Best glue for this repair?

[Rob Blaustein]

What's the best glue to repair this crib rail that appears to be made out of some sort of particleboard? It split during (improper) disassembly. The photos are below. That hole that is bored into the side accepts a round metal piece that in turn accepts a screw inserted through one part of the crib then into the end of the rail. A dowel goes through the other hole drilled into the end. I would think the optimal glue would be something that will fill the small voids/gaps in the particleboard. I was thinking either epoxy or construction adhesive rather than yellow wood glue which isn't great at gap filling, but I've never worked with particleboard so wasn't sure what to use, or even if it is fixable once it splits.
--Rob
109424

109425

[Greg Hines, MD]

I would guess epoxy or polyurethane, though I would not have much faith in either of them. That looks like it is probably shot to me.

Doc

[David DeCristoforo]

Plain old Titebond. Just slop some glue in and clamp it back together. A scrap of wood on each side as a caul will help prevent marring of the "finish" (insert hysterical laughter here). The glue will be way stronger than that "wood" (insert more hysterical laughter here).

[Jim Kountz]

Plain old Titebond. Just slop some glue in and clamp it back together. A scrap of wood on each side as a caul will help prevent marring of the "finish" (insert hysterical laughter here). The glue will be way stronger than that "wood" (insert more hysterical laughter here).

I second this approach...........And the hysterical laughter!! Good luck with it, I hope it works out.

[Tony Scolaro]

Might be a good idea to put cellophane tape on blocks or some plastic wrap so you don't inadvertently glue block to glue up. Tony

[Rob Blaustein]

Plain old Titebond. Just slop some glue in and clamp it back together. A scrap of wood on each side as a caul will help prevent marring of the "finish" (insert hysterical laughter here). The glue will be way stronger than that "wood" (insert more hysterical laughter here).

Thanks for the advice, though I'm not sure what's so hysterically funny about the "finish" on my crib rail or the material that its made of. I thought yellow glues worked best when joining two surfaces that mate well and that wouldn't absorb so much glue and I wouldn't have thought it would be appropriate for particleboard. Have you used it in this fashion?

[Mike Lipke]

Polyurethane (Gorilla) glues fill gaps well, but they do it by "foaming" during the cure, which means it oozes out of the joint as a gooey foam, then turns into a foam rock. This is not what you want where you have that hole for the metal thing, and another hole for the post.

Epoxy should work if you don't want to use yellow glue, but either needs to be clamped for 25 hours. Advantage to yellow glue is that you can swab out the holes and cavity with wet Qtips. Epoxy and polyurethanes need a solvent, and in the case of the PU, it oozes for hours.

[David Keller NC]

Rob - A lot of particle board is made with high-tech heat-activated resourcinal glues. But in your case, epoxy would be the best bet. It has good gap-filling properties, and you can be confident that it will bond to the material that the part was glued up with.

However, the best repair method is to go down to your shop and make another part out of plywood, or solid wood. It'll probably be much more reliable.

[george wilson]

NEVER USE POLYURETHANE GLUE. unless water resistance,and not strength is your concern. That foam is like the foam a coffee cup is made from

Every one is laughing because of the fiberboard and printed on finish of your crib. I wanted a quick table once. The apron busted apart during assembly. It was particleboard. It was birch veneered,at least. I took a piece of real birch,made a replacement,sprayed it with Deft,looks o.k.. Shouldn't have bought the piece of junk anyway. Actually,my wife bought it. It served its purpose when we were in a hurry to set up household,but don't expect any real quality.

Sometimes you just got to do what you have to.

[Lee Schierer]

Start with a nice piece of 1 x 2 oak and go from there.

[Chris Padilla]

Ordinarily, I would go with epoxy but you'll have some clean up on your hands unless you prepare ahead of time with appropriately placed tape to mask areas you don't want goobered up with epoxy.

In this case, good old yellow glue should suffice but epoxy would be best.

Being a crib rail has me slightly concerned as I'm not sure where on the crib it will go. Are you worried about strength at all? Since it was particle board to begin with, it is probably okay to repair with glue or epoxy....

[Carroll Courtney]

I'm with Lee.Make a new one,cut the small dado,drill the hole and it will never split again.

[Alan Greene]

I am with Lee, it is for a crib, which = baby/toddler, and they will test the strength of anything. Better being safe, remake it. If I am correct that is a "structural" piece where a metal connector pulls two piece together.

[Chip Lindley]

Above all, contact the Manufacturer, and complain loudly about their *cheap baby crib*! They will probably be very happy to send you another rail at their own expense!

Meanwhile, make a new solid wood piece if your tools and talents allow.

[David DeCristoforo]

"They will probably be very happy to send you another rail at their own expense! "

I had a friend who made bunkbeds. Remember those pine 2X4 bunkbeds that always seemed to pop up in second hand stores? The ones you always assumed had been cobbled up by some "weekend woodworker" out in his garage? Well... NOT! 99% of them were made in this guy's factory. So one day he gets a call from some OSHA type who tells him that there has been an investigation into the safety of his guard rails and that it has been determined that they were being improperly manufactured and that he was going to have to recall every one made in the last ten years and either modify them or supply new ones that complied with regulation blahbety blah. Well, you never saw anyone get out of town so fast! Within a week his factory was empty and he was gone without a trace. So don't be holding your breath for someone to "be very happy to send you another rail at their own expense". They might not be.....

[Rob Blaustein]

Thanks for the replies--I'll probably try some System 3 T-88 epoxy I have around. I agree that the ideal thing would be to buy a piece of oak and make it myself--it wouldn't take me long--BUT: I sold my TS and my new one is still not set up nor will it be for a while. So I'll try glue and clamp for now and see how that goes. We probably won't be needing the crib for a while but I wanted to fix it now. I have to say that despite the particleboard construction of the rails (the rest appears to be solid wood) it served us well for 2 years for our son who liked to jump up and down every so often. AND, it was used by a friend for her 2 boys before that. That said, we bought a new crib for our daughter from Pottery Barn and it is built like a tank.