Glue for Melamine cabinets with domino's

[sjalloq]

Hi there,

this is a slightly repeated question but I wanted to be sure before I make a mess. I'm building my first cabinets out of Melamine faced MDF and have used my Festool Domino to do all the edge to face joints. I hadn't really thought about glue until after I'd finished all the cutout and prep. Oops. Some background info: sheet goods are 18mm MF-MDF including the back; top/bottom to side joints have 5 5x30mm dominos; back panel has 2 on the top/bottom and one on the side for alignment.

I found this thread from way back in the day that seems to have the best advice I could find but I was still a little unsure. glue-for-melamine-chipboard-t9378.html

Given that I have all the cabinets ready to glue, I have two main questions:

1. Can I get away with just using glue on the domino's or do I need to give it some help with something that will bond to the melamine/MDF butt joints?
2. In the thread linked above a 'good quality' D3 PVA was suggested. What does 'good quality' mean? Any branded item? The glues I have to hand are Evo-Stik Green and Titebond 3. I'm guessing the Titebond 3 is my best option but is there anything preferable I should look at?

Thanks, Shareef.

 

[DannyJH]

Titebond would be absolutely fine, although just be mindful that it will grape the components very quickly. Do a thorougher dry cramp before-hand to iron out any problems.

You may as well glue any MDF-MDF joints, just a slightly damp rag to hand to quickly clean it up.

 

[sjalloq]

Hi there,

Thanks for that. I was worried about the curing time actually. I might have a look for something that'll offer me more time to work. I don't have any MDF-MDF joints though as it's all MDF edge to melamine face.

 

[rdesign]

if you want a glue to stick to the white melamine not just the dominos u could use roo glue

 

[paul saunders]

PVA doesn't stick to melamine very well, we use PU glue but don't use too much as it expands, but it sticks like the proverbial to a blanket. [WINKING FACE]

 

[Tom MasterCraftsman]

Titebond would be absolutely fine, although just be mindful that it will grape the components very quickly. Do a thorougher dry cramp before-hand to iron out any problems.

You may as well glue any MDF-MDF joints, just a slightly damp rag to hand to quickly clean it up.

Is Titebond worth the price? Never used it seems very expensive to me. A good quality pva always has worked for me, a D3 rated wood resin pva like evostick should do the job, a polyurethane glue rated as D4 (completely waterproof) and comes in 5 min or 30min usually, sticks just about anything used in a woodworking shop but can be messy as it expands. I'm not experienced with dominos but if they are like dowl and biscuits pva might be better as the glue expands the biscuit/domino making the joint stronger. (Not convinced polyurethane does the same)



Tom

 

[sjalloq]

Thanks Tom. That's helpful.

Cost of glue doesn't really concern me though. Quality of joint and ease of use do. When I'm spending 80p per cabinet on dominos alone then a few extra pence on glue is nothing. I've saved money for good glue by buying a trade bag of Blum hinges.

Having said that I'm completely open to suggestions of products to try. In my internet searches I see a lot of quotes along the lines of 'use a good glue and you'll be fine' which for a novice with no experience is quite hard to decode. Titebond, for example, does at least have a good following with many people recommending it over other brands.

I'll give Evostik a go as well and I might have to try a few domino only joints and see how hard it is to pull it apart. I hadn't come across PU glues until today and most comments seem to centre on its messiness. I might give it a go if I find the joints are weak.

Cheers.