Gluing question

[sleddogg]

I know you can't stain where there is glue, but can you glue where there is stain? I'm re-building some service carts for our restaurant, replacing melamine shelves with a 3/4" plywood that I laminated plastic sheeting to. They are framed in 1 by 2 oak and will need to be caulked to be watertight. I did one where I stained after assembly and it was impossible to keep the stain off of the white plastic laminate. Now I'm staining the frames pre-assembly and need to know how badly I need to keep the stain off of the areas to be glued to the edge of the plywood. I'll be using biscuits for reinforcing the frames to the plywood. Thanks in advance for any input.

[JimD]

I've never tried glueing after getting stain on the joint. I think you will affect the strength of the joint but I do not know how much. If you are using the typical minwax oil based stain, it does not produce a water proof surface so I think the glue will still have some grip. If you use biscuts, cut the slots after staining and I think you will be fine - the biscuits will hold really well reducing the importance of the butt joint.

Jim

[sleddogg]

Thanks JimD, I think I'll put a couple of pocket holes in the underside of the shelf as a little extra insurance. These carts get in absurd amount of abuse and the supports that connect the upper and lower shelves connect off of the frames. I've seen servers who will put 50 pounds of silverware and a hundred pounds of plates on at one time. I did one where I used dado channels to hold everything up but I can't get all the old nails and broken screws out of the frame material to chance ruining my dado blade. If these fail I'll get new material for the next rebuild. Thanks again

[TheRic]

Plastic wrap the melamine, then stain, once done staining rip off the plastic wrap.

[drumpriest]

According to titebond, staining first will reduce the strength of the joint. I have become a big fan of using painter's tape around the joint area to prevent the squeeze out from going anywhere. I mostly don't even try to clean it up until it's hardened a bit. I've found with Oak, for instance, no amount of water seems to do the job as the oak (red) is porous and will suck the watered down glue through itself, making it impossible to clean.

Mostly I don't stain projects, but the glue prevents sealers and the arm-r-seal that I use from penetrating as well, so it's still a problem.