Starved joints come from too small a bead, excessive clamping pressure, adhesive soaking into porous wood or foam, or adhesive skinned over before closing. They show bare patches, voids and low strength in tests, and in wood joints, glazed surfaces with little glue left. More adhesive, lower clamp pressure, spacer beads or a sealer coat on end grain fix them.
End grain drank the glue, that's a starved joint, size it with a thin coat first next time.
Also heard as
- starved bond
- dry joint
Related terms
Squeeze-out
The excess adhesive that oozes out along the joint edges at clamp-up, read as proof the joint is full.
Bondline
The layer of adhesive between two bonded parts, and in shop talk the thickness of that layer.
Spacer beads
Small glass or plastic spheres mixed into an adhesive to hold a set bondline thickness under clamp pressure.
Glue-up
The stage of assembly where all parts get adhesive and are clamped together, or the clamped assembly itself.