# Routing a glued up panal



## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

I know there will be a lot of "ifs" in answering this question but I feel it's worth asking since it might save me days with my projects.

I glue up small panels usually consisting of two to four boards. Overall size of the panels range from 6" X 12" up to 24" X 24". All my wood is 4/4 and is usually hardwood although I use a lot of pine for my prototypes and jigs. My usual glue is Titebond II. I work in my basement where the average temperature is around 62 F and low humidity. My joints consist of edge to edge glue only joints. No biscuits, dowels or screws.

My question is this. How long do I have to wait for the glue to dry before i can work the panel. I'd like to cut it to final size and finish all of the edges on the router table as soon as possible without screwing up the panel. I currently glue up the panel, come back in 30 to 45 minutes and scrape off the squeeze out then come back again in about an hour and remove the clamps. Here's the part i question. Since the glue bottle says to wait 24 hours before stressing the joints, i wait until the next day before doing any final milling to the panel. Is the 24 hour wait time necessary? I know that if i'm too quick, and the glue isn't totally dry i'll gum up the router bit and i'm also afraid that if i'm too quick the panel may change its dimensions as the moisture from the glue leaves the panel. 

If any of you work in similar conditions please let me know what your experiences have been and any other advice you can give me? With a limited number of clamps along with a limited work area it can take me days to get all the panels completed. I'd really like to reduce that time but not at the risk of ruining the project.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

I would not router in less then 24 hours, but you can pull the clamps after 45 minutes so glue and clamp all the panels today and router tomorrow. We all would like to rush the project but through my experience I usually pay for it, and lose time and have to start over.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Barry747 said:


> Since the glue bottle says to wait 24 hours before stressing the joints, i wait until the next day before doing any final milling to the panel. Is the 24 hour wait time necessary?


I always wipe the squeezeout right away. I always (normally) let the glue go 24 hours. Just in case. In any event, I can always find something else to do with my shop time while I'm waiting on it to set. There was a thread a short time back about an instant glue, and apparently instant is the word to describe it, put it together wrong, and you get instant adhesion. You might want to check on that stuff. I started the thread, but am not in the mood just now to hunt it down and provide a link.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Semipro said:


> I would not router in less then 24 hours, but you can pull the clamps after 45 minutes so glue and clamp all the panels today and router tomorrow. We all would like to rush the project but through my experience I usually pay for it, and lose time and have to start over.


When making glued up panels for doors, I pull the clamps after 45 minutes and sit it aside and do another one. I have room and clamps for two panels, and sometimes three.

I always set my timer on my smart-alec phone so I know when to remove the clamps. It is easy to get distracted. At least it is for me.

Good luck.
Mike


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## rwbaker (Feb 25, 2010)

I've done a lot of glue-ups similar to yours during the last 3 years in a outdoor shop and like most I use 24 hours as a minimum (with clamps) and try to let it sit for 24 more hours without. I've found that Tight-Bond takes a lot longer below 75F than above but never less than 24 hours, even at 90+F. High Humidity (35~45%) and 55F or below can take as long as 4 days. Elmer's, Gorilla wood glue (no urethanes) and the Harbor freight store brand seem to follow the same rules. These have been my experiences and I hope they help - Baker


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

It sounds like at least 24 hours to set up before additional milling is the right way to go. I'll stick with what I'm doing and not try to cut any corners (pun intended). Thank you all for your feedback. I appreciate it.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Barry.
I usually make some wooden splices by placing a slat that fits into a dado routed on the edges of each piece. Previously I put white glue and later, I insert the slat, clamp the assembly and let it for overnight, after that I continue with the process (cut to length, HPL application and so on)


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## kywoodchopper (Jul 18, 2013)

Hi Barry, I am not an expert on any subject, but I can tell you how I glue up. Since the instructions says not to subject the wood to stress for 24 hours, my panels are never subject to stress. I use Titebond II glue and I purchase in small bottles. Once open I throw away after 6 months. If I am gluing a table leg, chair leg, table top, etc. I leave clamps on over night. For box tops and panels which won't be under stress I leave the clamps on 2 hours or so. On all glue up, I dry clamp to make sure everything fits properly. I put enough glue to cover all edges. If using porous wood I make sure both boards get plenty of glue. After clamping I immediately use damp towel to remove excess glue.

