Glue Open Time

I am making an add-on table top (14" x 24") for my drill press and was gluing a piece of masonite on top of a 3/4" ply substrate using TB III.

Even though TB III claims to have a a longer open time, it was a challenge to get glue spread on both surfaces and get it all clamped up. I was using a putty knife and a glue brush to spread glue - and trying not to be too messy. Fortunately I had the cauls and clamps all laid out and ready to go. It was a cool day, don't now if I would have made it had it been 90*.

What's the secret to getting a relatively large area spread with glue before it sets? Work faster, don't worry about the mess?

Thanks,

Tom

sometimes an extra set of hands is nice, if you can get your wife or if you have kids around.
I lay wax paper over my bench and clamps, and work fast, I dont worry about any glue dripping. ONce its all clamped tight, I take a wet rag and wipe up all the glue drippings, then 20 minutes into it, Ill skim away most of the excess glues from the joints with a sharp putty knife.
I also lay all the clamps out, cauls, all wrapped with paper, everything is where it should be before I glue up so I dont have to go walking for anything.
I use my finger for a glue brush, so when Im all done checking also, I go over all my clamp handles and anything I touched with a damp rag to make sure its all clean, but getting the clamps set with any cauls come first.

I have used those fake plastic credit cards to spread glue out on large areas, may be worth a try for ya

i wouldnt have thought you would have much trouble at all on that size of area.. i would use a squeegee and pour on the middle and work it around from there and then ease up on the edges and like allen said have the clamps and the wet rag ready..

Also a 4" foam roller would be your friend in gluing up a larger area

I like my 3 middle fingers for big glueups like that.
Pour the glue in several lines, then use the 3 middle fingers and spread it out especially to the edges and that takes 15 seconds, and a few more to wipe your fingertips.

First, a glue trick... you can wipe a damp rag or spray a mist of water over the surfaces, so that the material doesn't suck the water out of the glue - the setup doesn't start until the water is gone, so the added moisture delays the setup time.

But if it isn't too late, don't do it! I struggled with whether to make a work table out of plywood or MDF, and finally decided to use a layer of MDF on top of plywood - the smoothness of MDF combined with the strength of plywood, and I glued the two together. The expansion is different between the two materials, so sometimes the MDF is larger, leading to a convex tabletop, and sometimes the plywood is larger, leading to a concave tabletop. I have the feeling I could attach a dial to my tabletop and have a weather forecast

If you glue the masonite to both top and bottom surfaces, it might stay flat.