How does glue work?

Ol' Texan asks:

>She fastens the wood frames
>together with a fast set, quick bond glue (it's white) Maxim 1/15, and then
>secures the frame in corner vises. These are vises that hold two sides
>together at a 90 degree joint. She lets the joint set, anywhere from 30
>minutes to overnight. Then she takes the frame out of the vises and uses a
>manual v-nailer to gently insert v-nails.
>Other framers tell her she is doing it wrong. That driving the v-nail in
>will 'crack' the glue joint. That she should have a pneumatic v-nailer and
>v-nail immediately upon applying glue. She's scared of a pneumatic v-nailer
>because she saw one 'blow' up once and send parts flying all over.
>Also some tell her that she shouldn't use corner vises because the glue
>needs to 'draw' the two pieces together.
>I think her method is correct. If the sides are held together tightly in
>the vise, the glue will cure and hold them together and when she gently
>inserts the v-nails it will strengthen the joint. Perhaps if she used a
>pneumatic v-nailer, it might 'pop' the joint because they use a fairly high
>pressure and 'slam' the v-nail in pretty hard.

If it works, stay with it. Your friend has a couple of misconceptions, but so
do the other framers. A good glue joint won't crack when a brand is driven into
it. Pneumatic nailers don't 'blow up' on any regular basis. I've been using
them for about 20 years, and this is the first I've even heard of one blowing
up. A pneumatic nailer actually creates fewer problems with slamming work
around--there is no bounce and second strike. The sliding hammer goes down, the
nail or brad goes in. Pressure is confined the very small area of the sliding
hammer, and its area of contact on the wood. It is even less likely to break
the joint.

That said, I don't see any reason she should change as long as she's not having
problems.

Charlie Self
"It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of
common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever
ineligible for public office." H. L. Mencken

Frankly I doubt if the following nailing is necessary. The glue joint is
stronger anyway. There is a point where clamping can be too tight and
literally sqeeze the glue from the joint but it sounds as though your friend
has not crossed that line. As said earlier. "If it's not broken don't fix
it"

EJ

Many have said, "if she isn't having to redo her work, why fix the
process". I can't improve on that. Pneumatic nailers don't blow up
with enough frequency to worry about it. The advantage of a pneumatic
nailer would be she would get her clamps back sooner. If she needs them
back sooner, it would be something to consider. Otherwise... The idea
that the glue will "draw the joint together" is a figment of someone's
imagination, IMHO.

bob g.



Charlie Self wrote:

> Ol' Texan asks:
>
>
>>She fastens the wood frames
>>together with a fast set, quick bond glue (it's white) Maxim 1/15, and then
>>secures the frame in corner vises. These are vises that hold two sides
>>together at a 90 degree joint. She lets the joint set, anywhere from 30
>>minutes to overnight. Then she takes the frame out of the vises and uses a
>>manual v-nailer to gently insert v-nails.
>>Other framers tell her she is doing it wrong. That driving the v-nail in
>>will 'crack' the glue joint. That she should have a pneumatic v-nailer and
>>v-nail immediately upon applying glue. She's scared of a pneumatic v-nailer
>>because she saw one 'blow' up once and send parts flying all over.
>>Also some tell her that she shouldn't use corner vises because the glue
>>needs to 'draw' the two pieces together.
>>I think her method is correct. If the sides are held together tightly in
>>the vise, the glue will cure and hold them together and when she gently
>>inserts the v-nails it will strengthen the joint. Perhaps if she used a
>>pneumatic v-nailer, it might 'pop' the joint because they use a fairly high
>>pressure and 'slam' the v-nail in pretty hard.
>
>
> If it works, stay with it. Your friend has a couple of misconceptions, but so
> do the other framers. A good glue joint won't crack when a brand is driven into
> it. Pneumatic nailers don't 'blow up' on any regular basis. I've been using
> them for about 20 years, and this is the first I've even heard of one blowing
> up. A pneumatic nailer actually creates fewer problems with slamming work
> around--there is no bounce and second strike. The sliding hammer goes down, the
> nail or brad goes in. Pressure is confined the very small area of the sliding
> hammer, and its area of contact on the wood. It is even less likely to break
> the joint.
>
> That said, I don't see any reason she should change as long as she's not having
> problems.
>
> Charlie Self
> "It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of
> common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever
> ineligible for public office." H. L. Mencken

"Ol' Texan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:eQVkd.497203$mD.170324@attbi_s02...

SNIP


> What do you think?

Does it really matter? Is she having to redo her work? If her methods work
don't try to fix it. Personally I would opt for the pneumatic nailer.

"Eric Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Frankly I doubt if the following nailing is necessary. The glue joint is
> stronger anyway.

Don't bet on it. Picture frames are typically end-grain to end-grain. Wood
glue does not perform well with end-grain, only edge/face grain
applications.

If glue alone really worked, picture framers would have adoped that practice
long ago.

-Steve

> There is a point where clamping can be too tight and
> literally sqeeze the glue from the joint but it sounds as though your
friend
> has not crossed that line. As said earlier. "If it's not broken don't fix
> it"
>
> EJ
>
>