Sometimes using wood glue for furniture repair just isn't enough. The weight and wear of certain pieces may be too much for glue alone to hold for the long road. But do not fret! We can make a stronger, and natural glue to strengthen your piece in disrepair.
The glue we are making is simple. Wood glue with sawdust. You'll need three items to make this mixture and complete this repair.
- Wood Glue
- Sawdust
- Sandpaper
The piece I am working on is a perfect example of an charmingly rustic and salvageable antique. The piece is a early 20th century tobacco stand that was lined with copper to keep the leaves fresh. But when I found this piece, all its parts were unattached, and extremely wobbly when put into place.
First thing I want to do is to choose a proper work space where I can sand down all the areas that I plan on gluing. I want to use a piece of 120-180 grit sandpaper to remove the old glue and dirt off these areas. Be carefully to not sand anything else on the piece, othwise you'll be taking off the original stain. After sanding, take a damp paper towel to remove all dirt and sand dust.
Once the area is clean, we are ready to make our batch of super glue. Grab some sawdust. "Where do I get sawdust?," you may be asking yourself. If you don't have a saw, or a neighbor that does, try using a drill and a piece of scrap wood to get a bit of this ingredient. Drill random holes, and you've got your sawdust. You won't need much. Mix some of your newly acquired sawdust with wood glue, and be sure to have more wood than glue in your mixture.
Apply a small amount of your glue mixture to the areas that will join together. When you put the parts together, either find a clamp, or in my case, use gravity to set the pieces in place. Once the glue has cured for an hour or so, stand it up right to make the piece level with the ground (grab a level if you have one to make sure).
Allow the piece to stand for at least 24 hours. Once the glue mixture has completely dried, you will have a sturdy and durable piece!
Try this glue mixture on your broken wooden piece, and see the amazing strength of this natural glue for yourself.
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As a professional woodworker I can tell you that ordinary white glue (sans saw dust) is sufficiently strong to hold most joints. Furthermore, it is the strength of the joint NOT the glue that determines failure. Really the only time to add saw dust is if you're using the "dust" of the wood you are patching in order to hide the glued area. INSIDE a joint the saw dust only serves to weaken the joint.
I don't see anything holding up those books - I could see them falling over and knocking over that vase.
Failed glue-repairs on wooden furniture are usually a result of poor clamping. Wood glue is stronger than nails if clamped properly.
Proper clamping of furniture parts often requires multiple clamps, as well as some shims and such, to allow the clamping force to be applied at the proper angles.
I've never heard of sawdust strengthening a repair, unless it is to fill in a void. I have my doubts about this article. Please provide some sort of evidence.
I think that if the problem is, like in this case, that the joints through successions of sticking together and falling apart through the years got worn out, a mixture of glue and saw dust seems a good, logical solution.
To demonstrate the strength of a good joint, my woodshop teacher glued the edges of two 1x6's (about 18" long) together, and clamped them. By the end of the class a couple of hours later, he took the piece and smashed it against the edge of a table. One of the 1x6's broke, parallel to the glued seam; but the joint itself was unphased. I've been a believer ever since!
Wow -great idea -sending this one on to our handman, I mean my brother. :P Thanks!
Btw, GREAT piece -love the way you accessorized it AND the placement in your home, but what's with all of the coffee filters in the 2nd row pic?
Joh - couldn't agree more. Glue is stronger than wood for sure (as in Annie-O's example). I second Joh's call for evidence re:sawdust "strengthening" a joint. It does not. this is false.
Little known fact: Elmer's wood glue is the same as Elmer's white glue, just with an additive to speed up the drying time and a dye to make it brown. Save the money, use what you have, and let it sit a couple extra hours.
Also a professional woodworker.
If the original joint used hide glue (which is the most likely case in antique furniture made before modern PVA glues came into widespread use, a bit past mid century) then you can often re-glue the joint with hide glue. Hide glue is great, because it's very sticky - it sticks to wood, and it sticks to itself if there is old hide glue residue present in the joint. No need for sanding. You can find liquid hide glue in a bottle for repairs from the Titebond company.
For a very damaged joint, a good gap-filling adhesive is advised over this "glue and saw dust mixture". The simplest thing to use is a quality 2-part epoxy glue. Mix the two parts equally, and wait until the glue is no longer runny, but forms more of a pastey consistency. Apply this to the surfaces to be joined. It has good gap-filling properties and will be much stronger than any "glue and dust" concoction you make. I recommend a long-time epoxy over a short-set one (eg, use the 30 minute set, not the 5 minute set) because the resulting dried epoxy tends to be more flexible with the longer-set versions.