Photo: mobil’homme / Flickr

When gluing a piece of old furniture, it’s imperative to clamp the pieces well in order to prevent gravity and the natural tension inherent in the parts from weakening your job. For a good quality repair, the parts must be well butted together so that the glue can penetrate the wood. To do this, be sure to clamp every glued joint as soon as you’ve glued the parts together. You can use C-clamps or pipe clamps for the job.

C-clamps and pipe clamps

C-clamps, which come in two or three different sizes, can be indispensible if you are dealing with a small furniture repair job. Pipe clamps measuring around four to six feet are excellent for larger pieces. They’ll serve you well if you want to stabilise chests or dressers, for example.

Pipe clamps are made up of two pieces – there is a screw handle on one section will allows you to move the clamp along a pipe and then there is another clamp which holds the locking mechanism. By attaching the one section to the end of a lead pipe, you can slide it backwards and forwards as you need to.

Once you’ve glued a large piece, place the assembled pipe clamp in place and tighten the screw handle until such time as the piece is firmly held by the clamps. Turn a few more times for an extra-tight vice.

A less conventional option

If you don’t yet own the right tools, you could use some clothesline instead. This can be wrapped around the glued piece a few times. Tie the ends well and then tighten them by twisting them together with a screwdriver (which you can then secure behind a section of the furniture so as to hold the tension).

You could also use a bungee cord or improvise with old inner tubes ‑ but whatever you end up using to clamp your piece, make sure you protect it with rags or thin wood with waxed paper. A strip of thin wood is very useful for gluing long edges or for clamping softwoods.

Tags: furniture