seth_green85•1mo agoMost Upvoted

TIL a shop teacher in Tacoma showed me a glue up trick I thought was wrong

I was at a woodworking demo last month, watching him clamp a panel. He put wax paper between the cauls and the wood. I always thought that would leave a residue. He said no, it stops the cauls from sticking if glue squeezes out. Tried it on a maple tabletop glue up. Zero sticking, saved me 15 minutes of cleanup. Anyone else use this method or think it's a bad idea?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy1mo ago

Works like a charm, been doing it for years. I use the cheap wax paper from the dollar store, never had a waxy mess. It beats using packing tape on your cauls because you just ball it up and throw it away. Only time it failed me was on a really long clamp up in the summer heat, the paper kinda welded itself on. Still better than chipping glued-on wood off your nice straight cauls.

sethc121mo ago

Honestly that whole wax paper debate reminds me of the time I used plastic wrap for the same job. It was a total disaster, melted right into the glue line on a warm day. Sometimes the old school tricks are the best because they already figured out what NOT to do.

johnson.lee7d ago

Man, plastic wrap sounds like a nightmare. I've actually had the opposite problem with wax paper, it left a weird film on my project once. Maybe @the_amy just got a better brand or something, but it's not foolproof for me. I just use clear packing tape on my cauls now, peel it off clean every time.