Shop Vac Assists Glue Up
Glue up small cracks in wood quickly with the help of a shop vac.
While building a set of stairs recently, I noticed that a crack had developed in the bottom of one of the vertical-grain fir stringers. Because they were exposed on both sides, I wanted to glue and screw the crack closed, but I had difficulty filling the crack with glue.
A co-worker’s shop vac helped out. As shown in the drawing, I poured a little puddle of glue over the top of the crack and applied suction from below. A piece of tape over the end of the crack prevented air from being drawn from the side of the crack. I ran the vacuum until glue began to show up across the bottom of the stringer. It took about 30 seconds to fill a 4-in. crack.
— Gregory Coffin; Loveland, CO
From Fine Homebuilding #133
RELATED STORIES
Got a Tip?
Do you have any great tips like this one on how to glue up cracks in wood with the help of a shop vac? Share your methods, tricks, and jigs with other readers. Tag them @FineHomebuilding on social, email them to us at tips@finehomebuilding.com, or upload them to FineHomebuilding.com/reader-tips. We’ll pay for any we publish.
