Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 I am extremely annoyed, I made a couple cutting boards a few days and I did everything according to the the label on titebond 3. Let the glue dry for 24 hours, use every clamp I own, leave in a warm stable environment, and yet I still get cracks! They weren't there when I first started sanding and routing, but now after two days of sitting in my house at 75 degrees (a 20 degree difference from my shop) they started to develop cracks on the joints and they also moved vertically so they are no longer flat. I have until Friday night to fix this otherwise I can't give my sister mediocre work. Is there anything I can do? P.S There is no way I'm going to redo/Re glue and I already applied oil Thank you for any input -Maxim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ..Kev Posted December 21, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 What was the moisture content of the lumber before glue up? Was it at equilibrium in your shop? Fresh lumber in the shop should be rough milled a little over sized a couple days before use and then final milled right before use. Sorry to say but, the easiest/quickest fix is to cut it off and reglue it. There is no need to leave it in clamps for 24 hours! A couple hours at most is sufficient to pull it out and sand it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 It was all dry lumber and the moisture in my house and shop in almost the same. I have no idea what happened everything was perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 It's also possible to squeeze the glue out of a joint, especially with woods like Hard Maple. Maybe even a combination of wood not being dry enough, and too much clamp pressure. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Just now, Tom King said: It's also possible to squeeze the glue out of a joint, especially with woods like Hard Maple. Maybe even a combination of wood not being dry enough, and too much clamp pressure. That may be a possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Did none of the joints with the more porous woods open up? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 5 minutes ago, Tom King said: Did none of the joints with the more porous woods open up? I sanded then used compressed air to open the pores before glue up, I did in fact use a weird exotic wood and the glue didn't hold at all for that but other than that I took every precaution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 I meant in that particular cutting board. Also, did all the joints fit perfectly before glue up? The way that one joint looks like it rolled open on one side tells me that either they didn't fit perfectly before, or the wood was not really dry. What method did you use to determine how dry the wood was? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Just now, Tom King said: I meant in that particular cutting board. Also, did all the joints fit perfectly before glue up? Oh! Yeah they opened up, 90% of the joints have moved. Yes they were all flawless during and after glue up I took a lot of time to ensure that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 No. I asked about before glue up. Glue and clamps won't fix a poor fitting joint. Hopefully, it was just too much clamp pressure, which can easily be remedied next time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 1 minute ago, Tom King said: No. I asked about before glue up. Glue and clamps won't fix a poor fitting joint. Hopefully, it was just too much clamp pressure, which can easily be remedied next time. Like i said the joints were flawless before, during and after glue up, a day after is when the started moving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krtwood Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 How old is the glue? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Just now, krtwood said: How old is the glue? Bought it for the project, Its a head scratcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krtwood Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 I'd probably take a chisel and give her a love tap and see if I could get one of the joints to just pop apart. If it's a glue failure, whether bad glue or overly squeezed out it ought to come apart fairly easy. If it's a moisture problem it should hold together. That's my theory anyway. Going straight to ripping it all apart isn't going to tell you what the problem was in the first place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 I agree with others, rip that one board off (it should be glue ready right off the saw) and re-glue it and you’re good to go. Before your next edge glue up, look into to using cauls and maybe less horizontal clamp pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown craftsman Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Where the joints made on a tablesaw. Too me it looks like a joint that wasn't square to the face. I clamp the crap out of my cutting boards and also thin the glue a bit because I hate heavy glue lines. But the wood need to square to the face along it length. Aj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 It's pretty clear, especially in the 3rd pic that the wood has moved. If the joints we indeed all tight before clamps were applied then that leaves the moisture issue as the problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Bottom pic shows two surfaces that are not true to each other. Obviously something happened. If they fit like a glove before glue up then the material was not as ready for use as you thought or was exposed to some extreme afterwards. The fact that "90% of the joints have moved" points pretty well to one or the other. It can be irritating when we feel that we have followed all the rules and still end up with empirical proof that something went wrong. I totally get you not wanting to share sub-par work. I too would rather give something I am happy with "late" than rush something that I will have to apologize for. Rip the failed joints and re-glue if you want to save them but, with just a little more effort you could make them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny4 Posted December 21, 2017 Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 I have had that exact same color issue with titebond 3. It dries to this really dirty brownish color. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Redwood Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Thanks for the input everybody, I guess I have to go with the majority decision cut and re glue. This time I'm going with a different glue and different boards on the side because those seem to have the biggest impact. Thank you -Maxim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 22, 2017 Report Share Posted December 22, 2017 Check every strip for smooth square cuts. I will often run all my strips through the planer or drum sander to clean up the faces. I run a pencil mark on all the surfaces to be glued and then take the absolute lightest pass to remove the mark. If you have snipe issues that will probably not work in your situation. Titebond 2 works for me. Do a dry run before you glue it up. This makes you have all the clamps & cauls handy for the real thing. Either glue it up in smaller sections or work a little faster. Covering your cauls with packing tape is a very good idea. In high school the teacher would test your glued up cutting board by sliding it off the bench & letting it hit the concrete floor. If it survived you could continue to the planer . I think he was fed up with boards self destructing inside the planer. No body used cauls or made end grain boards back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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