probably idiotic question about tightening up joints

magicbastarder

we recently got a little press we've been calling a 'flour station' - an old fashioned little press with an enamel top, for storing flour and rolling out dough i think. it's clearly not the product of a master craftsman, but has a little charm of its own.
anyway, minor problem with it is that a lot of the joints (mainly mortice and tenon) have failed, so they move a little bit, and you can rock the whole thing slightly.
here comes the (no such thing as a) stupid question - is there any easy way of tightening up the joints without disassembling the whole thing? i suspect the sort of glue liquid enough to penetrate the joints without taking them completely apart has yet to be invented.

Calahonda52

I used a veterinary syringe and needle with slightly diluted water based wood glue for something like this, depends on whether the holes would devalue it.

magicbastarder

it's not worth a lot of money at all really.

One shot on kill

Best way is to take them apart and use a poly glue. That's the proper way.

Could you screw it or dowel it from the inside some where it's not gonna be seen.

magicbastarder

my main concern about taking it apart is the lack of clamps or other methods to hold it together after gluing. it always seemed to me that clamps seem to be one of the biggest expenses of woodworking, going by the number used in some of the videos i've seen.

recipio

magicbastarder wrote: »

my main concern about taking it apart is the lack of clamps or other methods to hold it together after gluing. it always seemed to me that clamps seem to be one of the biggest expenses of woodworking, going by the number used in some of the videos i've seen.

Not worth the outlay unless you have the woodworm bug like the rest of us.;) There is a product called 'Chair Doctor' by Veritas which is a very thin glue designed for this problem.Seems to work quite well but I suspect you might need one strap clamp to hold the four corner joints together while the glue sets. Have a look on Amazon.

Sparks

magicbastarder wrote: »

my main concern about taking it apart is the lack of clamps or other methods to hold it together after gluing. it always seemed to me that clamps seem to be one of the biggest expenses of woodworking, going by the number used in some of the videos i've seen.

Depending on the size of the tenons and the material, you could try drawboring the joints after re-gluing; you wouldn't need clamps for that (though if you have one, it might be better to clamp the joint, then drive the drawbore pin, then take off the clamp and do the next joint and so on).

Needles73

magicbastarder wrote: »

we recently got a little press we've been calling a 'flour station' - an old fashioned little press with an enamel top, for storing flour and rolling out dough i think. it's clearly not the product of a master craftsman, but has a little charm of its own.
anyway, minor problem with it is that a lot of the joints (mainly mortice and tenon) have failed, so they move a little bit, and you can rock the whole thing slightly.
here comes the (no such thing as a) stupid question - is there any easy way of tightening up the joints without disassembling the whole thing? i suspect the sort of glue liquid enough to penetrate the joints without taking them completely apart has yet to be invented.

Drill the joints, fill some glue into hole and knock in some dowel rod, cut flush,

magicbastarder

cheers, as it's being painted, that may be an option.

my3cents

You could just put it out in the rain?

Perhaps the wood has shrunk in a modern dry house.

magicbastarder

it's certainly the day for it!
apparently it came out of a convent in drumcondra. the guy in the shop tried to convince us mother teresa used it when she was a young nun in dublin. but she was based in a convent in rathfarnham, so there'll be no miracles performed by this press.

recipio

my3cents wrote: »

You could just put it out in the rain?

Perhaps the wood has shrunk in a modern dry house.

That would be a true miracle . there is probably no alternative but to knock the joints apart and reglue them. You can buy aluminium clamps quite cheaply nowadays.

dg647

Use a small ratchet strap instead of a clamp. Put scraps of timer in the corners and tighten it up. It will pull it together the same as a clamp would.