Glueing.—The better the glue penetrates into the pores of the wood, the stronger the joint will be; for this reason timber of the loose-fibred variety, such as pine, etc., will hold up at the joint better than hardwoods like teak and rosewood. The glue used for jointing should be neither too thick nor too thin; the consistency of cream will be found suitable for most purposes. It should be nice and hot, and be rapidly spread over the surface of the wood.
Fig. 2.—How the Wood is held whilst Glueing.
If light-coloured woods, such as pine, satinwood, sycamore, etc., have to be jointed, a little flake white should be procured and mixed into the liquid glue. This will prevent the glue showing a thin black line on the joint.
Broad surfaces of close-grained hardwood having a shiny surface are usually carefully roughened with a fine toothing plane blade previous to glueing.
Supporting the Joint.—The jointed boards should not be reared up against a "bench leg" or wall without having any support in the centre, as dotted line at [Fig. 5], because in all probability they will fracture before the glue has time to set; and, when we go to take them up to renew working operations, we shall be annoyed to find that they have assumed a position similar to that at [Fig. 5] (shown exaggerated), and this will, of course, necessitate re-jointing.
| Fig. 3.—Correct Jointing. | Fig. 4.—Faulty Jointing. |
| Fig. 5.—Boards unsupported. | Fig. 6.—Boards supported. | Fig. 7.—(A) Glued Slip, (B) Glued Moulding. | Fig. 8.—Grain alternating. |
A correct method to adopt is seen at [Fig. 6]. Here we have supported the joint by rearing up against the wall a couple of pieces of batten, one at each end of the board, thus supporting it throughout its entire width until the glue is thoroughly set. The two or more pieces of timber in a butt joint adhere by crystallisation of the glue and atmospheric pressure. A well-fitted joint made with good quality glue is so strong that, when boards of 3 feet and upwards are jointed together by this method, the timber in most cases will break with the grain sooner than part at the joint.