which glue to use

[paul foucault]

Hello everyone. In times past when I glued up projects, I have used franklin hide glue. It seemed to work well and very importantly gave me time to get things together. My current project is a small kitchen island top. It is 22" wide X 40" long and 1 5/8 thick. I am wondering what would be the best glue for this project--one that would be strong, but also give me time to get things lined up. I have had good luck with glue ups in the past. I don't use any splines, biscuits, etc. I try to get things in place, lined up and beginning tightening my bar clamps. I guess my main concern is having time to adjust in case I need it. Thanks, Paul

[Dennis Peacock]

DAP Plastic Resin glue. Gives you plenty of time to get things all set and provides you a chemical proof adhesive that is also rigid and does not yield any "glue creep" over time. Epoxy is also another good choice (marine epoxy).

[Peter Quinn]

If the island will be a food contact surface I recommend titebond III and careful preparation. Plastic resin glue is most certainly not food safe and the squeeze out is a major pain to deal with on a counter top lamination. With careful planing, pre alignment of my standoff's and clamps during dry fit, and a bit if 'Vitesse" ie move your a**, I regularly glue up panels of that size and much larger alone with good success.

I essentially build standoffs that support 1/2 of the clamps I will be using so they are already in place and adjusted to length. The other clamps I adjust to length in dry fit. I place a clamp every 6-8 inches, alternating one under and one over the work. Glue is spread either with a 2" sponge paint roller or applied from squeeze bottle and spread with an artist's speedball (silk screen rolling tool available in most art supply stores.) Lower cauls if used are in place and upper cauls are ready with clamps to secure them adjusted and in place.

Once I start gluing a typical top, even a 20 board butcher block made of strips can be assembled in under 5 minutes assuming all the preparation was done. No heart racing, no panicing, rarely a problem, much easier to deal with cleanup and completely water proof when cured.

[paul foucault]

Thanks guys. Peter, I think you are right. I need to have things planned and set up and move quickly. I have some kind of titebond glue here, don't know if it is type III or not. In the past I have always done a dry run clamp and and general rehearsal. Paul

[Peter Quinn]

Yeah Paul, PVA (titebond and other yellow glue's are all in this category) glue sure does force you to move at a swift pace, but I feel it is doable for tops and counters as it is not a complicated glue up like casework can get, just a bunch of long grain edges being smushed together. The planning takes the panic out if it if you are doing it solo. Titebond III seems to have a little better open time and I read there are techniques involving spritzing the wood with water or thinning the glue slightly to increase the open time, using water as a retarder in the curing process. Good luck with it.

Maybe something like the bowclamp system or a shop made variation might help as well?