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Wed 9 Nov, 2005 08:09 pm
I just acquired a blanket chest that looks like a truck ran over. The piece is well made with hand dovetails and habd planed mouldings and pegged construction. I figure its early 1800's. Its been smashed and I want to put it back together. Ive cleaned up the sections to be joined (Its whats known as a 6 board blanket chest, its about 54" long 26 " wide and about 28" high) The lid is busted like somebody was trying to make karate firewood. The right sides dovetails are smashed and the rear of the box is in 4 pieces)
Ive got the pieces cleaned and matched and LORDY, everything is there.
NOW. What kinda glue should I use for the piecing back together. Im going to work very deliberately . I have lots of glue clamps , I borrowed freom my carpeneter friend but I didnt want to take more than 4 aned I have 4 of my own so I can do one board at a time. Is Gorilla glue better than woodworking Elmers?
Opinions cheerfully accepted, and any critiques on how to do this best will also be accepted. Im not a beginner but Im not a pro either.
Oh, theres a little "glove box" near the top left of the chest, under the lid. This , in Pa Dutch is the "Till" Its a lidded box that is fit into dadoes that form a box pattern into which the boards forming the till are slid. Then a swinging hatch lid , with carved posts that act as hingepins are stck into holes on the side of the chest. Wellsir these are busted off, and Im figuring to insert pegs to act as hingepins, any better ideas?
The box was painted a really neat light blue , but thats been beat up that restoring paint is a job for a specialist. Ill find one .
I don't care much for gorrilla glue. It keeps foaming and oozing out. If moisture isn't a problem, how about hide glue. It's got a long open working time, and I think titebond has come out with a glue that gives you more than the usual glue.
You might ask around on this
site. There's a few quys that are pretty professional.
You might ask around on this
site. There's a few quys that are pretty professional. You'll have to join and confirm an email, just like a2k.
I can't offer advice (liquid nails is good enough for my projects) but good luck, sounds like a fun rebuild.
damn double post, anyhow.
I'm glue ignorant even though I own some gorilla glue. (who can resist?) Taunton's Fine Homebuilding may have a forum where opinions may vary and fly about to some use to you.
Gorilla Glue is a good quality poly glue. Better than the Elmer's carpenters glue and about the same as the Titebond II poly.
Just because of the age of your piece I would be hesitant to use a poly glue and I'd consider using a true animal glue like Pearl Animal Hide glue. If you have "issues" with an animal hide glue I've used Titebond III with excellent results. Since this doesn't sound like a piece that would be outside so I wouldn't be concerned about using a poly glue here. (Poly has the advantge of holding up if it gets wet)
I think you already have the right idea. Work slowly and piece things together one seam at a time. Let that dry and then move on to the next until you (finally) get there.
If you want to use pegs (i.e. dowels or dowel rod) I'd suggest a hardwood dowel - and wax it before you put it in. That way if any of the wood swells and things tighten up it will still be able to swing on the peg.
Different glues work better for different jobs.
If you are gluing up boards that fit tight then I would suggest a good yellow woodworkers glue like titebond for ease of use and a bond that will be stronger than the wood.
Because it is an antique you could go with traditional hide glue but then you have to deal with heating the glue etc.
Franklin has a liquid hide glue that comes in a bottle with no heating needed. A combination of the ease of bottle glue and the tradition of a glue that you can heat to take the pieces apart like hide glue.
There is a lot of information out there on woodworking forums about the types of glues and what to use when.
I didnt abandon this thread, I had a meeting that ended late last evening and then we had T storms most of the night so I pulled out the cable and the power (I dont trust any of the breaker boxes cause we often get direct lightning hits on our hill)
Thanks for the ideas and the woodworking web site.
I was hoping that I wouldnt have to use a hide glue because of its variability in holding with heating .
I too have a problem with gorilla glue because it ddoes foam up and , without evenly distributed pressure, itll make gaps .
When I used to make decoys Id glue up sections by putting down a light coat of Elmers on both sides of tyhe joint, Id let it dry and then put on a second light coat and stick the pieces (like the head to the body) together. They bond instantly and are good for outside work with flat bonding surfaces.
Ill try some of the Titebond.
The hinge pins using wax is a good idea. The fit on the lid is very tight so the pins have to be installed separately.
Im going to see about that woodworking site because I also need to touch up the blue paint at these visible cracks
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