Standard woodworking glues

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Many thanks for all of those contributions.

Good point about using a dark glue although given the stuff has a shelf life, I think I would be more likely to mix a little acrylic colouring in than to have a tube of expensive glue hanging around on the off chance I fall heir to a piece of walnut.

Nobody has disagreed on the strength of a joint being a function of the design and quality of the execution so I'm not particularly convinced that strength (especially of one proprietary brand against another) is that relevant. More to the the point is, as contributors have mentioned, there are extremely good technical reasons for selecting cyanoacrylate, epoxy, polyurethane or urea formaldehyde for the characteristics of the application.

Somebody mentioned hide glue – is that made out of boiled dead animals or is it some sort of vegan substitute – I thought the stuff had to be kept in a warm pot. Likewise is Cascamite a urea formaldehyde glue? I know they changed the formulation, made a mess of it and reverted but even the so-called “original” stuff doesn’t seem to contain casein which was where the name came from. Inspired by that knowledge I used to stick labels onto beer bottles with milk which is admirably biodegradable and allows one to re-use the bottles. I can live with having to mix up Cascamite because I'm so slow that long tack times suit me fine! On the other hand I wouldn’t use it for the grand piano I’m building for the reproduction R101.

I'm probably a bit nerdy about glues because my grandfather was a polymer chemist between the wars although I didn't learn much chemistry from him I certainly recall how excited he got when epoxy resin came out. What prompted the original question was the whole business about people getting all excited about Titebond as opposed to generic PVA - is that just a YouTube thing? You wouldn’t import cement, nails or any other building commodity from the other side of the world. I’m thinking about what you are really buying. If you buy Aerolite 206 or indeed a D4 PVA you have a spec, but with a “branded” glue you’re potentially buying a tub of chemicals that somebody in the marketing department thought had a “trending” colour.
 
I use pva for most things and some casamite these days. When working of the boats I only ever used West 2 part resin with what ever fillers/colours needed. Only problem with 2 part resin is the setting time and it’s a once it’s done there is no going back.
As for pva, I have noticed that even if I wipe off the excess that part of the wood is sealed and will not pick up stain/varnish/wax and shows
 
the whole business about people getting all excited about Titebond as opposed to generic PVA
At my age I dont get exited by anything! and least of all which glue I use, I have a simple rational, use the product that best serves my needs and purpose.

The list is quite a long one, including the whole Titebond range.
 
I had put very little thought into different types of wood glue until opening this thread.
I have a bottle of gorilla wood glue. I noticed it was "interior use", so when I was building some garden planters recently I bought EvoStik D3 for its "weather resistance".

Now I'm wondering whether I should've bought a D4 instead? Although the planter is well screwed together so the glue isn't holding it together, but I did want to seal the gaps in the planter since it was intended for bamboo, which is troublesome if you don't plan ahead.

Now I've just looked for the gorilla wood glue details on the web. The Amazon listing says it's a CA glue! I had thought it was a PVA or PU.
 
Having tried almost all the commonly available glues I now use Titebond one for furniture and indoor applications and Titebond 3 for joinery like windows doors etc (also if a dark glue line is needed on interior things).
I will also use superglue and activator sometimes and 5 min polyurethane for stuff like gluing osb t and g etc. That pretty much covered every eventuality.. oh sometimes contact adhesive.
 
I use pva for most things and some casamite these days. When working of the boats I only ever used West 2 part resin with what ever fillers/colours needed. Only problem with 2 part resin is the setting time and it’s a once it’s done there is no going back.
As for pva, I have noticed that even if I wipe off the excess that part of the wood is sealed and will not pick up stain/varnish/wax and shows
Have you tried leaving the little extruded glue line to almost go off and then clearing it away with a sharp chisel? Works for the 'foamy' stuff too.
 
Who uses one glue?

One of my lessons learnt is to use different glues for different tasks.

I like hide glue for joints and general joinery. I like the way it lubricates the joint before it grips. It's good that it can be undone. And TBH I like the nostalgia of using it.

I use PVA for smaller jobs and particularly things I know I'll never want to take apart. To fix a broken stick for example.

CA glue is great for small repairs. Especially blowout.

And if there's gaps to be filled I reach for the epoxy.
Same here but I would have to add UF glue for outdoor use rather than PVA and stale UF for sealing edges of manmade boards if required.
 
As for pva, I have noticed that even if I wipe off the excess that part of the wood is sealed and will not pick up stain/varnish/wax and shows
I know it's not always possible or convenient but, I try to leave the squeeze-out until it has slightly gone off, rubbery, and then shave it off with a chisel/blade.

Edit: Sorry, just read Chubber's comment above.
 

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