Thought I could fix a loose drawer joint in 20 mins took me 3 hours

Last Tuesday I had a client drawer where the dovetail joint was wiggling loose. Figured I'd just squirt some glue in there and clamp it for a bit, easy peasy right? Wrong. The old glue had crystallized so bad I had to disassemble the whole thing with a chisel and hot water. Then the wood was so dry it soaked up the new glue like a sponge and I had to reapply twice. By the time I got it clamped square and checked alignment I had burned through my whole afternoon. What do you guys use for dried out joints that won't take glue anymore?

2 comments

2 Comments

clark.robin16d ago

Spent three hours on what should've been a 20 minute glue job? Welcome to the club, grab a ticket. At least now you've got an excuse to avoid talking to that one relative at dinner.

jamesf2616d ago

Is it bad that I've used the excuse "sorry, my hands are still sticky from that project" to get out of shaking hands with people for three days straight now? @clark.robin nailed it though, I spent six hours on a shelf that was supposed to take thirty minutes because I kept dropping the bracket and cussing at the wall. At least now I've got a legit reason to avoid small talk with the neighbor who always wants to tell me about his lawn care routine.