Re-gluing pieces

[carbonBased]

Kind of a weird question, but... will white/yellow wood glue re-affix to dried portions of itself?

What I mean is -- I had two pieces which I glued together. The bond wasn't great (my fault-- they were pressure clamped by a screw, which I should've pilot drilled first), so I broke them apart (actually, sawed them apart, after removing the screw) and am attempting to re-glue.

What I'd like to know, though, is whether I should be removing *all* dried glue, or if the glue will be able to bond to dried versions of itself?

Thanks,
Jeff

PS: To set the tone; this is just for cheap shop cabinets...

[VASandy]

I don't think it'll work in the long run. The dried glue will leave too rough of a surface for the liquid glue to fill while it hardens. The liquid just won't be able to fill the voids and bond the two surfaces together. Use a card scraper or sand off the dried glue, and make sure the surfaces are flat to each other. You don't want any gaps in the two surfaces.

[Gofor]

Just another opinion:

If the joints were a good fit before the initial glue, scrape (or use a sharp chisel, card, etc) to cut off the dried glue. (Sanding will heat it up and it may become gummy. Easier to slice off). If it is a poor joint, heat it a bit with a hair drier, or better a heat gun, and re-glue.

PVA (Yellow or white) glue will go back to a sticky state if heated. Sometimes you can just heat the joint and reclamp. However, in this situation, re-drilling the pilot hole, removing the excess glue, and adding fresh and re-screwing will probably give the best result.

JMTCW

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