502 Wood Glue

[Harbour]

Hi All

This is my first post to the forums

Having finally had a new "off the shelf" 16 x 10 workshop delivered and assembled at the end of my garden, I have made a couple of forays into the wonderful world of woodworking. My initial builds have been a workbench/outfeed table on castors, and a light duty bench made from ply. I am quite pleased that said ply is now on its 3rd use under my supervision: having initially been part of the interior wall lining of a shed that came with the house when purchased in 1992, the sheets were then salvaged when the shed was demolished to make way for a replacement "potting" shed and were used as wall linings again, and now some of the sheets have been sawn up and put to use as parts of a bench following the demise of the potting shed.

Now my query. I have used 502 wood glue purchased from Toolstation for the assemblies on the benches. I have found the glue very thick, to the extent that there is no realistic way that you can use the squeezy nozzle on the bottle, as it gums up. Even taking the cap off and pouring means waiting quite a while for the glue to make its way out of the bottle! Is this a typical experience for this brand of glue? Can it be thinned to make it a trifle more fluid? Is that even desirable?

Thanks for any opinion

best
H

 

[DaWoodster]

502 only has a shelf life of 12 months from date of manufacture.
It is pretty thick compared to titebond, it is water soluble, but I don't know if thinning would reduce its adhesive properties.

 

[ED65]

Well done you on reusing the ply multiple times =D>

I have used 502 wood glue purchased from Toolstation for the assemblies on the benches. I have found the glue very thick, to the extent that there is no realistic way that you can use the squeezy nozzle on the bottle, as it gums up. Even taking the cap off and pouring means waiting quite a while for the glue to make its way out of the bottle!

Regardless of its normal consistency that's definitely too thick for PVA. Seems likely it's older stock where the seal of the cap wasn't 100% and it slowly lost water (and any other evaporatives) over time.

Unless it's also slightly 'curdled'? In which case it's frost damaged and the advice there is to bin it.

Can it be thinned to make it a trifle more fluid? Is that even desirable?

Yes and yes. It should be the running consistency you're expecting but best not to go thinner than that for everyday jobs.

You can usually get it back to usable consistency by thinning with a little added water, you won't need much, but you'll need to use mechanical means to combine them usually (see last two posts here). If you do this with anything but distilled water you shouldn't expect the glue to last well during storage because tap water isn't sterile even after boiling in a kettle, so if you don't have distilled water on hand I would decant a small amount and thin that, to be stored in a separate container.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

When you buy again, get D4 - it's totally waterproof and a better glue. Worth a few quid more.

 

[Harbour]

Well done you on reusing the ply multiple times =D>

Cheers!

Unless it's also slightly 'curdled'? In which case it's frost damaged and the advice there is to bin it.

No, it does not seem to be curdled, it's nice and smooth

I have also noted the shelf life, and it does seem to be within date for the next few months. I guess it may have been badly stored within the retailer's premises and dried out there, as has been suggested. I haven't owned the bottle long enough for it to have happened on my watch I think.

I appreciate the responses and the wise advice, I will have a stab at watering it down batch by batch

Many thanks

H

 

[iNewbie]

I don't know about thinning it but you may want to read the Tech Data sheet about storage - left side under PDF downloads.

http://www.everbuild.co.uk/502-All-Purp ... d-Adhesive

 

[ColeyS1]

Well done you on reusing the ply multiple times =D>

Cheers!

Unless it's also slightly 'curdled'? In which case it's frost damaged and the advice there is to bin it.

No, it does not seem to be curdled, it's nice and smooth

I have also noted the shelf life, and it does seem to be within date for the next few months. I guess it may have been badly stored within the retailer's premises and dried out there, as has been suggested. I haven't owned the bottle long enough for it to have happened on my watch I think.

I appreciate the responses and the wise advice, I will have a stab at watering it down batch by batch

Many thanks

H

Just bear in mind, you may save a few quid by thinning and reusing, but completely wreck an entire job once all the glue joints start to fail. It's not worth the risk imho


Coley

 

[Phil Pascoe]

At less than £4 a litre, use it for treating blanks if you have a lathe, otherwise as ^^^.

 

[custard]

+1

Glue is the cheapest part of any job by a country mile...but it's one of the most critical. Don't hesitate to junk old glue stocks and replace with fresh. One of the "clocks change" maintenance jobs in my workshop is to replace all adhesives.

 

[ED65]

FWIW I've thinned PVA glues back to working consistency many times over the years and as long as I didn't over-dilute them they seemed to retain all their strength.

Fair enough though for critical work it's not worth taking the chance on dodgy glue, and if it's just four quid a litre in the UK buying new makes sense. Retail price here is over triple that at current exchange rates and one place (where I would not normally buy anything... you'll see why) it equates to approximately £20 per litre.

 

[lurker]

I save my iffy PVA and put a bit (say 5% of the liquid) in any cement I am mixing

I buy it by the litre as less cost just as much, but store the bulk in the house in the winter months.

 

[Giff]

Putting the glue bottle in warm water for a while before use helps, especially if it's cold. Also I use a small foam paint roller for spreading on larger panels and that spreads pretty well.

 

[NazNomad]

Can it be thinned to make it a trifle...

Possibly, but I think custard might be more palatable. 8)

 

[Alexfn]

put it in a old ketchup bottle, the new type that sit upside down and you squeeze

 

[NazNomad]

put it in a old ketchup bottle, the new type that sit upside down and you squeeze

This method works well for preserving the glue, but can sometimes be a bit uncontrollable when you use it.

 

[DiscoStu]

I use titebond glues (as many in here do) they have nozzle which pushes a plastic stopper through the outlet when closing so your bottle doesn't get clogged. Seems to work well as long as you wipe away the excess.


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