Regluing old joints

[Kashka-Kat]

I'm regluing an old table - hide glue gave out. Love it when you find old furniture on the curb in pieces - because people dont know how to fix it!

I was going to use Titebond hide glue on the various legs and other parts (since it bonds to itself).... but thinking of using Titebond III yellow glue on the table top boards, for greater strength to be able to straighten and hold in place some minor warpage of the boards (very minor, like 1/4 inch at the worst). Is this a good idea?

Internet instructions say to remove the old hide glue with warm water or vinegar prior to using another type of glue - did this, but Im not seeing that the edge looks or feels like raw wood and I suspect the glue seeps down into the wood grain ? Especially oak, being oak ....? Doesnt smell like it either, still that faint hide glue odor.

Could I get a reality check here - am I better off just going with hide glue again? And what is your take re the premixed vs. mixing/heating from scratch -thx!

Re premixed, how newly made does it have to be to not have issues? Ive glued some joints already with Titebond hide glue, and the first bottle I used worked ok, but the next one not good - the glue never dried and I had to remove it and start over - the date on it was like 2012 or something like that.

[Mick_VT]

Sounds like a question for Al Fortunato, but everything I have ever read about glueing furniture says use hide glue not yellow glue

[1918ColonialRevival]

Use hide glue, not yellow glue. If something happens that the joint has to be taken apart in the future, the yellow glue will split the wood.

Also, hide glue has a finite shelf life. Under the right conditions it will last about 6-12 months, but I wouldn't use any older than that.

[Kashka-Kat]

OK hide glue it is - I think any benefit to using yellow would be lost if theres old glue on or in the wood. Whereas hide glue will stick to itself.

The guy in woodcraft suggested using dowels and sold me this little pin things to line up the holes (since I dont have a drill press or anything). We shall see!

[Al F. Furnituremaker]

Yep, hide glue is the answer. It will re-amalgamate with the old hide glue and you will have an almost new joint. Using an yellow glue (aliphatic resin), (Tightbond as a manufacturer), will require a much cleaner joint (difficult to do in a mortise).

You will need dowels, biscuits, or something similar on butt joints. Glue will not hold. There are jigs made that are used with a hand drill to align dowel holes, they work good. Edge joints, with a close fit, will hold fine without any dowels or whatever.

[phil]

I wonder if a little steam might help to soften what is there, then you could use your hide glue and what you weren't able to remove might amalgamate better? it might help get the twisted parts back where you want them too. warmth and humidity can sort of renew that old glue to some extent.

the pins are like metal dowels with center points. you drill one hole, then insert the tool so the point just protrudes a little, then fit the pieces and press them together. you can then use the prick point mark from the tool to align your drill to the second piece so the holes match up.

In certain cases you may be able to assemble and drill into both pieces and leave the dowel showing. depending what it is and how the parts align. youmight not mind the dowel showing if it is under the seat of a chair for example. I'd try to start with a tiny hole , then enlarge it rather than drilling to the full dowel size in one go. usually that's a bit more accurate as once the hole position is established it wont' really wander much by enlarging it, usually.

wood is a bit more forgiving but in metal you can have real issues if you ever try to drill a larger than 1/4" hole that exits at an angle. the drill breaks through on one side and then as it exits the other side is still cutting and that can jam the bit. drilling successively larger holes would help eliminate this issue for example. In wood it won't jam the bit but maybe it would cause it to chip out.

often my dad would also make a rough expendable jig out of a scrap of plywood to help with clamping things that are irregular shaped and hard to clamp. the plywood piece could be cut on a bandaw quickly and be made in such a way as to fit against the parts being clamped and provide a surface at a good angle to clamp against. the jig can be padded if what you are clamping is delicate. before you break out the glue, rehearse how your clamps fit so you can make any jigs needed, if necessary. this is a good trick when you are clamping rounded parts or dealing with weird angles, This is a common situation when repairing furniture.

Lee valley sells these things called plug cutters. sometimes you can hide holes by inserting a tapered plug that is cut from the same material as the piece you are working on. you just put them in a drill and drill through some scrap and the result is that the inner part of the plug cutter produces a tapered plug that will fit the hole tightly. I bought some and experimented. you have to align the grain direction and your scrap needs to be very similar in darkness , grain pattern etc. I made a lot of repairs on my stairs and used them to hide nail holes but eventually realized that if I could mix and match my putty colors carefully I seemed to make them less visible that way. some woods that have a more consistent grain pattern like mahogany or pine may be easier to hide than fir which has more contrast in it's grain pattern.
here is what the plug cutters look like
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/Page.a ... ,180,42288

if you try hiding plugs , it's good to also use a forstner bit , they don't chip as much as they enter as a twist drill will
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... ,180,42240