# best way to remove excess glue from edge glued boards



## jburchill (Feb 22, 2014)

I glued two boards together last night and I most likely used too much glue. I took a paper towel and tried to wipe it off, but it just smeared all over and looked worse. 



I put glue on on each board then clamped them together., not sure if I should of glued one board and not both. Will this run my chance of a good stain? Working with Maple and already read that is a hard wood to get stained nicely. I do have a lot sanding to do so was hoping that would get the glue off and help level off the joint imperfection. 

How do you guys deal with excess glue? I have two more boards that I need to glue together..


Thanks for the help


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## Flatlander38 (Dec 20, 2018)

I usually just grab a handful of plane shavings and rub the squeeze out with them. Once dried I will use a piece of sandpaper to lightly sand any residual glue. My dad would run them over with a card scraper over the joints and just peel the glue off once dried.


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## Jim Frye (Aug 24, 2016)

After the initial clamp up, I wipe the joint with a damp sponge to get the squeeze out off the wood. I wipe both sides until they are clean. After unclamping, I run a scraper down the joint followed by sanding to get any offset that may have crept into the joint. I usually apply some glue to one of the work pieces and brush it out with one of those throw away metal tube handled brushes. I brush both pieces and then clamp up.


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

i leave the ooze out until it dries and use a paint scraper afterwords 
learned that in middle school shop class 

wiping glue tends to push/smear it into the wood


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

_Ogre said:


> i leave the ooze out until it dries and use a paint scraper afterwords
> learned that in middle school shop class
> 
> wiping glue tends to push/smear it into the wood


Too bad schools are dropping the wood crafts. A local high school closed their wood shop about 5 or 6 years ago. Wish I had $$$ to buy some of their equipment. If I have glue ooze, I do what Ogre does.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Use a wet rag or sponge and wash the excess glue off before it dries. From where you are just sand it off.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

I also agree with Ogre - wetting and wiping glue before it dries will smear it, especially the wetting of it. The yellow glues are water based so adding water thins the undried glue and makes it easier for the wood to absorb it. 



Excess glue is not a bad thing because it means the joint has enough glue (I get concerned with no oozing). Too remove the excess glue, I wait about 15 to 20 minutes or until the excess glue coagulates. I carefully cut the coagulated glue off with a very sharp chisel and let the joint dry overnight. The next day I bring out my scrapers... Sanding will also work but not as fast as scrappers.


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## Brian T (Nov 3, 2018)

Really big wood for carving is expensive so I mostly make glue-ups to get the sizes I want.
I let the squeeze out set up = semi hard. Then I use a pair of skew chisels to kiss off the droplets.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Steve Neul said:


> Use a wet rag or sponge and wash the excess glue off before it dries. From where you are just sand it off.



This is what I do. Done properly there is no residual to cause problems.


The next best technique is just to let dry and then remove. If you try to wipe it off with something that is dry it will leave a esidue.


George


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## phaelax (Dec 24, 2018)

I learned from trial and error that trying to wipe up glue when it's wet just makes a bigger mess on the wood. Let it harden up a little first then scrape it off. I use a wide chisel. If you try to wipe it up wet, it just smears as a thin layer and that will definitely mess up your stain. You'd have to sand it at that point.


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## IowaDave (May 21, 2015)

_Ogre said:


> i leave the ooze out until it dries and use a paint scraper afterwords
> learned that in middle school shop class
> 
> wiping glue tends to push/smear it into the wood


Agreed. ^^ The best case scenario to me is to let the glue dry about 75% and then neatly remove the mostly dry, but still pliable, "bead" of excess glue with a scraper or a chisel...going _with_ the grain only. I then often spread some saw dust from the project on the very little amount of still wet glue to gum it up a bit and the chisel that off too. Done right, you will have an almost perfect glue joint when finished.

A good glue joint will have _some_ squeeze out, but not a lot. If you are displacing a lot of glue, you are applying too much in the first place. I personally have never been a fan of using water/wet clothes to remove it as I have found that a very little bit remains and can lead to blotchy areas or mild spots where the stain will not match perfectly.

Where I still struggle sometimes though is perpendicular joints, especially when using plywood. You don't dare sand/scrape plywood these days or you will go right through the microscopically thin layer of outer veneer. Yikes! And if you try to scrape it out afterwords, you are just about forced to go cross grain to get it out. Here, I am extra careful to get just the right amount of glue in the joint and then carefully remove the excess with a sharp chisel.


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