Open Time (Working Time)

Open time (also working time) is how long a glue stays workable -- spreadable, repositionable, still able to be clamped and adjusted -- after it's applied, before it begins to set. Standard yellow wood glue typically offers 5-10 minutes of open time; CA glue offers seconds; epoxy varies widely by formulation, from a few minutes to well over an hour for slow-set versions.

Open time is the practical constraint behind planning a complex glue-up: a project with many parts to align and clamp before the glue starts to grab needs either a longer-open-time glue, a rehearsed dry-fit run beforehand, or breaking the glue-up into smaller stages -- running out of open time mid-assembly, with clamps only half applied, is a genuinely common and avoidable glue-up failure.