Yesterday I glued up three pieces of tiger maple for a box top. I left one board about 7" longer than the others so when I run them through the planer I don't snipe the wood. I left the clamps on a couple hours, removed the clamps and ran the boards through the thickness planer, sanded them, cut to size and applied a coat of finish within 4-hours of start resawing the boards. I have never had a glue failure with 40-years experience. Malcolm / Kentucky USA


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## lenh (Feb 27, 2009)

kywoodchopper said:


> Hi Barry, I am not an expert on any subject, but I can tell you how I glue up. Since the instructions says not to subject the wood to stress for 24 hours, my panels are never subject to stress. I use Titebond II glue and I purchase in small bottles. Once open I throw away after 6 months. If I am gluing a table leg, chair leg, table top, etc. I leave clamps on over night. For box tops and panels which won't be under stress I leave the clamps on 2 hours or so. On all glue up, I dry clamp to make sure everything fits properly. I put enough glue to cover all edges. If using porous wood I make sure both boards get plenty of glue. After clamping I immediately use damp towel to remove excess glue.
> 
> Yesterday I glued up three pieces of tiger maple for a box top. I left one board about 7" longer than the others so when I run them through the planer I don't snipe the wood. I left the clamps on a couple hours, removed the clamps and ran the boards through the thickness planer, sanded them, cut to size and applied a coat of finish within 4-hours of start resawing the boards. I have never had a glue failure with 40-years experience. Malcolm / Kentucky USA



+1 for Malcom. I do exactly the same thing. I have even routed a decorative edge after a couple hours. I never noticed any problem with glue gumming up the bit. As stated, table legs, chair parts, or other structural parts I leave dry overnight. Think about it - after glue up you still have to shape, sand, and finish. That means it is always more than 24 hours before the joint put under stress of any kind. Not recommending this - but I've turned spindles on a lathe after only 3 hours of glue up. The key is to have tight fitting joints to begin with.


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## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

I have to agree with Malcolm and Len. I think it depends greatly on humidity and temperature. Here in hot, dry west Texas I have tried to separate freshly glued pieces after about 1/2 hour, and could not separate them without destroying them. We use Titebond II almost exclusively. 

Dick


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

From your additional feedback it does sound like 24 hours for parts like panels is overkill. Most of my projects have been small ones like toys for the grandkids and my panel experience was gluing up sides for step stools. I'm starting to move up to larger items. I'm currently making a table to hold a couple of computer printers, one under the other. I glued up the sides, left them in the clamps overnight then added the front and back the next day. It's certainly strong, if a bit wobbly. First time I've made a table. The legs are off about 1/32". I'll sand it down when i'm done.

Malcom - first off, really nice box. I've used curly maple for some toys. Love the grain. Easy to pop. I like danish oil then poly. I recently bought a thickness planner and i'm lucky that, right out of the box, there's no snipe. However, if/when i run into the problem i'll remember the extra length board rather than making the whole panel longer. Save some wood. Good tip.

Len - I agree. As in the table sides I mentioned above, since I was going to use the side panels in another glue up I waited almost 24 hours before subjecting them to clamping pressure even though it was in a different plane and didn't really stress the joints in the side panels. I did use the "better safe than stupid" approach that time. 

Dick - I had that problem two weeks ago. I glued up a door for the table i mentioned, using three pieces of cutoffs. I chalked a "V" across the panels, jointed them then glued them up using Titetbond II. About 15 to 20 minutes later i glanced over at the glue up and noticed that the center board didn't have a chalk mark. I had reversed the center board. After beating myself up for not paying attention (otherwise known as "idiot") I did manage to break the boards along their glue lines but it was close. Another 10 minutes or so and that wouldn't have happened. I was able to clean the glue off, re-joint and re-glue. Of course, I then screwed up the stain and had to make a new one anyway, but that's another story.


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## MadRussian (Apr 20, 2011)

If you heat up the panel for 30-- 40 min. at 100° F you can start cutting it in an hour. I'm using heat blankets and have no problems. While I'm not making panels I'm gluing 1/2'x1/2" 7 foot long strips of hardwood into 6 inch wide piece


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

IMHO Stress on the JOINT is the warning on the bottle NOT stress on the board. In the above examples jointing boards vs table legs, the stress on chair leg differs from stress on boards joined.
The stress test on boards edge joined is to slam it on the bench corner. That is the type of stress not to put on the board before 24 hrs. This would apply to running a board through surface planer IF the board has a slight cup to it.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

paduke said:


> IMHO Stress on the JOINT is the warning on the bottle NOT stress on the board. In the above examples jointing boards vs table legs, the stress on chair leg differs from stress on boards joined.
> The stress test on boards edge joined is to slam it on the bench corner. That is the type of stress not to put on the board before 24 hrs. This would apply to running a board through surface planer IF the board has a slight cup to it.


Bill, that makes a lot of sense. Running a cupped panel through a thickness planner would stress the board along the glue line. However, before i'd run a slightly cupped panel through the planner, i'd knock down the edges (top side of the "U") as best as I could so that i'd have a flat reference surface. But, i'd still wait a day before i did that. If the panel was seriously cupped i'd either recut it or toss it into the scrap box.


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