Curing glue-clogged clamps

No matter how much care you take, glue squeeze-out inevitably drips onto your clamps and dries before you spot it. There are a couple ways to remove dried glue from clamps. For thin deposits, spray on a citrus-based cleaner, such as Citrus Magic (Beaumont Products, Inc., 800-451-7096) or Polyken 41 Citrus Cleaner (Hillas Packaging, 800-952-7424, www.hillas.com.) Allow it to soften and swell the glue for a few minutes before removing it with a plastic scraper. When you're finished, use detergent and water to remove the cleaner. For more stubborn deposits, use a hair dryer or heat gun on the high setting to soften the glue before scraping it off, as shown at left.Next time you use your clamps, adjust the clamp jaws during dry assembly, and then mask the bar between the jaws with painter's tape before gluing and clamping. Any drips will come off with the tape.—from the WOOD® shop