Wood Glue Calculator
Adhesive quantity for edge gluing, panel lay-ups and face lamination from TDS spread rates in g/m², with waste allowance and cost.
Glue is cheap per kilogram and painful to run out of mid-press. This calculator works the way adhesive data sheets do: bond-line area times spread rate in g/m², doubled if you apply to both mating faces, plus a waste allowance for squeeze-out and application loss. For edge-glued panels it counts the joints from the panel width and lamella width; for face lamination it counts the bond planes of the lay-up. Optional price and density give cost and litres.
FAQ
How much glue do I need per square metre?
For a single-face PVAc application plan on 150-200 g/m² (TDS standard 175). Doubling to both faces doubles the figure; edge-glued panels typically consume 200-300 g/m² of bond line.
How many joints does an edge-glued panel have?
One fewer than the number of lamellas: a 1220 mm panel glued from 40 mm boards has ceil(1220/40) = 31 lamellas and 30 joints. Each joint is a panel-length × panel-thickness strip, about 0.44 m² of bond line per m² of panel.
How much glue does 1 m³ of edge-glued panel use?
At 200 g/m² of bond line and 0.43 m² of joints per m² of panel, an 18 mm panel consumes roughly 86 g/m², which works out to about 4.8 kg of glue per cubic metre of panel.
Why does the calculator ask for density?
Adhesive is bought by the kilogram but dispensed by volume. Density (about 1.08 g/cm³ for PVAc, 1.1-1.2 for PU) converts the kilograms into litres so you can size buckets and dosing tanks.