenah

gary_in_neenah

Super Moderator
Staff member
You should be good to go, Scott. The stain and varnish won't effect the glues performance. I've done the same thing many times (shadow boxes and picture frames) without issues and any Wood Glue should be fine, I prefer Elmer's Pro Bond, I've also used Gorilla.

** After posting I started thinking about this, went down to the workshop and read the label on Elmer's Pro Bond. It actually does mention that the surface should be clean and free of coatings, meaning wood on wood.
So I stand corrected...sort of. As I mentioned above, I've done the same procedure many times with no issues. Good Luck with your project, hope it turns out nice!
 
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garyl62

garyl62

Active member
No disrespect to Gary, but I'd be careful about doing it that way. If you're really looking for a good bond the glue needs to go into the wood fibers and the varnish (or polyurethane) will create a sealed finish that will prevent the glue from doing it's job in the same manner as raw wood would allow. Roughing the area up with some sand paper may help, or stain it first but skip the varnish until after it's assembled. You can use frog tape to tape off the polycarbonate during your finish stage. On the other hand, if your doing some lighter duty project like Gary mentioned in his reply you could very well be ok. If the finish product will be regularly handled, or strengh is required I'd figure out if you could do some of it before you put the final finish coat on it.

Good luck!
 
gary_in_neenah

gary_in_neenah

Super Moderator
Staff member
Yup, what Garyl62 said. If it's something that is going to be handled, stressed, etc. it'd be better to go wood to wood. I also have used small Brad Nails to reinforce corners on some projects that needed more strength and durability.
 
Admin

Admin

Administrator
Staff member
Definitely keep any glued surfaces raw. The glue is designed to work only with raw wood. I can see how a project that has been totally finished out and then glued will hold initially, or if not stressed at all, but eventually will fail. A properly glued wood joint will actually be stronger than the surrounding joints. I have built some jigs or fixtures that I have ended up getting rid of and in almost all cases, when I went to break apart the project, the glue joint did not fail before the wood members did.

You can use good painters tape to mask off the areas to be glued. Then stain and topcoat, then remove the tape to expose the glued areas for assembly. By all means, save yourself some major headaches down the road and keep all glued surfaces raw!

-John
 
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ezra

Well-known member
x2 on taping the joint u can use smaller tape so your edge still gets polly like say pinstripe tape for 1/4 or 1/2 for 3/4 stock
 
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scott_l

Member
Thanks for the info guys......strength will definitely be a priority as I am making a gate to keep junior from taking a spill down there stairs. I told the wife let him take a spill or two, he will learn quickly, I also made the comment that if it doesn't kill him it will make him stronger (ya I was kidding on both comments but back in the day none of this safety crap was around).

We started looking to purchase a gate but we have an odd size opening and the ones we found looked like crap/had poor reviews.

So I decided to build one to match our wood railing/spindles. I'll post pictures when I am finished.
 
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anonomoose

New member
scott_l said:
Thanks for the info guys.... I told the wife let him take a spill or two, he will learn quickly, I also made the comment that if it doesn't kill him it will make him stronger (ya I was kidding on both comments but back in the day none of this safety crap was around). .....
Click to expand...

Hummm.....everyone take note here.....NOWADAYS, those sorts of things are frowned upon! Child abuse happens all the time.....remember this kid is going to decide one day whether or not you need to get dumped into an nursing home....so it is best not to get him started with brain damage that was caused by wood joints that were supposed to hold but because you wanted to cut some corners....gave way and well...you get the point!

Take care of that little guy...he will someday have to decide whether or not you are "worth it" and slam you into a home! I bet he will use un-finished glue joints when he does that one!

Besides he is going to lose your tools, burn up your lawn mower, smack up 5 cars/trucks and knock up the neighbor on his first trip around the block...you owe it to him to give him un-finished glue joint!

Beer anyone!!!
 
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