How Much Glue is Enough?

These are many heavily debated topics around the internet relating to woodworking glue. While there is a wide range of opinions on woodworking glue best practices, it is helpful to hear from an industry expert on these topics to help us to better understand the science and form our own opinions and habits in this area. When Bob Behnke, an adhesives expert from Franklin International (Titebond), stopped by to visit with George they covered a lot of ground on woodworking glue. Some of the woodworking glue topics that George and Bob discussed include:

How much woodworking glue should I use? Is it worth skimping on woodworking glue to save a few pennies? Or, in the other extreme, should we flood the joint with so much woodworking glue that it oozes all over everything on our bench, to be sure that we are not going to starve the joint?

How do I create an invisible woodworking glue line? With edge-to-edge joinery, everyone wants to glue the planks together in such a way that the glue is not visible in the final project. Is it possible to do this, and if so, how much glue should be applied?

Should I apply glue to one of the mating surface or both? This is perhaps the most widely debated glue topic of all. Some woodworkers believe that it is only important to apply glue to one surface, while others contend that you need to apply a copious amount of glue to both mating surfaces in order to fully cover the joint. Will we finally learn which camp is correct on this age-old debate?

Understanding glue is important to help you build your projects with confidence. Check out some of the woodworking project videos and articles that WWGOA has to offer.