Wood Glue

[xiphidius]

Hi.
In today's marketplace what do the membership consider to be the best wood glue or contact adhesive for bonding MDF and wooden architrave. I have always use EvoStick throughout the years but with the advent of more products being commercially available i.e Gorilla Glue etc. What do you consider to be the best for the strongest bonding strength without pinning.
Regards
C

 

[Keithie]

I mostly use :

PVA (sometimes with extra sand to avoid the slippy);
Gorilla (but I dont like the way it expands) ;
2 part expoxy (messy);
Cascamite (hassle);
CA (for tiny stuff)

I think Cascamite is supposed to bond more strongly than the strength of at least some wood fiber (some bamboo fibre is alledgedly as strong as steel) so if I want a really good bond I'll use cascamite.

But then I'm not involved in commerce, I'm just a hobbyist

 

[MikeJhn]

I have been guilty of using "No more nails" for Architrave and Skirting's especially if the wall is not straight, again not trade.

Mike

 

[RobinBHM]

PVA is as good as any wood glue for general gluing of timber. It does need close contact for strength so without pinning you would need to use clamps or tape.

PVA causes issues with finishes as it seals the wood which is usually invisible until a coat of stain or clear lacquer is applied when a horrible white patch shows.

If you are meaning room architraves or skirtings then chippies mostly use gripfill or equivalent brands

I think some large joinery companies use D4 pva for external use as long as the product is overpainted so it must be pretty weather proof.

We mostly use PU glue for joinery on iroko and accoya.

I think quite a few members on here like the titebond glue which is aliphatic, how that differs from pva Im not sure.

 

[custard]

For 99% of woodworking application the strength of the glue really isn't all that relevant. It's like deciding what car to use for a shopping trip based on its top speed, all cars are fast enough for shopping and all glues (pretty much) are strong enough for furniture making.

The more important criteria are things like,

-open time, will you be able to assemble the piece before the glue sets?
-gap filling, are your mortice and tenons a perfect fit or do you need a bit of help?
-reversability, if a restorer ever needs to work on your furniture in the future will they be able to get it apart?
-weather proof, will the glue be used for exterior projects?
-squeeze out, is the glue easy to wipe away or will it mess up your finishing?

I could go on but you get the general idea, all these factors and more have greater importance than simple strength.

PVA is very popular amongst hobbyists because it's convenient to buy and to use. However, it has a lot of disadvantages, it has a very short "open time", so if your job isn't assembled and cramped up within about ten minutes then you're stuffed, PVA has zero gap filling properties, if you make a mistake you can't easily disassemble the piece and try again, and squeeze out smudges are difficult to spot but will make an oil finish look terrible unless every scrap of squeeze out is removed.

Consequently you should also consider two other glues,

A UF glue such as Cascamite, it's a bit of faff to mix up and it needs to stay cramped up for quite a while, but it has good gap filling properties, is supremely weather proof, and gives you loads and loads of open time.

The second glue to consider is a liquid hide glue like this,

http://www.axminster.co.uk/titebond-liq ... ue-ax22595

This is a hugely underrated option IMO and is what I use for most of my day to day furniture making. It has some modest gap filling properties, it doesn't need mixing up, it has much longer open time than PVA (although not as much as UF), removing squeeze out is a breeze, and best of all the application of heat will allow the joint to be taken apart without any damage in a hundred years from now for any required restoration.

Good luck!

 

[jnw010]

I've used evo-stick wood glue on most of the stuff I've done (all simple stuff, hobby only), my father used the same but sometimes cascamite or hide glue, depending on application. A lot of his furniture was veneered / large marquetry panels.
I quite fancy using hide glue for my next furniture project..

For architrave I've seen various youtubers use a two part glue and spray, something like this:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Adhesiv ... ive/p71377

 

[Adam9453]

if its for affixing mdf skirting or architrave, I use "sticks like sh!t". Wonderful stuff if a bit expensive

 

[MikeJhn]

That's fine if you are not allergic to CYANOACRYLATE, and do not mind spraying Butane in your workshop.

Mike

EDIT: someone posted in between us, of course I was referring to this glue link: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Adhesiv ... ive/p71377

 

[AndyT]

Interesting to learn that people would even consider using an adhesive to fix architraves.

Isn't the simplest solution to nail through the face of the architrave, into the edge of the door lining?
It's full strength, instantly, and automatically fits one piece tight up against the other.

 

[MikeJhn]

Interesting to learn that people would even consider using an adhesive to fix architraves.

Isn't the simplest solution to nail through the face of the architrave, into the edge of the door lining?
It's full strength, instantly, and automatically fits one piece tight up against the other.

And easy to take off for decoration purposes.

Mike

 

[meccarroll]

Hi.
In today's marketplace what do the membership consider to be the best wood glue or contact adhesive for bonding MDF and wooden architrave. I have always use EvoStick throughout the years but with the advent of more products being commercially available i.e Gorilla Glue etc. What do you consider to be the best for the strongest bonding strength without pinning.
Regards
C

PVA glue's are usually quoted as being stronger than the wood they are bonding, meaning the wood fibres break before the glue line does.

Custard is correct that there is really no need to need to be too concerned about using an overly strong wood glue because just about all PVA (and other) wood glues are stronger than the wood they are gluing.

Using an overly strong wood glue will not make the wood fibres any stronger around the joint and the wood fibres still fail under the same force as if you had used a normal PVA wood glue.

In a lot of cases if a joint in a chair leg fails it will be the wood breaking around the joint not the glue line in the joint that fails.

Years ago (about 70 years) a lot of joinery (doors etc) just had, wedged, mortice and tenon joints which were painted on assembly...........NO GLUE.

Using a glue after it's prescribed shelf life may affect the ability of the glue to form a strong bond, so checking the date on glue batches is good practice especially if the joint is important.

Most professionals use either "Miter mate" or "PVA wood glue" on the mitres of architraves.

Mark

 

[xiphidius]

The architrave is for the bottom edge finishing strip of a MDF toybox guys, the reason I was addressing the strength angle of the glue (because I didn't want to pin or screw it) was I envisaged the grandson maybe climbing on it or maybe attempting to use it as a foot hold (its hardly wide enough but you know how kids are) maybe I should put a few screws in it after all, fill and sand down.
Thanks for all your help guys it sure has been an interesting thread thus far on the aspects of commercially available adhesives.