re: Drawers

Ian, I haven’t used Titebond that I can remember. I’ve only started back on the woodworking projects within the last year. So, recently I just purchased the Gorilla glue because I had used the clear-brown stuff they have for other things. I can say that I’m pleased with the Gorilla glue. And, if you get those little Delmont fruit cups, save the cups. I have a stack of them in the shop and I use them with a brush when I’m gluing. I’m so cheap I wash the little cup out when I clean the brush so if you need any glue cups let me know. In the past, I’ve stained everything and then used MinWax Tung Oil (wipe on Poly really). And, as you probably know, any glue that’s on the piece shows right up. This year I’ve learned a lot of wonderful things. 1) I now will use shellac unless someone wants to pay me to use something else. 2) I had never used a scraper, now I don’t sand much and 3) I glue everything because my joinery has changed from new (screws, brads, plugs, etc.) to old (tenons, laps, dovetails, etc.). Overall I’m more pleased with own work. I grew up around a dad that was more of a mechanic than a woodworker. He is good, don’t get me wrong, but he is fast and was about making money. So design-wise my dad is a genius, but he wasn’t doing this for the love of it. I love it. I was recording my progress this weekend because I had sent Huff an estimate for these drawers at 9-1/2 hours. I was close but if I had done the half-blind dovetails on the drawer fronts I would have blown my estimate. I had to hand saw my rough cut lumber because my 1/2" bandsaw blade broke and I had to modify my planing technique and use a scrub plane because my material was a little thicker than normal. I love my no. 4 smoothing plane because it’s fast when my material is in good shape, but when I have too much variation in my re-saw cuts, it’s not the plane to remove material quickly. I need to force myself to use the right plane for the job. I have a nice no. 5 that I need to tune up for that job. Overall I was close to my estimate and I learned some new things.

And, what does that have to do with glue? I have not a clue, LOL.