No Clamps? No Problem! 

You are 100% correct! The friction between the boards forces glue into the pores of the wood, forcing the air out. That creates a vacuum when pulled on the boards resisting loosening. I was taught this method by my grandpa when I was 10 yrs old, it never failed me. I love it when these old techniques prove their value time and again! (62 yr old woodworker)

That is fascinating. I've been woodworking for 25 years and never saw this before. Thanks for sharing this!

Rub joint. Very interesting!

I was taught that in school when I was 14, I am 55 now, living in the UK. It really works well on face grain too

Struggled today to glue up two 12 mm boards, I just could not clamp them without them cupping. I'm going to try this tomorrow. Edit: after leaving the shed despondent yesterday I gave the rub joint a go. On my first attempt the boards did not stick together. Could it be something peculiar to Tasmanian silver wattle? Don't be an idiot, I say to myself, then try it with just a little more glue...AND....right there like pure magic those two boards bond together. This is going to be my go to technique for making the panel in frame and panel doors. I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH! (When you used the term "bloody" I thought, has he been hanging out with Aussies? Then you mentioned crotchety old English woodworkers and it all made sense 😂).

I've been staring at a handful of thin walnut boards for a couple of days, wondering what sort of clamps I'm going to have to buy this time. This video found me.

I’ve done rub joints in the past it always makes me smile and works just so well

That's great! Thanks for sharing!

I have been woodworking for years and never considered this. Thanks. I will use it now too.

Thank you for the video. I made my first rub joint today, and it worked wonderfully!

Bravo my guy. I've always known about this technique, but rarely do I think of using it. I have a buncha boxes that I want to make soon in an attempt to use up scrap material and I feel this will significantly simplify things for me.

I’m definitely going to try the “rub joint” out. Thanks for sharing this

One of the best joints for small stuff. Stays flat too if your planing both joint edges together. Great video. Like your style. Jamie

That planing stop is gennnniusss!!!!

Very nice technique! I have done similar things in the shop without realizing that this is a known, standard approach. Love it! Thank you!

Love the simplicity of this joint. Can’t wait to see more of that silver maple box!

I learn something new everytime I watch one of your videos. The rub joint is going into my bag of tricks right at the top. I make a lot of thin panels right now. This is going to save me some time for sure. If you ever put together any kind of in person woodworking training/classes, I would pay handsomely.

Love your enthusiasm. Got yourself a new sub.

I've used this a lot for gluing segments into rings for segmented bowls. Works a treat. Much faster and easier than trying to fuss with clamping odd angles.

As I've watched all your new videos and some of the really old ones, I thought I'd circle back to the ones in the not so distant past. It is remarkable how much you've improved your videos over the last 12 months. Its almost like you learned things when you were part of that Emmy award winning Netflix show 😄 Keep up the good work sir!

Love your videos, thanks for sharing!

1) Love the Chanel and the content! 2) The rub joint was a cool trick. 3) DAMN, I need to know more about that plane stop! That is the coolest little thing I have seen in a long time!

Kia Ora & Good Evening from Auckland, New Zealand ...great video bro.

That was very cool, mate. I'm always interested to find out about how things were done in the past no matter how simple it may seem. Thanks😁👍

I just used that technique because I was gluing up two different thickness of wood, also some what thin, and to clamp it was proving very difficult so I glued just like you did, rubbed the edges together, laid on a flat surface, left it for an hour, came back, and darned if it didn’t work, I was feeling pretty smart about it, then I came across your video, and well, so much for being original.😂 Thanks for the video.

Thanks, that's a very helpful knowledge.

At first I wasn’t sure about this but after seeing it done a light clicked on, oh yeah, when I glue up edges I rub them to spread the glue evenly and always notice how it grabs. Thanks for turning on my brain light. 😊

I love watching your videos. I think maybe this is the best wood working show on RU-vid.

Where the hell have you been! You just popped up on my feed like a freaking champ!!

Years ago, there was an ad for a glue "one drop holds a tonne". In the ad, an elephant (circa 5 or 6 tonnes) was in a harness with a machined metal block (with a machined surface) at the end of the lifting lines, which was glued to a similar block on a telescopic crane... yeah, the crane lifted the elephant, but (because of the machine mirror-finished surfaces on the metal) the same lift (with transverse movement preventers) could have been done using water. Physics is fun, and "nerding out", leads to new knowledge.

