Glue or Screw?

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The advantage to doing option 3 is that of course you don't have to wait for the glue to dry before completing assembly. Otherwise its not absolutely necessary to glue and screw the cabinet together. I would however recommend either gluing or gluing and screwing over just screwing as the glue can help to seal the joint between the two boards.

As to option 4, there's no reason to remove the screws once they're in. Just leave them alone.
 
gchrist said:
I am building a speaker cabinet. Should I

1) Only glue the cabinet together?
2) Only screw the cabinet together?
3) Glue and screw the cabinet together?
4) Glue and screw the cabinet. Remove screws when cabinet has glued ?

Thank you
George

Mostly, I'd recommend glue & screw, as (for instance) you can screw-assemble stuff to test it for fit, then disassemble, glue, and reassemble.
With no screws, you need huge numbers of clamps to keep the parts held together when the glue dries. Also, glued chipboard or MDF has a nasty habit of breaking just below the glued surface.

With no glue, small gaps in the joints buzz horribly!

Don't ask me "should I use expensive silver-plated screws"...

Cheers
IH
 
5th option

Use 3) BUT, use silicon for the screws.

I.e. prepare the holes, screw, unscrew, blow away the saw dust, enter a tab of silicone in each hole, apply glue freely, screw again, apply clamps. Listen to radio alarm for 2 (two) days (or 48 hours).

Proceed further, covering screws with material of your choice.

Especially effective if you're inserting lead sheats (or bitumen, or whatever) in between the proverbial mdf boards
 

there's one that is often overlooked.... I once used about 500 lbs of traction sand (those from the North know what I'm refering to) when laminating 3/4" mdf with 3/4" oak... worked great! I just brushed on yellow wood glue (titebondII) and set my plywood in place, and then stacked the sandbags on top.

I would glue and screw, although I have been tempted lately to try cutting a gap in both boards and using a small strip of wood to put them together... I think this may be called a "biscuit" of sorts?
 
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nobody special said:
I would glue and screw, although I have been tempted lately to try cutting a gap in both boards and using a small strip of wood to put them together... I think this may be called a "biscuit" of sorts?

Splines or fillets;) Never used them on a cabinet yet, - one day!

JOE DIRT® said:
Biscuit joints are very strong but you need the power tool and it is time consuming but it saves on filling over screw heads

You can get a biscuit slot cutter for a router for about £20...
 
I've heard no mention of this so I will add that when screwing MDF you want to pay attention to the screws that you use. Up near the head of the screw there should be a smooth shand that is equal in length to the thickness of the MDF you are attaching (sorry I don't know terminology). SO if you are attaching 90° corner with 1/2" MDF you want a screw with 1/2" shank, then threads. Pilot hole for screw threads should be exactly same diameter as screw minus threads.

Hope this helps more than confuses,
Jason
 
JOE DIRT® said:
Biscuit joints are very strong but you need the power tool and it is time consuming but it saves on filling over screw heads


Just a couple of quick things here: First, while biscuits help with alignment, they don't actually add much in the way of strength. Also, I've heard of people having problems with the MDF swelling where the biscuit is, from moisture in the glue. (I don't have first hand experience of this, but it comes from a woodworking bulletin board)

Secondly, the spline method DOES produce a stronger joint than the butt joint, but of course, its harder to make.

Having said all of that, when it comes to joints and today's adhesives, 9 times out of 10 when a joint breaks, its because either the joint was starved of glue, or the two sides being joined were not contacting each other completely. Otherwise, the failure usually occurs in the wood NEXT to the joint, and not the joint itself.
 
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