Invisible glued joint

[skeetstar]

Folks I need to glue some pine edge to edge and for the join to be invisible. I've got the boards so that when pressed together, the joint is pretty much as I want, ie really hard to follow the the join line. I've used PVA in the past and in many instances that has left a dark tell tale along the join.. would epoxy be a better bet? Or would the fact that, dry, the join is pretty much perfect mean that the PVA won't get the chance to spoil the look?

Would welcome advice., thanks

 

[Alli]

I tend to use Titebond Original, which is easily cleaned up with a slight damp sponge at the time of glue up. I've never noticed any glue lines/marks using it.

 

[--Tom--]

A clear setting Pva would be fine if you have a good fit

 

[recipio]

You don't say but I presume you are using sash clamps to close the joints ? Ideally you should ' nip up 'the clamps to get a few beads of glue oozing out of the joint. Wait until they are ' rubbery ' and skim them off. Any PVA glue will work leaving an invisible joint.
Otherwise make sure the edge is at an absolute right angle to the face of the board. I get a perfect join off the tablesaw finding it easier than the planer. Alternate the clamps top and bottom to avoid cupping the board.

 

[Ollie78]

Titebond one or three depending on colour for preference. The three is a darker colour good for oak and stuff the original one is more yellow.
I found "normal" pva to be inconsistant, harder to clean up and leaves more of an obvious mark if you miss a bit. Now I pretty much only use titebond or if its accoya or something particularly problematic then Morrells PU glue.

Ollie

 

[skeetstar]

Thanks all, yes using sash clamps, and the various responses have given me confidence to get on with it.

I'll get some Tite Bond 1.

Thanks all.

 

[recipio]

Titebond 1 is an aliphatic resin glue - like PVA but with a resin ' ring ' in the molecule. It dries very quickly - you have about 10 mins open time. Titebonds 2+ 3 are better but leave a darker finish especially the 3 which I have found leaves a dark chocolate line. I use a cheap German glue as it dries in about 20 mins leaving a transparent line. The room temp must be above 6 C for all these glues of course.

 

[spanner48]

I tend to use 2-part epoxy [for strength, and long set-up times]. But it's thick and viscous, so leaves a visible glue-line that yellows and darkens with age. So:

1: Warm the material beforehand. At ±80ºC, epoxy turns virtually water-like, and can be clamped [or rubbed] to produce a very fine joint-line. In this case, I would clamp it up dry, then add the glue from UNDERNEATH - relying on capillary force to suck it into the joint.

2: Add some TiO2 [Titanium dioxide] to the glue mix. It turns it white/transparent.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Use Everbuid 502 or D4 - much cheaper than Titebond. I can't see why any decent white PVA would leave a visible line in a good joint.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Folks I need to glue some pine edge to edge and for the join to be invisible. I've got the boards so that when pressed together, the joint is pretty much as I want, ie really hard to follow the the join line. I've used PVA in the past and in many instances that has left a dark tell tale along the join.. would epoxy be a better bet? Or would the fact that, dry, the join is pretty much perfect mean that the PVA won't get the chance to spoil the look?

Would welcome advice., thanks

Your choice of adhesive isn't the cause of visible glue lines in panel glue-ups. The fault only occurs if your edge preparation is poor and/or your assembly procedure is lacking in some way, e.g., not enough pressure applied with cramps to bring the prepared and glued edges together firmly enough to result in at least a few beads of blue squeezing out along the glue line on both faces of the panel.

This link on panel edge prep and glue-ups might help. Slainte.

 

[niall Y]

I remember back in the days when Unibond was the only PVA on the market, and folks would thin it down, slightly with a little water and put it old Fairy liquid bottles. This could cause a darkened glue line, especially when gluing oak, or if it came into contact with the bars of the sash clamps.

Still to this day I place little paper or card squares where the bars of the clamps cross the glue line, though I moved on from using Unibond decades ago.

 

[Cabinetman]

I tend to use 2-part epoxy [for strength, and long set-up times]. But it's thick and viscous, so leaves a visible glue-line that yellows and darkens with age. So:

1: Warm the material beforehand. At ±80ºC, epoxy turns virtually water-like, and can be clamped [or rubbed] to produce a very fine joint-line. In this case, I would clamp it up dry, then add the glue from UNDERNEATH - relying on capillary force to suck it into the joint.

2: Add some TiO2 [Titanium dioxide] to the glue mix. It turns it white/transparent.

Well we all have our different ways but this seems like an awful lot of fuss and effort when you could just use PVA, I’ve always used Evostick and never had a glue joint fail, and I’ve built a Lot of furniture.
Ian

 

[rob1693]

Custards sticky on edge jointing is essential reading, improved my joints no end

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/how-to-edge-joint.112936/