Help for a Newbe

[Duke 66]

I am very green to woodworking, but like making things. Wood seems to be the way to go. I like many colors patterns (grains) etc. Am in the process of collecting some starting tools to set up a small shop in my one car garage. I am good at fallowing plans and have a few projects that I want to do (try). The better I get the more the boss will let me do (and get equipment), so I am starting small with a simple box out of popular. Here is my question what glue should use for glue ups (yes i know wood brand) or what brand do u all use? What is the best?

Picture of my first project, plus made my work bench ( out of 2x4 and plywood)

[Bidule]

Hello duke

Any Wood glue will work. I use Titebond brand and i believe it is the most popular for woodworkers but they are all good and stronger than the wood when cured so don't worry about it.

[billh]

There are enough different types of glue that will work on wood to make your head spin and you probably know that already.

Bidule's comment about Titebond brand is pretty well on the money. Technically it is called a PVA glue which stands for Poly Viinyl Acetate and is the general purpose wood glue regardless of brand. Now a complication, there is Titebond 1, 2 and 3. Two and 3 are more waterproof and IIRC have longer open times which is how long you have to get things together. For any indoor project type 1 is plenty good enough and as was said, if the joint is properly made it will be stronger than the wood. Type 1 is normally the white PVA whereas the others tend to be yellowish.

For more waterproof requirements you can use polyurethane glue which needs water to cure and foams up when it contacts water. This glue is very good and strong but tends to be very messy. Even though the foam expands to fill gaps, the foam is very weak so the glue is not classed as a gap filler. If you wanted something that fills gaps and is waterproof you may find yourself looking at 2-part epoxies. Some PVA glues have more solids in them so they are considered as gap filling. I think Lee Valley's furniture glue is in this category.

Another type of glue is cyanoacrylate which is more commonly known as Super-glue or Crazy Glue. This glue is very handy for small jobs but is quite expensive and the bond is brittle. It wouldn't be considered as a general purpose wood glue but wood turners find lots of uses for it.

Another thing to be aware of is shelf-life. Most glues do not have an indefinite shelf-life so you have to be careful. Do not buy a huge container just because it might be on sale unless you know you will use it fairly quickly. Each glue type has a different shelf-life but to be honest I've used PVA well past its expiry and it was OK but I wouldn't want to say its bond strength was optimum.

Another thing to be aware of is curing time. They are not the same. Most glues will hold to some degree when they are "dry" say in an hour or rwo but they do not have their maximum strength until they are cured. Normally a day or so is typical for curing.

A quick source of some info is the glue section in the Lee Valley catalog which mentions things like hide and fish glue. Of course it is likely to lead you to more questions but you can also Google the various manufacturers and types.

billh

[kerfin]

What's the downside of Titebond III for most all wood joints?

Fo OP: I used the commonly available yellow Elmer's wood glue for most of my first 20 years woodworking. Still have cutting boards and pieces of furniture around the house that i made with Elmer's. Hard to find Titebond locally, but I switched to it couple of years ago on a project and simply kept using it. Had to order it from Lee Valley.

See also
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com...ebond-III-Glue

[Dean]

The downside for Titebond III, from my experience, is that the glue line in light coloured woods is very visible so use a whuite glue for your tabletops when using pine or maple

[bogmer]

I like Titebond II. I've used Lepage outdoor glue before and it left white marks on the wood that looked like bird $%&# if I accidentally drop some on my projects. Titebond didn't do that so I'm happy with it so far.

It's hard to find where I live also but I found it at Busy Bee stores.

[Tim in Milton]

I like the lv cabinetmakers glue for general work. If the op is working out of his garage then another thing to bear in mind as winter approaches is it will freeze and generally is useless after that so worth keeping in the house or heated cabinet.

[Barry1]

With regard to Duke66's inquiry on glues and BillH's post that there enough glues to make your head spin, he's quite correct. One thing I may point out, and not to be critical Bill, is that a Type 1 PVA glue IS waterproof, a Type II moisture resistant and Type III not waterproof at all. For some reason Titebond has labelled their glues in reverse order such that their Titebond III which you would think is a Type III glue is not. It is a Type I PVA glue which is waterproof. Their type I glue which you would think is waterproof is the least resistant to water - Just in case your head wasn't spinning enough!