Do you glue when you screw..?

[HoopstarsGarage]

Ok.. now I have your attention..

When you are putting a cabinet together, do you use glue as well as screws or just screw it all together?  What sort of glue - just builders "white glue or something different..?

Cheers

Hoops

[Lilwolf]

KY works MUCH better.  (and no... the "superman in a bottle" emails aren't the same as superglue!)

But really... Lots do.  But once you do, no more taking it apart.

I like the idea of gluing / screwing in 1x1s to each side.  Then just screwing in the back panels so it can be taken apart.  I'm not 100% sure it would last and be strong enough though.  (I usually over glue everything)

btw, I've heard of a story of someone building their entire cab in their parents basement and not being able to get it up the stairs.  REALLY.  They ended up just leaving it down there.

[bishmasterb]

Definitely use glue if you want the bonds between pieces to be strong. If you've got good joins and clamps, you don't need screws at all. Elmer's wood glue works just fine. I've also heard good things about Gorilla glue, although I've never used it.

[Craig]

Ok.. now I have your attention..

Now?

When you are putting a cabinet together, do you use glue as well as screws or just screw it all together?  What sort of glue - just builders "white glue or something different..?

I use screws to put mine together. I never bothered with wood glue. Depends how "air tight" you want it. 

[nostrebor]

Yes.

Glue is worth 10 times the holding power of screws. Especially true with MDF where screw hold can be almost non-existant. I also use dados, half-laps, etc. to imcrease glue surfaces.

My last two cabinets used no screws through the sides, just dado joints and white glue and lots of clamps while the glue dries. This means that I have no screw holes to fill on finished surfaces.

I use white elmers glue if I want more open time. (open time=glue takes longer to set up) I use carpenters glue for everything else. Gorilla glue is hard/messy to work with and overkill for a cabinet that will never be in the weather.

[Dagg]

I glued everything with liquid nails as I was screwing it in, my cab is very sturdy.

[Veinman]

I have been building mine completely with screws. Hopefully I don't regret that decision 5 years from now, but at this point in time my cabinet seems extremely solid.

[TalkingOctopus]

I used waterproof polyurethane wood Glue glue -- very strong stuff.  I always thought the only point of screws were to hold it in place while the glue is drying.

btw, I've heard of a story of someone building their entire cab in their parents basement and not being able to get it up the stairs.  REALLY.  They ended up just leaving it down there.

I remember that too.  That would really suck.  Although my cab just barely fits through doors. (~27.5" wide).

[crsdawg]

i think it depends on how solid you want your cabinet to be. you could get by with just using srcews and make a pretty strong cab. i know a lot of guys have done that. i'd use some sort of brackets to put the pieces together instead of just driving the screw through the center of the wood(especially if your using mdf). now, if you use glue it's going to double or triple the strength of the joints(this is what i'd recommend). you'll be surprised just how strong that stuff is.

personally i use a combination of wood glue, 3/4 x 3/4 corner braces, clamp the joint together, then attatched via brad nails. my joints are rock solid. clamping if very important, it really locks those pieces together.

good luck

[SteveJ34]

....
I always thought the only point of screws were to hold it in place while the glue is drying.
....

I take/took the same approach in these types of construction situations. Glue and wood screw everything.

My grandfather taught me at a very early age when building a bird house together, "the nails will hold it together while the glue dries".

[Veinman]

Okay....so considering that I have constructed the bulk of my cabinet with no glue, would I notice a problem in...say 5 years?

[ChadTower]

Depends on a lot of things... level of use, how often you move it, the environment the wood is in, the type of wood you used, the type of screws...

[Avery]

I was only using plywood or MDF I'd use screws, glue and route 1/4 inch deep grooves or rabbits for everything (hooray for routers).  If I was putting plywood sides together with a 2x2 frame, and screwing into the 2x2, I'd trust the screws by themselves.

I'd probably go with Gorrilla Glue (don't remember what you call that type) instead of regular carpenter's glue.  Home Despot carries it so I'd imagine most any hardware place can get it for you.

