quick thought though, and I'm NOT a professional. take two pieces of say pine, put carpenters glue in between and much will be soaked in resulting in the remainder drying more quickly. but put a thin layer on both FIRST, and let it dry, and THEN go with the final, you'll get more open time.

ront

I'm not so sure that is the answer. Consider wood is a bunch of fibers going, generally, in the same direction. While properly prepared edges may appear to be smooth, microscopically there is a lot of "hills and valleys" with the fibers. It is this fibrous consistency of the wood that allows a strong glue joint to form a bond in the fibers, not on the fibers. That also explains why a glue joint involving end grain is weak without a mechanical fastener, ie, biscuit, dowel, m/t. The glue only had the very tip of the wood fiber to attach to the mating surface.

If one was to apply glue to the edges and then allow it to dry, the fibrous surface would be filled and smooth. Then, applying more glue to make the final joint would result in trying to bond a glue surface to another glue surface and that would result in a very weak joint. The open time could be a bit longer but the resulting weak glue joint negates any benefit. If open time is an issue, change to a glue that has a longer open time such as Titebond III having an extended open time compared to Titebond II.

Rich-

"Consider wood is a bunch of fibers going, generally, in the same direction. While properly prepared edges may appear to be smooth, microscopically there is a lot of "hills and valleys" with the fibers. It is this fibrous consistency of the wood that allows a strong glue joint to form a bond in the fibers, not on the fibers. That also explains why a glue joint involving end grain is weak without a mechanical fastener, ie, biscuit, dowel, m/t. The glue only had the very tip of the wood fiber to attach to the mating surface."

This is the stuff that amazes me. I NEVER, before I started reading, have imagined or considered such minutia...detail...(for me, science) goes into all this work. I'll never forget asking what the difference is between laquer thinner, mineral spirits and turpentine. Nestor gave me a six-page paper on the chemical composition and distillation!! I'll never ask that question again! Even though I didn't understand most of it

what actually happens is that the first thin layer soaks in and the rest bonds quite well.

ront

Karen-
You have to be careful around Nestor. The guy is a walking encyclopedia of info and sometimes it just spills out. A lot! He is learning to focus more.

Ask for the Reader's Digest version.

Bob.