Then, just as the new brand seemed to be gathering momentum in the marketplace among a loyal following of Nexabond users, it disappeared from suppliers’ shelves. That has been causing some consternation among woodworkers. If you’ve been frustrated by the rather sudden absence of your newest favorite woodworking glue, take heart: its first cousin is closer than you think. What was Nexabond is now DAP RapidFuse Wood Adhesive. It launched in home improvement retail stores this spring.

“DAP has a heritage in adhesives as a manufacturer of contact cements, construction adhesives and other technologies that are used by many professionals. We recognized Nexabond as a really great adhesive created from unique and superior adhesive technology with huge potential to improve a wide variety of user experiences,” says Kate Piche, DAP’s group product director.

So DAP partnered with Sirrus and acquired the rights to manufacture and sell the adhesive technology that includes Nexabond. Their goal was to expand RapidFuse’s availability to a broader channel of retailers and to develop the adhesive technology of Nexabond into two options: a fast-curing wood adhesive and a multipurpose variety. What has resulted is DAP RapidFuse Wood and RapidFuse All Purpose.

“We’ve developed RapidFuse Wood to deliver the exact same performance as Nexabond … to back up DAP’s Satisfaction Guarantee to users,” Piche assures.

In case you didn’t buy Nexabond when it was available, there are some compelling reasons to give the new RapidFuse Wood a try. For one, it reaches full cure strength in a fraction of the time of yellow PVA glue.

“RapidFuse is the first fast-curing adhesive to provide the same level of strength and durability as a typical yellow water-resistant glue, and it works on all wood types,” Piche says. “It provides a clear advantage by reaching a full cure in 30 minutes … With RapidFuse it truly is only 30 minutes before your project can be lathed, planed, routed or sanded.”

One of the tradeoffs of typical CA glues is that overly quick cure times can compromise practical working time. That can be a challenge in situations where you want the ability to make fine adjustments to part alignment, such as when clamps are tightened down and parts shift. Brief working time is one of the reasons that CA glues are used less frequently than PVA glues, Piche says.

But, RapidFuse can trump CA glue’s working time: it offers about 3 minutes where parts can still be manipulated before the glue begins to set. And, there’s no need to panic once the glue is applied to wood but before workpieces are brought into contact with one another. RapidFuse can sit open for up to 40 minutes as a bead on the wood without curing. “It is when you put the two pieces of wood together that you transition to working time. RapidFuse Wood cures through substrate contact and will begin to cure with contact and pressure.”

If you’ve ever had a glue joint swell up, due to the water content in yellow glue, you’ll appreciate that RapidFuse contains no water or other solvents. Consequently, it won’t swell biscuits or dowels inside wood joints, and joints won’t shrink later when the water in water-based glues would otherwise evaporate.

Piche says RapidFuse is also a better value, in terms of the small amount of glue that’s actually needed to form a strong bond. Yellow PVA glue soaks into dry wood, so typically more glue is required to wet the surfaces. And, it should be applied to both parts of a joint, which produces squeeze-out and wasted glue. In contrast, a thinner seam of RapidFuse is better than a thick layer. Its gelled consistency doesn’t soak into the wood in the same way PVA does; the glue spreads out between the substrates on the surfaces of the joint to form a strong, thin bond. Only about half to one-third as much RapidFuse is needed, compared with yellow glue, Piche estimates.

“With this adhesive, less is more. You should avoid over-applying because too much glue can slow down your cure time.” Since RapidFuse will bond to skin, minimizing squeeze-out will also help you avoid gluing your fingers together.

One final point of note: ordinary super glues aren’t recommended for wet applications, but RapidFuse can be suitable for exterior projects. The adhesive is water-resistant and can stand up to occasional moisture. But, it isn’t waterproof and shouldn’t be used for projects that will be regularly soaked or submerged.

So, if you’ve been at a loss about where to find your next bottle of Nexabond, DAP’s RapidFuse can step in and take its place.

“(We’re) proud to bring this advancement in adhesive technology to woodworkers and DIYers because it is enabling them to get more done without making sacrifices on the performance and results of their work. We’ve spent a lot of time testing the performance of our adhesive with a variety of users and against a lot of competitive solutions so we can confidently say RapidFuse Wood provides a truly better solution.”

DAP is packaging RapidFuse Wood Adhesive in .85- and 4-ounce bottles, and you can learn more about it by clicking here.

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Festool reports that the new DTS 400 REQ’s 250 watt, 2.0-amp motor with MMC electronics is 25 percent more powerful than previous models, to help speed the sanding process along. Its bayonet-style dust port has been redesigned for a more robust and secure connection point to a dust extractor. Or, there’s an optional re-usable Long Life Filter Bag with quick release.

Festool’s DTS 400 REQ (model 201228) sells for $260 through its distributor network and online stores. Learn more about it by clicking here.

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Infinity Cutting Tools is offering these 10-1/2-in.-long Dovetail Chisels in an exclusive three-piece set (item 101-809) of 1/4-, 1/2- and 3/4-in.-wide blades. It’s priced at $89.90. Or, you can buy the chisels individually for $34.90.

The post Narex Dovetail Chisel Set appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Chris Marshall: A sun-bleached wood color is going to be challenging to duplicate on brand-new wood, Bob. And, if you make your table from pine or poplar, their grain patterns won’t match the white oak wood grain of the chairs. So, I’m going to suggest a two-part solution here: start by making the table out of white oak. Don’t mix species. That way, its wood grain will harmonize with the chairs so all the pieces will come as close as possible to looking like they’re an original set. White oak is also a good choice in terms of its durability for exterior furniture — and that’s proven itself to you already.

