O/T What's the best wood glue for furniture

[Joe Miranda]

I know that there are a number of guys on this forum that also do wood working. What are your recommendations for a long lasting wood glue - and where is it available?

Joe

 

[Kevin Singleton]

Gorilla glue is good, especially if you need some gap-filling properties. Your normal wood glues "Titebond, Titebond II, Elmer's, etc) are good if you have tight-fitting joints, especially if they're nice and clean. You can get these glues at any home center or hardware store, and some grocery stores, but I get mine at Rockler and Woodcraft, not for the price, but for the perceived assurance that the glue is "fresh".

 

[mister honey]

Depending upon the application...

1. Titebond Original

2. Gorilla Glue

3. Hot hide glue

4. Cyanoacrylics

Mike

 

[Frederick Harvie]

Again depends on the application. If you happen to be fixing loose rungs on a chair chair doctor is highly recomended.

 

[gwilson]

Gorilla glue is only as strong as a foam coffee cup. Its main virtue is in being able to glue oily woods together,and in water resistance. Super glues are good for about 20 years. Hot hide glue can be taken apart for repairs,a valuable property. It should not be used where high humidity will be a problem. It can degrade. But,in normal applications,it has lasted hundreds of years in old antiques. I use Titebond brown glue for dark woods,and white for light. The yellow can show up as a glue line.For general uses these glues are o.k..For musical instruments,hot hide glue should be used so that joints can be opened for repairs.Hide glue probably also transfers vibration better also.

[ 04-23-2007, 04:50 PM: Message edited by: gwilson ]

 

[David/toledo]

The only one on the list above that I dont like is the Gorilla Glue. For the main reason that I never no how much clean up I will have. Dont like all of the foam that it can make. Love all of the titebond product.
David/toledo

 

[AeroncaChamp]

second Mr. Honey... depends on what you're gluing.

Any glue will work well in tight joints.

The Titebond series all tack up quickly and cure harder than the wood. Clean up with water when wet, can gum up sandpaper, but scrape ok. However, these glues (at least original and II) creep, so I wouldn't use them to glue something that will be under constant load, such as the bridge on a guitar.

I differ with Kevin on Gorilla... I wouldnt' use it where gap filling was in play. Polyurethane glues (like Gorilla) don't have much strength if they are allowed to foam up inside a loose fitting joint... it's the foamed up material that's not strong (think about it - how strong is any foam?).

Poly glues are quite strong when they don't have room to foam, and especially effective on end grain or open grain woods. They are sandable when cured and don't show as much under clear finishes. You need solvent to clean up - Denatured Alcohol works well when glue is still wet, Acetone and Lacquer thinner more agressively, but nastier to you and the environment. They (the poly's) stain brown if allowed to cure on your skin and are a sticky mess to work with.

These are the only two I routinely use. I'm curious to know more about cyanoacrylics... I've only used them for small repairs in wood (like lifted veneers) and gluing skin back together.

 

[surplusjohn]

I think Gorilla is way oversold, if you can't do a super good clamp set up it is useless. I use CA for things like models and picture frames. if you use the thick version with activator, it is ideal for a picture frame, non-messy and of course fast. My father had a wood box making plant and we used hot animal glue for gluing the box joints together and for the vinyl covering. We switched to white glue for box assembly to advoid the need for hot tanks. but the hot glue was ideal in many ways, less clean up, justthurn off the hot tank, very cheap, was something like $.25 per pound 30 years ago, dry in 50 lb bags, and little waste. It was the best way to glue on coverings, often used cake, which was like a block of jello. Fast tack, easy working and clean up. Sometimes we were required to use "white glue" in this case a neoprene emulsion. Much harder to work with and more expensive, slower tack, and the potdevins were a bitcc to clean up. The white glues were required by Kodak for anti-fungel properties and we made alot of stuff for Light Impressions for archivial storage, which had to be ph nuetral.

 

[Bill's Machine Shop]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned epoxies. Maybe they're a little too brittle when cured, however, they are used extensively by canoe builders.

I read this forum alot and like to read about personal experiences. I hope others do too because I want to tell about one of my experiences with a special kind of epoxy. When I was the proud owner of a '63 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII, the steel glass-supporting frame had separated itself from the roll-up glass panel on the passenger side. I went to the local auto parts store and asked for something that would glue steel to glass. They mentioned something they called 8101. I took a chance and bought some even though it was quite expensive and still is. I never got a chance to glue the window back to the steel frame, but I have used it for many other projects. It behaves a little differently than other epoxies. It expands slightly in the joint and fills voids much like Gorilla Glue. It is also more resiliant than other epoxies and won't chip out of joints that are under extreme stress like those in chair rungs.

