Low temperature glue up help

Scott H

Scott
User
I am trying to complete a small workbench I am building. The project has been kind of protracted so I am ready to just get it over with. The stretchers attach to the legs with lap dovetail joints and those are the only joints I still need to glue. The workbench is currently inside my garage which is not heated and with the temperatures being what they are, I am worried it may be too cold to glue up. I am not sure I can use a space heater per my lease and even if I could I would want to actually be awake to monitor it while it is on. I am in an apartment and I do not really have any place that is heated and is also ideal for doing a glue up of a piece this size, I would have to do it over carpet with a dropcloth or block access to my kitchen or front door to do it.

The garage has been basically 50-52 degrees over the past 24 hours according to the cheap digital thermometer I have but I am not sure I trust that down to the degree.

Adhesives I have available are TB3 (recommended > 47 F), Titebond liquid hide glue (recommended > 50 F), old brown hide glue (min temp unspecified - does this mean there is none?), totalboat 5:1 traditional epoxy w/ slow hardener (recommended > 60 F.) I was hoping to use TB3 but it feels cutting it close. Obviously I can warm the glues before applying but the workbench and the air are another matter.

Does anyone have any thoughts or tips? Am I being overly conservative on anything here? I just don't want to screw up the last step after working on this thing in fits and starts over 2 years.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
I had that problem one time and brought the project in to the kitchen table.
Worked a treat.

If not able to do that then bring the wood in for 24 hours to thoroughly warm then take it out to the garage to glue.
 

Scott H

Scott
User
If not able to do that then bring the wood in for 24 hours to thoroughly warm then take it out to the garage to glue.

That is one of the big questions I have -- I have always figured Titebond III is done curing after about 24 hours, and once cured it can endure lower temps. But I know in reality there is probably some number X between 0 and 24 hours where it will be OK and I have no intuition if X is 30 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours? etc.

If you were closer, I would tell you just to bring it over to my shop.

I appreciate it. I am kind of stubbornly trying to figure this out without moving it around too much, I haven't even checked if it will fit in my car now that the legs are glued into the top.
 

cyclopentadiene

Update your profile with your name
User
I always bring pieces in the house for glue ups in winter. We have a “formal living room” which is useless heated space. I slide the tables put of the way, cover the hardwoods with tarps and have a great 350 sq foot heated room for glue ups!
Finishing is a little more challenging but I can move the cars from the Garage and get tge temp to about 65degrees with space heaters so it works for spraying.
 

Scott H

Scott
User
I ended up just waiting until it warmed up. Was able to finish the last stretcher/leg joints today. Thanks all for your suggestions and offers of assistance. Will post pictures once I have flushed up the joints with a plane.
 

Craptastic

Matt
Corporate Member
Might be an opportunity for cooperation here. My new workshop (not large but with a pellet stove heater and still getting it set up) can be available for folks to come do glueups as long as I don't have a project I need the space for at the time. I see ScottM up above made such an offer also.

Fair notice I'm not so hot on use of the tools in the space unless amenable to the owner of the space to do so.

Maybe some kind of registry of folks willing to offer the room if available? Make sure the person is vetted and the use of the space is mutual so current projects I (yes I'm selfish sometimes) or others have going on isn't interrupted. But, you know, some folks you can PM if you need the space for such. And we are willing to share.

Seems like a good group here to maybe work something like that out?
 

TBoomz

New User
Ron
as an aside, are TB2 & TB3 still useable after they've been frozen, or should the bottles be thrown out?
 

Woodman2k

Greg Bender
Corporate Member
I've had mixed results with both so I lean towards throwing out and replacing if I even think I might be pushing it. I throw it for past date jugs also.
 

petebucy4638

Pete
Corporate Member
I am trying to complete a small workbench I am building. The project has been kind of protracted so I am ready to just get it over with. The stretchers attach to the legs with lap dovetail joints and those are the only joints I still need to glue. The workbench is currently inside my garage which is not heated and with the temperatures being what they are, I am worried it may be too cold to glue up. I am not sure I can use a space heater per my lease and even if I could I would want to actually be awake to monitor it while it is on. I am in an apartment and I do not really have any place that is heated and is also ideal for doing a glue up of a piece this size, I would have to do it over carpet with a dropcloth or block access to my kitchen or front door to do it.

The garage has been basically 50-52 degrees over the past 24 hours according to the cheap digital thermometer I have but I am not sure I trust that down to the degree.

Adhesives I have available are TB3 (recommended > 47 F), Titebond liquid hide glue (recommended > 50 F), old brown hide glue (min temp unspecified - does this mean there is none?), totalboat 5:1 traditional epoxy w/ slow hardener (recommended > 60 F.) I was hoping to use TB3 but it feels cutting it close. Obviously I can warm the glues before applying but the workbench and the air are another matter.

Does anyone have any thoughts or tips? Am I being overly conservative on anything here? I just don't want to screw up the last step after working on this thing in fits and starts over 2 years.
I completed a few glue-ups about a month ago using Tite-Bond III when the temperature in the garage was around 48 degrees. I let the work set in the clamps for 48 hours, and I had no problem with the glue curing. A scrap piece from the lamination, when tested to failure, split the wood, not the glue. When I needed to repair a 36" kitchen drawer, repairing a joint that had come loose, I didn't want to wait for over a day for the glue to cure (same temperature - about 48 degrees. I glued up the joint, put it in the clamps, covered the drawer in an old bedsheet, and clamped the sheet to the workbench. Using a blow-dryer on high for heat, the sheet blew up like a balloon over the drawer. When the temperature got up to 120 degrees F, I turned the blow-dryer down to medium heat. When I checked the joint in about 45 minutes, it was ready to go.

For isolated joints, like a work bench leg being glued to the work bench, you can simply set the blow-dryer up so that it is aimed at the joint. I have attached blow-dryers to everything from camera tripods to sawhorses. All you need to do is to keep the joint warm long enough for the glue to set up. Tite-Bond III glue sets pretty quickly at 100 degrees F. I recommend preheating the wood before applying the glue. I use a digital infrared thermometer to check the temperature.
 

Scott H

Scott
User
Since I promised I'd post pictures after the glue-up... This is a small 21"x36" workbench for a constrained space. The glue up was for the dovetail lap joint stretchers. I definitely am going to need a bigger bench at some point but this was a good size to be able to easily manipulate and flip by myself while being a hermit during covid. I definitely learned a lot since this is my first workpiece at this size that is not just super rough utility grade. The only stationary machine used was a 10" benchtop drill press.

Still a few things here and there to do on it, like flatten the top, but I am going to bring it inside climate control and let it adjust for a bit first.
 

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pop-pop

Man with many vises
Corporate Member
That bench should serve you well and still be useful when you build a bigger one. It is portable enough to bring to a workshop where workstations are lacking.
 
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