Glue

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:50 pm     Post subject: Glue

I have always understood that parts should be stained prior to gluing so the stain will take if any glue runs over. However in a couple of your kits I notice that they call for glue prior to stain. Example: Klockkit #35289
Monroe Oval Mantel Kit. Which is the correct approach?

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:45 pm     Post subject:

glue then stain

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:15 pm     Post subject:

To be honest, there is no right or wrong approach. You can apply stain and finish prior to assembly, however you will want to be very careful to mask off glue joinery areas (as stain/finish can inhibit glue penetration resulting in a weaker glue bond).

The reverse is that you can apply stain/finish once a majority of assembly has been completed. This is the approach most Klockit instructions will take, as we want to ensure that customers remove all glue residue prior to applying stain/finish. Staining/finishing steps (to include that of the Monroe) will usually stress that the customer carefully inspect the case for any remaining traces of glue residue. Remaining traces of glue can be sanded away as you perform final sanding to prepare the case for staining/finishing.

While neither approach is wrong, applying stain/finish to parts before assembly does require a little extra preparation time (to ensure that all joinery areas are properly masked off). Initial dry-assembly (no glue) is also heavily recommended for customers who should wish to stain/finish prior to assembly.

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:28 pm     Post subject: glue on antiques

What about on antique (150 yr old seth thomas) that had a piece of molding fall off in a move? Any kind of special antique glue?