Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-03-14
HOW TO GLUE.


Within the province of the household
glue viii hc found valuable auxiliary.
The best regulated family must some
times confess to the possession of a
piece OF furniture requiring its useful
offices. The armless chair. the leglesS
table, the broken, humiliated remnants
of once useful aud pretcntious house
hold furnishings, are familiar objects
in many Il home, yet these may come
within the pale of possible redemption
and renew the promise Of continued
usefulness.
During the past few years there have
been written many dissertations con
demnatOry Of the use of glue in the
construction Of furniture, inspired
mainly by those who, while we'll inten-
toned, have been satisfied to gain their
knowledge on the subject secondhand,
or at best from theoretical rather than
practical sources.
Glue in its place and with proper
usage has its value. 1t is not the use,
but rather the abuse, of it that is
to be condemned. The joint that is
strong enough in itself without the glue
can surely lose nothing in stability by
its addition.
SO to glue two pieces of wood tOgeth
er that they adhere and become as one
will at first thought seem an act so
simple as 10 render any suggestion as
to the proper method of procedure I'M
necessary. and yet simple as it seems
and in reality is, the number of persons
ut all conycrsant with its proper ac-
complishment are indeed very limited.
It has been remarked that, where
home efforts have been made at rejOin-
ing, in very many cases they seem to
have been conducted on the theory that
the more glue used the stronger the
Joint would be, but the reverse would
be nearer the truth. The less used the
better, providing all the parts of the
surfaces to be joined are covered. Be
fore applying the glue heat the pieces
you desire to join; then, when glued,
bring and held together in position
with handScr"W. or, in the absence Of
this uscrul article, bind up with cord
or rope until the Joint is thoroughly
hardened. wien The restraint may be
removed and al SUp"riiuous glue scrap
ed Of. In addition to this, where pos
Fible, it would lie Wen to further make
the work secure by the addition of a
nail, Icing careful not 30 split the wood
in the operation. Every description Of
gluing should be doHe-in the same man
ner. The wood should previously be
warmed, not too much, however, be-
cause if scorched the life Of the glue
will be destroyed or at least the power
of adhesion be impaired.
But when all is said there is some
thing of greater Importance as q fac
tor of success than any mechanical
manipulation, and that is the quality
and condition Of the glue. In all well
regulated furniture establishments the
utmost care is exercised in keeping it
sweet and clean. When old and de-
| cayed, glue becomes absolutely worth
less for purposes of adhesion. 1t can
therefore readily be seen that to insure
satisfactory results such precautions
as we have pointed out are alike bind
ing on amateur and professional.
Let it be constantly borne in mind
also that as much of the glue as possi-
BILE should be pressed out Of the joint;
otherwise it will not hold for any length
Of time. For the reason that the Japa-
nese do not take this fact into consid-
Grafton it will be found that their wood
work crumbles to pieces when submit
ted to the test of our climate.