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A retired carpenter in Tucson told me to stop gluing every joint and I can't stop thinking about it
Ran into this old guy named Ray at a lumber yard in Tucson last month. He's 71. Been framing since he was 15. We got to talking about a cabinet job I was bidding and he asked how I handle my glue ups. I said I glue everything, every joint, always have. He just laughed and said "kid, you're building furniture that can't move and that's why your drawers stick in July." Hit me hard because I've had three callbacks this summer about sticking drawers in a house I finished in March. He said his dad taught him to leave the glue off certain joints on purpose, especially anything that crosses grain direction. Now I'm second guessing twenty years of habit. Anyone else had an old timer drop something like that on you?
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calebw5023d ago
Been gluing every joint for years and thought that was just how you do it right. Then last fall I built a set of maple drawers for a guy and come January they were catching so bad he couldn't open the top one. I pulled them out and the sides had swelled just enough to bind, and it hit me that I glued the runners right to the case with no room for anything to give. Now I leave those spots dry and just pin them, and I haven't had a callback since. Ray's not wrong about crossing grain, that's where it gets you.
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