Flat-pack furniture. To glue or not to glue?
 

Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]

It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
birch veneer.

"Sim C." on@request wrote in message
...
Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]

It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
birch veneer.

I use glue on the raw faces - if you ain't going to dismantle then why not -
I makes it more rigid.


John

"Sim C." on@request wrote in message
...
Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]

It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
birch veneer.

the dowels will hold, but the bits onto veneer won't

Sim C. wrote:
Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]

It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
birch veneer.

Flatpack needs all the help it can get to stay in shape for any amout of
time. Glue it!

steve

"r.p.mcmurphy" wrote in message
...
Sim C. wrote:
Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]

It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
birch veneer.

Flatpack needs all the help it can get to stay in shape for any amout of
time. Glue it!

steve


Whilst the glue might not adhere to the laminate, it hardens the mating face
and aids rigidity.

john

"john" wrote in message
...

"r.p.mcmurphy" wrote in message
...
Sim C. wrote:
Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]

It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
birch veneer.

There might be a problem in using glue on areas that haven't been
designed to utilise it. There are conflicting considerations;-
wood, hardboard etc. has a tendency to expand/contract
with the water content in the atmosphere. Generally this means
that as wooden parts are 'dried' by central heating, they contract
and as the temperature rises and heating is switched off they absorb
water from the air and expand. A well designed wooden construction
will have slots, mortices etc to accommodate such movements of the
individual components one versus the other. - Gluing the pieces
together will not permit the mutual movement and something will give -
frequently a split in the middle of something or a drawer front
pulling off.

--

Brian

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 20:45:13 GMT, Sim C. on@request wrote:

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

There's no reason why you _shouldn't_ use glue, but it is pretty much a
waste of effort. You can't successfully glue end grain in solid timber
or edges in chipboard. If you want it to have any useful benefit, you'll
need dowels or biscuits to apply it too.

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 20:45:13 GMT, Sim C. on@request wrote:

| Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
| calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]
|
| It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
| earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
| some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
| ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
| fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.
|
| Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
| just something he's heard.
|
| Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
| that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
| birch veneer.

Make sure that you have it assembled completely correctly *before* using
glue. Then take it to bits and glue.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
"Intelligent Design?" my knees say *not*.
"Intelligent Design?" my back says *not*.

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 20:45:13 GMT, Sim C. on@request wrote:

Yesterday I assembled a TV table [or a 'Norrebo' as Ikea insist on
calling them - http://tinyurl.com/dob82 ]

It comes with all the standard fasteners etc, as mentioned here
earlier, but no glue. Hmmm, not happy so quick trip to Glynn Webb for
some wood glue which was liberally applied in the assembling. 'That
ain't gonna fall apart, ever!' methinks. Even if Ikea think their
fasteners are good enough, I'm sceptical.

Now my mate says you shouldn't use glue, but he doesn't know why -
just something he's heard.

Could he be right? Any reason NOT to use glue? There were a few dowels
that had a good blob, but mainly it was 'rough end' chipwood onto
birch veneer.

Hi,

If unglued it would be easier to take apart for storage or to be
modified/made into something else.

cheers,
Pete.

Brian Sharrock wrote:


There might be a problem in using glue on areas that haven't been
designed to utilise it. There are conflicting considerations;-
wood, hardboard etc. has a tendency to expand/contract
with the water content in the atmosphere. Generally this means
that as wooden parts are 'dried' by central heating, they contract
and as the temperature rises and heating is switched off they absorb
water from the air and expand. A well designed wooden construction
will have slots, mortices etc to accommodate such movements of the
individual components one versus the other. - Gluing the pieces
together will not permit the mutual movement and something will give -
frequently a split in the middle of something or a drawer front
pulling off.

Off the topic.

How does this apply to MDF?

I am having some 'furniture' delivered to the school I work at and I
have my doubts as to its durability over the years.

Dave

Thanks for the replies all. Well its glued now anyway but all comments
read and digested. Will report back if it all goes wrong :)

Dave wrote:

Off the topic.

How does this apply to MDF?

I am having some 'furniture' delivered to the school I work at and I
have my doubts as to its durability over the years.

Dave

In a school? Epoxy fillets on all the joints, and it might last 6 weeks!

Andy