The thing about this glue that got me to respond to this thread is the time I used it to glue the little wedge that is used to fasten the rear view mirror to the inside of the windshield of my old truck. I used the special super glue stuff several times and the wedge kept falling off. When I used the 8101, it held until I scrapped the truck. At that time, I wanted to keep the rear view mirror, so I went in there with a putty knife, then a razor blade, then a Stanley knife, then a sharp cold chisel and hammer. The end result was a divot in the windshield and a chunk of glass stuck to the little wedge. Rather than risk glass chips in my eyes, I just threw the little wedge into a small pot of water and put it on the stove to cook. Six boiling hours later, the little divot was still stuck hard to the wedge. I finally gave up and set the little wedge directly onto the stove'e electric burner. After a short time, the wedge, epoxy and glass had come to near red heat. At that point, the epoxy let go, and I had to open all the windows.

As was stated earlier, whatever glue you use depends on the application. BTW 8101 is made by the 3M company. WWQ

 

[JRouche]

Titebond is my grab first glue. JRouche

 

[surplusjohn]

Epoxy works!
My son is a musician and when he was on tour alot with his heavy metal band [very heavy] he would brake is guitar necks, I would fix with epoxy, and they would rebrake further down. His Les Paul had 5 or 6 brakes, really got banged up, too bad since he had Les Paul sign it! I set up up with some clamps and 5 minuet epoxy for his road kit.

 

[gwilson]

Epoxy glues are not good for a couple of reasons. First,they can continue to harden until they become so brittle that they break.Secondly,they are pretty non-reversible. I hate to have someone bring in a guitar or something else that has been repaired with epoxy.Once a woman brought in a hollow ebony walking cane with a sword inside.It was an antique that had been badly shattered. Someone had glued it back together with WHITE epoxy. It took me several days to soak it in epoxy remover. Fortunately,the cane had no finish on it to be destroyed by the epoxy remover.

 

[Joe Miranda]

Once again the members of this forum have far exceeded my expectations! Thanks for your input. I am trying to glue together several pieces of wood to make a cutting board for kitchen use for my wife. Will the "Titebond" stuff work for that?

Joe

 

[scojen]

Joe,
Yes, I have used it myself on a similar project just make sure you wipe up the excess especially if you plan to run it thru a planer. The glue is real hard on the planer blades.

Scott

 

[AeroncaChamp]

I would use Poly (Gorilla) for this if I could run the edges thru the jointer planer and clamp tight... Poly would be more impervious to water.

or, I'd use the Titebond II or III, again for it's resistance to water/moisture.

In either case, you want to keep the board well oiled and out of standing water, which will wreak havok with any joint due to the wood's differential expansion along and across the joint.

 

[AlexO]

Professional caseine glues will ignore water. Bone glue with a small addition of formaldehide is pretty insensitive to atmospheric moisture. There are a number of hot glues used to apply melamine edges - they're extremely strong and will bond anything on anything.
As strenght is concerned, bone glue ( thick) is still king of the road if applied without clamping( sliding the surfaces). It will glue almost anything ( frosted glass was made with this stuff). I've used cyano glue some 30 years ago and the joints are still sound. Wish I didn't.

 

[mister honey]

I build a lot of pine boxes with finger joints. I find that waterbased Titebond swells the "fingers" making assembly difficult, at best. I use Gorilla Glue exclusively for finger or box joints and it is extremely strong in that application.

I have tried the Titebond II waterproof glue, but I am sloppy and they just won't wash out of my glueing clothes like theoriginal Titebond!

Mike

 

[gwilson]

I forgot: super glues EXPOSED TO LIGHT have a life of about 20 years.This from the Furniture Conservation Lab.,Colonial Williamsburg. I never use super glue for woodworking myself.Glue is a complex subject,and applications determine what kind to use.

 

[David/toledo]

Seeing it is a cutting board. I would use eather Titebond Or orther water proof one. If you are doing bread board ends remeber this joint needs to be able to move no glue just pegs. In other words ends are perpendicular to the main main part.
David/toledo

 

[speedsport]

the test is gluing snot to a gold tooth.