[AlanS17]

I've seen a demo of gorilla glue at home depot. It looked awfully messy. I'm sure carpenter's glue would be just fine. After all, this is carpentry work we're talking about.

Just as a note, the kits sold from arcadedepot.com have glue included. That ought to say something.

[ChadTower]

Gorilla glue is not an appropriate choice... it is made to stand up to the environment, but the wood with which you are building your cab is not.  Basically, your joints would hold if the cab got wet but the actual wood would rot out anyway.

[Thenasty]

if your cabinet could talk

Cab would say
1. "use a glue before you screw"
2. "I fell like I've been screwed a thousand times"
3. "Didn't you screwed me enough ?"
4. "OMG, I see him coming..I'm gonna get screwed again."
5. " Oh great, after he screws me, he's now gonna play with me"

[NoOne=NBA=]

My rule of thumb is to glue/screw anything I don't want to come apart, and screw/bolt anything I do.

I use Elmer's Wood Glue when I need glue on something.
It sets up faster than white glue and doesn't have the mess/cleanup hassles of Gorilla Glue/Liquid Nails/etc...

[SteveJ34]

Okay....so considering that I have constructed the bulk of my cabinet with no glue, would I notice a problem in...say 5 years?

Probably not. You stated in an earlier post that you feel it to be quite solid.

Unless you are gonna move the thing repeatedly, thats the only real point I think you will stress the joints much.

Wood glue is a good idea but if you have an internal frame or other support holding the prime joints together, you will likely not encounter an issue in it falling apart on you.

[Avery]

Gorilla glue is not an appropriate choice... it is made to stand up to the environment....

I was thinking it was better at dealing with gaps, but a quick look at Fine Woodworkings Big Book of Glue (or whatever they call it) and I see that it's gap filling properties are cosmetic and do not contribute to binding.  So, yeah, I guess Elmyr's wood glue would be the better choice.

[ShinAce]

If I'm building a speaker box, there's no way in hell I would just use screws or nails. I pre-drill all holes(stupid MDF), screw it together to check for fit, then remove the screws. Now I can glue all the joints and screw it back together. That way I can keep working on the box until the glue sets. I always wait overnight, then REMOVE the screws, as they are completely useless once the glue dries.

I've carried that tradition over to building joystick boxes. Pre-dill, glue and screw. Only the bottom panel can be removed, and it uses the same 4 screws to hold the rubber feet in place and the panel to the box. So that way, the entire box looks screwless. I even route a 1/2" deep depression for the joystick base and then epoxy it in there. That way, no screws anywhere, the whole box relies purely on glue.

[Veinman]

Well, since I'm using 3/4" MDF and 2" coarse thread screws, I think I'll unscrew some pieces and add some wood glue before it's too late. (I haven't filled any countersink holes yet.)

If I wasn't planning to fill those holes and effectively make it impossible to tighten the screws, I probably wouldn't even consider it.

[lcddream]

noone has mentioned using dowels with glue...

[NoOne=NBA=]

noone has mentioned using dowels with glue...

I have?

Doweling is a pain.
I'd much rather just screw through, and coverup afterward--unless I am staining.
Then I'll take the time to do everything hidden.
Even then, I would probably screw from the inside, rather than dowel.

[Dagg]

I did dowels and glue on the CP box only.  The cabinet I framed with 2 by 4's but many folks go the bracket route.

[tivogre]

Anywhere you need gap fillling with a glue joint, epoxy is the way to go.

It's no more messy than gorilla glue.

[ChadTower]

Dowels are hard to use if you don't have a drill press.  Ever try to hand drill 50 dowel holes?

[HoopstarsGarage]

Well, as it nears the "middle road" of my own cab build I can say that I have used both methods in various areas of the cab..

90% of the cab's horizontal elements have been glued and screwed but a few pieces (mostly pieces that *may* need to be removed later on) have been screwed only.. the result is a cab that would probably survive a thermo-nuclear holocaust.     

Personally, having just gone through the build process, I would say that just screwed together would be more than enough for most environments..

That said, gluing is the BEST thing you can do for your own cab but not 100% necessary..!!