A great tip my friend!

Just found this channel. Love it, keep up the good work!

Something else I did not know. Cheers.

lo voy a poner a prueba!!!! gracias por compartir

Love it!

Excellent 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

really very much liking your woodworking channel, lottsa great info, looks good and don't find myself increasing the playback speed 🤭 😎👍

Yo that is a sick little plane stop, love the removable inserts, that's an insta-sub from me.

wow, this is great! I'm gonna try this!

Thank You

Your planing stop system is so nice! Might use that idea in my new workbench

Glue will soak into the pores of the wood. I'm assuming that's where the slight clamping vacuum force comes from. Nice vid!

OK, you've stoked my interest. Subscribed.

Thanks for video.

Wish I'd seen this last week when I glued two thin boards together to make a box bottom. I did manage to clamp them, and I also clamped three cauls across them, all clamped down to a slab of quartz countertop. They came out flat. I had never heard of a rub joint.

Love this! I hate clamping small pieces...feels like I am bringing an army to a thumb war lol

i did one of these yesterday, Try using tite bond quick and thick that stuff works great.

Funny I seen this. I do this all the time. Never knew it had a name. I always thought the friction just made some of the glue set up faster. It definitely works.

It's the same as putting together two mirrors, same vacuum effect, so if you have haters just laugh of them. Wood friend from Sweden ⭐⭐⭐

Okay you just earned a new follower because WTF?!? That’s amazing

I was taught this is called surface tension. Like when you spill water on a table and go to pick up your glass and it kind of sticks….and that’s just water. Works great for reinforcing skirts or aprons with a corner block. Cheers

More info on the magnetic plane stop? Thanks!

I'm gonna try that in the next day or two

Not a new concept, but this refresher is welcomed. As a previous responder mentioned, a test of the strength would be of interest. What did planning the face have to do with making the edge joint? Thank you for sharing. Have a great 2023 and stay safe.🙂🙂

Always loved the rub joint. See too many people putting 100 clamps on a peice that doesn't need it 😆

Some sort of shear thickening, perhaps rheopecty. Attaching a term to it doesn't explain anything, but you then look even more cool.

👍👍👍👍

You have such a pleasant style of explaining what you're doing! Why distract the listener with the jangly music track? That may work when you are just doing something, but it makes it harder to pay attention to what you are saying (which is very informative). Also, the incidental sounds of planing wood or using hand tools can be very satisfying/relaxing. Thanks for sharing your video!

Rub joint would be a great name for a rib restaurant.

The same thing happens when I flatten two very very flat whetstones together and as a result they are super difficult to separate.

Hi, at the point when the two parts of the piece become hard to move and you stop, friction has caused heat to speed the glue set and the wood surface has absorbed much of that thin layer of glue..

Would this work for larger/thicker boards? I really want to glue up a coffee table top but I can't afford to buy the big clamps at the moment!

I'm thinking back to the couple times I tried using clamps and ruined my project. Damn. Had I only known. 😅

Brill haven't seen that one until now

It's basically capilirstion. Take 2 sheets of glass and drop some water on 1 surface and press together. Now try to pull apart. It ain't coming unless you slide it

Where did you find those plane stops?? Did you make them?

Yo, you're dope.

I took a semesters of fluid dynamics so I should be an expert right? I’ll have to give the rub joint a try and set up a lab report to see if matches up with your hypothesis.

I'm honestly curious on how this would work with bigger panel glue ups

I’ll do you one up. Polyurethane glue works wonders. But it makes my fingers black

Ancient pre-Egyptian technology

Just wondering if this works so well on small pieces why do we use clamps on larger panel glue ups? I'd love to see a strength test.

DUmb question... When you clamped to plane the mating surfaces; Did you basically clamp back to back?

Sub'd and spiked my interest in your channel.... Joy Division reference or just a coincidence?

there's the rub

OR…You can rub them WITHOUT GLUE to start a fire😂

Tbh….this ‘rub joint’ isn’t a special ‘technique’, its something we all do in spreading glue and aligning pieces as a matter of course…At least I think so huh! I guess if there is someone out there has only ever slathered everything in gop and clamped it up, this might be news!

Awful music.Spoilt any enjoyment there might have been for me.Why do that?

"Its just water"...but the ice cubes are solid vodka !