Glue help please!

[Linus]

I hope I'm not opening a bag of worms here (as in sharpening advice) but can I call upon the wisdom of others here for advice on glue. I am putting together an oak rocking chair which will ultimately be used and stored in an unheated summerhouse with all associated temperature/moisture considerations. Should I use something like Titebond II or similar for moisture resistance? Also, being a novice to chair making, I would like a bit more working time with the glue before I end up in a pickle running out of clamps etc. Would Cascamite (or similar UF) be better suited. No glue wars please, keep it simple, like me.

Ta

Lyn

 

[AFFF]

Titebond would be a good choice. Quite frankly (just holding my breath for the furious reaction) any good quality external grade PVA based adhesive should be fine. What's more important is the quality and accuracy of your jointing method. Tight M&Ts, dowels, dominos etc is the answer. If your joints are loose to start with then no wood glue will make them better as they are not gap bridging adhesives. If you do have a loose joint that you cannot improve then consider using 2 part epoxy as this will, within reason, allow a gap to be filled in a joint

 

[Jacob]

Depends on the design (and the summerhouse!). You might need some metal fixings, nuts and bolts?

 

[recipio]

If you think you are going to be more than 10 mins assembling the joints then use an extended cure glue. One hour polyurthane is rated for exterior use if a little messy. Chairs need scrupulous attention to joints and lots of clamps !

 

[TheTiddles]

Any modern adhesive will be fine. I’d use a D4 just in case, that’s still readily available and cheap

 

[yetloh]

Personally, I wouldn't use a UF glue because, while strong, it is very hard and quite brittle and a rocking chair (or any other chair come to that) is subject to a lot of flexing and stresses. For me most PVAs and Titebond are too fast. 1 hour polyurethane is very flexible and gives the open time you might find you need, but your joints must be tight because although it fills gaps it fills them with bubbles which is exactly what you don't want.

Jim

 

[Doug71]

I like PU glues, they do seem to stick well and are waterproof but can be messy.

If you go down the Titebond route Titebond III has a longer open time than the others, is D4 rated (waterproof) and dries brown (rather than yellow) which I think looks better on Oak if there are any glue lines visible.

 

[danst96]

I have good experience with both Titebond 2 and 3 although would recommend using 3 for what you are suggesting. As Doug says it will give you a bit more glue up time and is water resistant.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Any modern adhesive will be fine. I’d use a D4 just in case, that’s still readily available and cheap

The OP did say he'd like some open time - D4 (or at least Everbuild D4) can be a nightmare to use in this weather. The chair will be stored indoors - 502 would give him a little longer.

 

[Yojevol]

Divide the gluing process into as many sub-assemblies as possible.
Brian

 

[Fitzroy]

I'm with Phil avoid, Everbuild D4 if your glue-up is anything other than simple and sub 5mins!

 

[Rorton]

titebond do an extended open time glue also -

+1 for gluing up sub assemblies too - learned that the hard way!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You can slow PVAs a little by spraying the parts with water - the moisture doesn't get sucked out of the glue quite so quickly.

 

[Linus]

Thanks to all. Reading your responses I am inclined to lean towards Titebond 3 with longer open time and moisture resistance. I have used PU before and whilst the longer open time is attractive I'm not sure how to cope with the extruded excess (guaranteed with me). The spec says sand off excess but don't know if it will stain the oak.The chair will be in 3 sub assemblies so no problem there.

 

[Jacob]

Thanks to all. Reading your responses I am inclined to lean towards Titebond 3 with longer open time and moisture resistance. I have used PU before and whilst the longer open time is attractive I'm not sure how to cope with the extruded excess (guaranteed with me). The spec says sand off excess but don't know if it will stain the oak.The chair will be in 3 sub assemblies so no problem there.

Better to have extruded excess than nothing showing because not enough glue in the joint. Always spread glue over the whole of both surfaces - it won't necessarily spread itself however tight you clamp it. Then scrape of excess with a plastic scraper when it's gone off a bit and not runny.

 

[yetloh]

Divide the gluing process into as many sub-assemblies as possible.
Brian

I'm afraid I don't agree with this one. Small errors in sub-assemblies can easily be cumulative and not capable of correction in the final assembly
IMO it is much better to use a glue that will give you the time you need and do it in one go. For a rocking chair there is every chance that PVA won't give you it and neither will TB3 whose open time isn't that much longer than either PVA or standard Titebond. PU is not a big problem with clean-up and is colourless so will not stain or show up any less than perfect joints which TB3 will an natural new oak.

Jim

 

[Jameshow]

Just remember to dry fit first....

Nothing worse than getting half way through a glue up to find it doesn't fit!!!

Cheers James

 

[Linus]

I'm afraid I don't agree with this one. Small errors in sub-assemblies can easily be cumulative and not capable of correction in the final assembly
IMO it is much better to use a glue that will give you the time you need and do it in one go. For a rocking chair there is every chance that PVA won't give you it and neither will TB3 whose open time isn't that much longer than either PVA or standard Titebond. PU is not a big problem with clean-up and is colourless so will not stain or show up any less than perfect joints which TB3 will an natural new oak.

Jim

Hi Jim
I know PU stains skin badly but never used it on oak so don't know if that would happen as it expands from the joint. Which PU glue would you advise, or does it matter? I have Gorilla PU glue already.

Edit: Re the sub assembly, it consists of back frame, front frame, and the two are linked at angles to be determined by the side rails which are custom angles so shouldn't be an issue unless my mortises are way out

Cheers

Lyn

 

[recipio]

I had one failed glue up with Titebond Extend - the stuff simply didn't set after two hours. ! Maybe I lacked patience. I now take the trouble to mask off all the joints with blue tape as its marginally more efficient than cleaning up a lot of joints. From memory Titebond 3 gives you about 20 mins open time which I think is pushing your luck - I'd be more comfortable with the one hour PU glue.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

+1 for masking joints with blue tape or similar. Avoids a lot of clean up and places the finish doesn't work properly.