oceanobsession
Member
Hi folks, what is a good glue for Baltic birch, its for a speaker cabinet with biscuit joints, morrells probond pva adhesive has been suggested. cheers all phil.
Recomendations for a wood glue
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MMUK
Established Member
I've been using Everbuild D4 Hybrid. It's very good stuff but I bought a litre about 4 years ago and I've still got half left which has now separated. Now I'm using normal school type PVA that I buy in gallon drums for about £6 and it doesn't separate at all. Used neat it will bond pretty much anything.
carlb40
Established Member
Any water based glue ie pva will be fine. The biscuits if for strength rather than pure alignment? will need water based glues to swell the biscuits in the slots. 
andersonec
Established Member
For speaker cabinets I would use PU (Polyurethane) glue as this is very very strong and it has excellent gap filling properties and we know your cabs must be 100% air tight, it's just a bit messy to use so don't over-do the application and it may pay to slightly dampen the ply first.
Andy
Andy
andersonec":1o1mk6q1 said:
I have no direct experience to disagree with the opinion above but other reviews I've seen suggest PU's strength and gap-filling qualities are sometimes overstated - compared to other glue types e.g.
Matthias Wandel's opinion on Gorilla Glue (PU)
Popular Woodworking/Chris Schwarz article on PU.
condeesteso
Established Member
I agree above re PU - have used various brands including Gorilla - it is good but not magic. It is also (as stated) extremely messy, virtually impossible to avoid getting on skin (even the smallest amount) and a right sod to remove. I have been known to resort to abrasives to clean fingertips, effectively removing the layer of skin will get the black stain off, nothing else at all I have found. If you are quick acting, WD40 gets it off while still wet/sticky.I have no idea why or how!
Assuming your joinery is fairly accurate (as the gap filling is not what it is good at) I would use Titebond original - it's my all-round day-to-day adhesive. But otherwise any good make of pva is probably as good (or almost). Re airtight, a quick lick round inside of joints with a sealant (almost any from the DIY stores).
Assuming your joinery is fairly accurate (as the gap filling is not what it is good at) I would use Titebond original - it's my all-round day-to-day adhesive. But otherwise any good make of pva is probably as good (or almost). Re airtight, a quick lick round inside of joints with a sealant (almost any from the DIY stores).
jimmy rivers
Established Member
Built a few Birch Ply speaker enclosures for PA's and Bass Guitars using a biscuit joint and standard PVA's (Evo- Stik, Tite Bond) construction. These cabinets are regularly knocked about, sat on, danced on, have drinks spilt on, thrown in the backs of vans (by others of course) and I've yet to have any problems.
With good constructional joints the acoustic seal should be pretty effective... as previous, +1 on a bit of sealant on the inside joints to guarantee a controlled baffling. Sealant is also good for use around the mating surfaces of fittings and hardware such as handles, insert wheels, cable binding posts, input plates, etc... Use or make gaskets for panels that require servicing.
Cheers, Jim
With good constructional joints the acoustic seal should be pretty effective... as previous, +1 on a bit of sealant on the inside joints to guarantee a controlled baffling. Sealant is also good for use around the mating surfaces of fittings and hardware such as handles, insert wheels, cable binding posts, input plates, etc... Use or make gaskets for panels that require servicing.
Cheers, Jim
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Ordinary PVA is good for almost everything - certainly for speaker cabinets - nothing special is required. Screwfix No Nonsense is fine.
gasman
Established Member
Rubber gloves are v useful for PVA
White spirit also gets it off if it is not fully cured
I didn't like gorilla glue tho' - thought it was overrated. The bog-standard PU glue is my go-to for this sort of thing
Mark
White spirit also gets it off if it is not fully cured
I didn't like gorilla glue tho' - thought it was overrated. The bog-standard PU glue is my go-to for this sort of thing
Mark
condeesteso
Established Member
You may well know this one, but some of the sound deadening sheet (Halfords I suspect) on the flat inner surfaces is very good indeed for deadening the box - the box should be as acoustically dead as possible, and even sheet materials have resonant frequencies.
andersonec":1cjayvbj said:
Absolutely not I'm afraid. A friend had a small business one of whose lies was making speaker cabs and thought along similar lines. The results were acoustically disastrous and they had to take them back and replace with non PU glued cabs. Quite an expensive lesson.
While PU does fill gaps, it fills them with gas filled bubbles which are essentially very weak.
Jim
I was going to start a thread on a similar topic, so I hope you don't mind a mild hijacking.
My workshop is mostly unheated, as in when I'm not in there, it is cold. I have been a firm fan of Titebond throughout my short, undistinguished time in woodworking. However it doesn't appear to enjoy the cold and of late it has been giving less than satisfactory results. I have used the gorilla glue and yes it is horrible and it isn't a wonder product but it does appear to be unaffected by the cold. So far this hasn't been an issue for me but I am about to undertake a build where I really want to use Titebond III ( I'm building an aluminium skinned, plywood bodied kit car. ) My question is Do I wait for the weather to warm up or is there a trick I'm missing.?
My workshop is mostly unheated, as in when I'm not in there, it is cold. I have been a firm fan of Titebond throughout my short, undistinguished time in woodworking. However it doesn't appear to enjoy the cold and of late it has been giving less than satisfactory results. I have used the gorilla glue and yes it is horrible and it isn't a wonder product but it does appear to be unaffected by the cold. So far this hasn't been an issue for me but I am about to undertake a build where I really want to use Titebond III ( I'm building an aluminium skinned, plywood bodied kit car. ) My question is Do I wait for the weather to warm up or is there a trick I'm missing.?
aideym":jid0yhrz said:
Yes. Check with Titebond technical for minimum cure temperature, clamp time etc. There is a reasonably high lower temperature limit. Personally, I wouldnt risk doing it in an unheated workshop during the winter.
Aideym,
I think a UF (Cascamite etc.) glue would be a much better solution for your project. It is very strong and has an open time of around 30 minutes (more if it is cold) which I would imagine would be a very useful trait for what you are doing.
Jim
I think a UF (Cascamite etc.) glue would be a much better solution for your project. It is very strong and has an open time of around 30 minutes (more if it is cold) which I would imagine would be a very useful trait for what you are doing.
Jim
condeesteso
Established Member
Off-topic, but build a warm cab. Take a corner of the workshop, a space like a freezer say, 2 'walls' of almost anything flexible (poly sheet fine). Close almost all the top with a sheet of something light and stiff (insulating board ideal) but leave a slot / gap. Place a 20W (or thereabouts) tube heater (made for greenhouses etc) at floor or base, if this thing stands on a bench. Put a few shelves in (open frames so air can circulate) and put a timer on the heater for overnight. Use it to store adhesives, paints etc and certain tools.
We can't all stop just because it's winter :shock:
It's easy to make one that folds down flat later too, and materials should be stuff lying about (apart from the heater maybe).
We can't all stop just because it's winter :shock:
It's easy to make one that folds down flat later too, and materials should be stuff lying about (apart from the heater maybe).
Ram64
Established Member
I've seen a light bulb hooked up to thermostat inside the bottom of a cabinet to keep the cabinet and glues/finishes warm in an unheated shop. Not sure how practical it is but maybe it's an idea to keep stuff warm between workshop visits.
Ram
Ram
condeesteso
Established Member
That's the idea Ram - could do this with under-bench space, anything really. Curtains of bubble-wrap maybe. A lightbulb would be fine and very cheap / available. I think the idea is just to create one small space that is dry and above freezing. Also a good place to keep precious tools too.
