Glue

[Paul A Andrews]

I've been using the Titebond ll provided by the shop for the last three years. Now that I am setting up my home shop I'm open to change. I have no issues with the glue but I notice that Titebond lll is now being sold and advertised as having different qualities, like setting and drying times. Anybody with experience with both? Preference? Titebond lll is about 50% more expensive but that's not a big deal with the amount of glue I expect to use on segmented rings.

 

[Owen Lowe]

Preference? … on segmented rings.

Over the last 6 months, I’ve taken to using Weldbond for segmented pieces. Max Kimmel recommended it for rims and foots for alabaster work and it dries absolutely clear, has good tack time for rubbed bonds, and a decent price (though I don’t recall the differences between the Titebonds and Weldbond).

 

[Jamie Straw]

I've been using the Titebond ll provided by the shop for the last three years. Now that I am setting up my home shop I'm open to change. I have no issues with the glue but I notice that Titebond lll is now being sold and advertised as having different qualities, like setting and drying times. Anybody with experience with both? Preference? Titebond lll is about 50% more expensive but that's not a big deal with the amount of glue I expect to use on segmented rings.

I always heard the main advantage to Titebond 3 is how waterproof it is -- use for outdoor projects and such. That and somewhat longer open time. If you don't need "waterproof" the TB2, which is fairly water resistant in its own right, should be fine, yes?

 

[Richard Coers]

From Malcolm Tibbett's web site; http://www.tahoeturner.com/faqs.html
What kind of glue do you use?

I assemble the majority of my joinery using Franklin Titebond Original. Occasionally, I use Titebond Extend and/or Gorilla Glue. I have just started to experiment with Titebond III.

 

[John Torchick]

TBIII is waterproof- I use it for gluing cork rings for fishing rods- never had a problem in 8 years.

 

[John Terdik]

I use Titebond 3 for a LOT of my woodworking mainly because it is waterproof, thus I don't use Titebon2 mainly because it would be another glue to possible go bad. I buy it in gallon bottles and then put the entire contents into smaller bottles (like the 16 oz energy drinks with the wide lid). When I fill the smaller bottles I fill to the top as much as possible to eliminate any air. This extends the shelf life of the glue. I have some that has been setting on my shelf for three years and it is still good.

For my quick glue projects, the best (IMHO) is the Loctite Pro (little blue bottles). put some on both pieces, hold together for 15 seconds you are good to go.

For keeping the bark for a live edge I buy 16 OZ bottles of water thin CA, transfer to smaller bottles (about 2 OZ) store what I'm not using in the refrigerator. Again you want to fill the bottles as full as possible to remove the air.

I also use a thicker CA glue and follow the same procedure as the thin CA glue.
NOTE CA glue has really bad fumes. You can get the water-thin (I'm talking about consistency not thinning the CA flue) that is odorless but it cost twice as much, e.g. $64 vs $32. If somebody has a good source please let me know. Also when sanding the CA glue this action will introduce the fumes.

Last but not least is the two part epoxy, Loctite in the 4 OZ bottles and for the really big jobs nothing beats West Systems. The best is the 207 (super clear) but it is a lot more expensive than the 205 (will yellow over time)

Great article in the latest FWW mag on glues.
Good luck

 

[Andy Chen]

I've been using the Titebond ll provided by the shop for the last three years. Now that I am setting up my home shop I'm open to change. I have no issues with the glue but I notice that Titebond lll is now being sold and advertised as having different qualities, like setting and drying times. Anybody with experience with both? Preference? Titebond lll is about 50% more expensive but that's not a big deal with the amount of glue I expect to use on segmented rings.

Paul, as a veteran segmenter I have used all the Franklin PVA (polyvinyl acetate) glues. If you are talking about segmented work I would not waste the money but just stick with the Titebond original. When I first started segmented turning ages ago, I used Titebond original and noticed lines that I could feel between segments a few months after I finished the bowl. I attributed that to the glue picking up moisture from the air. So when the Titebond II came out I tried it because it was billed to be water resistant. It didn't appear to make much a difference. When Titebond III, which is supposed to be waterproof, came out I thought this must be the solution but that proved to be an illusion. I think the segmenters generally agree these days that the so called glue creeping is actually the result of the wood movement which cannot be prevented unless you keep your vessel in a climate-controlled environment or seal it with waterproof finish like epoxy. The fact of life is if you mix different species (or even same species) of wood you ARE going to have differential wood movement that over time will cause the "glue creeping".

Although supposedly Titebond II has somewhat shorter "open time" than the original and Titebond III has longer open time than Titebond II, in practice, it does not make one hill of beans difference. Now, Franklin claims Titebond works with oily woods. So you might consider using it on bloodwood, teak or cocobolo (but most segmenters don't use cocobolo at all). One word of caution, Titebond dries with a light brown color and therefore I would not use it between light colored segments, like maple or holly, unless you want to accentuate the joint for some reason. Of course, this would not be an issue if you are gluing light colored wood to a dark species.

Have fun with segmented work. It's so rewarding. Hope to see you at the segmenting symposium in Quincy, MA at the end of October.

 

[john lucas]

I've been using titebond or the newer varieties since i started woodworking and certainly since I started turning. Andy is dead on and of course has much more experience with segmented work that I do. I use titebond11 when I need a more rapid tak time. I will sometimes use the rub glue joint when assembling complicated pieces and the titebond11 seems to do this better than titebond. I tried titebond 3 on some cutting boards but now I tend to go with epoxy if I want a waterproof glue.

 

[Grant Wilkinson]

I like the Titebond no run, no drip for segmenting. It tacks very quickly, dries clear and needs nothing but a rub joint for "clamping".

 

[Joe Greiner]

If you seriously want to accentuate the joint in light woods, Titebond II is available in a dark version. UPC 0-37083-03704-3

You could even use light between the segments, and dark between the rings; or vise versa. For whatever reason.

 

[john lucas]

Well if your really serious about colored glue mix epoxy with a color and a thickener. I did this gluing toothpicks on the outer edge of the rings as spacers. Other than a few voids that had to be filled it came out really cool.

 

[odie]

I am using TBIII, but TBII, or even TBI would work just as well. My only need is to attach waste blocks to roughed bowls. The thing to remember about Titebond, is it has a shelf life of 2 years. That probably means it's good for a couple years beyond that, but should be sold in two years....the manufacturer doesn't elaborate on that......

Years ago, I bought Titebond in a gallon, but that's way too much for my needs. I don't use very much. I bought it in pints for a few years, and now only buy it in the 8oz 1/2 pint. The small size lasts me a couple years, and I do one or two hundred waste blocks per bottle.

Titebond is a goner, if it freezes. It will thicken and become lumpy....or, even become solid. (That is the voice of experience!!!!!)

The Manufacturer's code on Titebond can be broken down to determine date of manufacture.

The code is stamped on the bottle in black ink, and may look like this:

A304290091

.....and breaks down as follows:

A3= 2013 (A4=2014, A5=2015, etc.)

0429= April 29

0091= batch#

ko