Then, I’d choose a stain color for BOTH the table and the chairs. Staining all the pieces will get the chairs and the table in the same ballpark, color-wise. If you really like that bleached look, keep the stain color light, and test it on an inconspicuous area of one of the chairs as well as on a scrap piece of white oak from your table project. You’ll get a good idea of how well the woods will match that way without jumping in too far. It may be that your table will require two coats of stain to achieve a slightly darker color that will better match the chairs’ weathered patina. Most importantly here, keep your expectations realistic–the color of the new table will not match the color of the old chairs exactly. Only a same-vintage white oak table left in the sun for the same amount of time as those chairs would do that. But, by staining the new table the same color as the old chairs, I think your end result will still be pleasing to the eye and a convincing solution. Good luck with your finishing project!

The post Matching a Weathered Chair Finish? appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

– Arno Zwarteveen
Netherlands

Check out the Gallery Below:

The post Morris Chair Project appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

“We’ve been working on getting a house, built in 1909, ready to move into: new plumbing, new electrical, a new detached three-car garage, etc. I was installing a zero clearance fireplace and was going to build a mantle and surround for it. I needed to match the existing woodwork in the area, so I made a story pole so I could get the rails and stiles in the proper position. I cut the stock to size and made all the mortises and tenons and cut the panels to size and started to do some assembly. The first two parts came together just fine. While making the next panel, things went wrong when I grabbed a wrong rail during partial assembly. When I went back to it the next day, after the glue had cured, I found that I had a rail that was shorter than the other two! The wind left my sails! I started to remake the parts that were wasted in the last attempt only to find that I didn’t have the correct wood for it, so I’ve set it aside until I can get back to it. That was 18 months ago, and every time I look at the parts I’ve already built and the stack of parts yet to be assembled, I get the sinking feeling that it’ll just go bad again, so I move on to the next Item on the to-do list. Hope that when I get back to it I’ll pay closer attention to the part placement. Next time I’ll test assemble each panel before applying any glue.” – J. Eric Pennestri

“When my wife got pregnant with our son in March of 2009, I decided I was going to build a three-in-one crib/toddler bed/bed. I bought all the lumber and started milling pieces and building the various parts, but other projects like converting an office to a nursery took precedence, plus limited time, and it dragged on. I finally finished the building phase in February of 2011 and moved on to finishing. I had seen videos about using dye and shellac to really pop the figure of curly maple and decided to try that. I had never used either dye or shellac before. I mixed up a small test batch, and it seemed OK, so I moved on to a full-sized one. Here’s where it all went wrong. I didn’t test my full-sized batch on scrap to see if it still looked the way I wanted, and I did a really crappy job of applying the shellac, with drips and runs. But the worst part was the color. Instead of popping the grain, the whole thing was the color of the “pumpkin pine” flooring in my house. I was so depressed at how badly I screwed it up, I didn’t touch it for six months. I tried stripping and sanding, but it just wasn’t coming out, and with the slats and all (I had started with the footboard piece), it would have taken forever. I finally recovered enough to put a simple polyurethane finish on the rest of the pieces, and assembled it in toddler bed mode, skipping the crib entirely. He got his new bed in September of 2012. I eventually sent out the footboard to a local furniture stripping place. They did a great job of stripping it, and it has sat in my workshop since, waiting for me to sand it and put the finish on.” – Drew Marold

“I started routing a sign for the church hall using plastic templates. On the second letter, I cut into the plastic template with my heavy, unwieldy router and ruined it. There is only one ‘R’ template in the set. Now I will have to wait for the next free shipping offer to buy a new set of templates. Fortunately, I’m not working to a tight deadline.” – Phil Gunyon

Some had advice for “those days.” – Editor

“Usually am not on a tight schedule, but when I am, that is when s__ happens. Some things pop up and you have no control over them, but tight schedules and me don’t get along. If I am rushed, that’s when mistakes happen or a minor little details gets missed and messes up the finished project. With that said,I have a fix for that. If I get more than a couple of those things happen in any given day, I put the tools down and it becomes beer-thirty. Better to walk away than proceed.
P.S. Moderation is a wonderful thing, because tomorrow might be a bad day, too.” – Terry Allen

“I have come to expect that there will  be days when  the wood gods will conspire against me. It is just the way it is. We screw up, get upset, rush to make it right and, in the process, make another mistake and then everything goes to pot.  Been there, got the T-shirt. The first part of it is Murphy’s Law.  The first screw-up just comes at the worst possible  time or on a really  nice piece  of wood, or that  time issue. Whatever the reason, it takes us out of ‘The Zone.’  We are no longer living in the present.  Our mind is either dwelling on the past mistakes that got us here or worrying about the future that is now a mess because of those mistakes.  Better to learn from the Zen master and stay in the moment.  And if you can’t, walk away. Find something else to do. Even if it’s just to make a pot of tea, walk the dog, whatever.  Get back in the moment.” – Lee Ohmart

And some just felt reassured by Rob’s woodworking difficulties. – Editor

“I figured that, by the time you’d woodworked for a long time, like you have, you’d pretty much have eliminated the times you figured wrong or cut the prime piece too short. Nothing you can do about wood in the middle that you do not see or stresses that unexpectedly show themselves, but the goofball errors….you still make?I feel a lot better now! Thanks for sharing!” – Tim Harrelson

“I read with anticipation to discover what went wrong with your project. Alas, nothing unusual appeared. It seemed like a perfectly normal project to me.” – Ernie Hatfield

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