Standard woodworking glues

[David_Edge]

When I were young we had Cascamite and PVA in various grades (1980s). Cascamite has its place for gap filling and a very slow cure which for a bodger like me is a bonus. PVA in an appropriate grade is a default especially when hand planing. PU is useful for sticking your fingers together. So where has Titebond come from? Is it just the regrettable British assumption that anything an American is paid to promote on YouTube must be wonderful? (in brewing as well as woodworking). It seems to me that the strength of a joint is mostly a function of the design and preparation and the glue should barely be relevant apart from moisture resistance.

I suspect glue is squirted out of a chemical factory at about fourpence a litre and the difference between that and the price you pay is the cost of bribing YouTubers and shipping a low-cost industrial product half way round the world. There's probably something just as good being made in 'uddersfield. I also think that there's much to be said for sticking to as few glues as possible (D4, say) so you don't need to worry about shelf life.

De Havilland Mosquitos performed well enough in a challenging application without the wonder of Titebond (or indeed PVA). Or is there any technical advantage to it in certain niche applications?

David impersonating a grumpy old man.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Mosquitos were glued together with Aerolite (hence the name).

 

[johnnyb]

Titebond 3 is all I use and like anything you get used to it. I like it's thin and easy to apply and quite slow to set. Other whites glues whilst cheaper are very thick and tend to set far to quickly. Anything needing mixing is a pain in general use.

 

[profchris]

Musical instrument makers use mainly Titebond Original or hot hide glue (though epoxy and CA also have a place for some joints and some repairs).

Titebond Original seems better in stressed joints than PVA and is repairable with some effort. Hot hide glue has a learning curve, but is the one repairable glue where a guitar bridge won't slide towards the neck if the instrument is left in a hot car, and has major advantages for joints which might need repair in the later life of the instrument (which can be long - I have a ukulele, a banjo and a tenor guitar all from the 1920s or very early 1930s and all good for another century or more).

If I made furniture I'd probably use normal PVA for most things though.

Currently struggling with a snapped double bass neck, which will go together nicely and nearly invisibly with hot hide glue once I can work out the jigs to hold it in place for glueing!

 

[Cabinetman]

Titebond 3 is all I use and like anything you get used to it. I like it's thin and easy to apply and quite slow to set. Other whites glues whilst cheaper are very thick and tend to set far to quickly. Anything needing mixing is a pain in general use.

Now strangely enough my experience is the exact opposite, tried Titebond once and hated that it is so runny, makes a right mess! I always use Evostick- the blue one, and have never found it setting too quickly. I have also used it lots of times for quite sharp cornered laminating which people say will “creep” and after years never had a problem. As you rightly say it’s what you get used to, also correct re glues that need mixing, no!