Padauk glue up

[Jim Pritchett]

Hi Guys,
Well, after a year of lurking in the background, I have decided to come out into the into the open for my first post. After 35 years as a commercial construction sup't, I spent the first year of retirement doing absolutely nothing simply because I could. Then the LOML decided that I should set up a shop in our garage so I could do something constructive.
Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I said "yes ma'm, that is a wonderful idea". I'm building a curly maple and walnut box and I want wooden hinges of padauk. the instructions call for a minimum of 6" wide stock. my piece of padauk had a split so the most I could get was 4".
When I glued the 2 pieces together with TB II, after 1 hour drying time it
fell apart when I removd the clamps. I cleaned up the edges, wiped them
with acetone, reglued and reclamped, set for 2 hours. Same results.
I hope someone out there can offer some advice, even if you think I should go buy wider piece of padauk. Thanks for your help Jim Pritchett

[Howard Acheson]

Couple of things. Oily, tropical woods like padauk can be difficult to glue and to finish. PVA (yellow glue) does not work well on oily woods. And, PVA adhesive needs 24 hours to develop 75-85% of its total strength.

Many of these woods will not accept an oil based finish. The natural oils in the wood interfer with the drying of finish. It always remains sticky.

[Joe Spear]

I've used a lot of padauk and never had any trouble gluing with Titebond II. I don't do anything special, like wiping with acetone. I just cut, glued, and clamped, and it held fine. I wonder if your glue is too old or something like that.

[tim mathis]

i have had good luck with the padauk i have glued . i wipe it with acetone until most of the color quits coming off and i use tite bond 3 and leave it clamped over night. i have made lathe tool handles and have never had a joint fail.
tim m .

[Steve knight]

padouk is not too bad. harder to finish then to glue. but still freshly mill or sand before gluing. this will give you the least oily surface this is better then cleaning with anything as tat tends to suck the oil back to the surface.
tb3 is the best but I bet tb 2 would be ok too. I never really saw a difference in my tests with tb3 and gorilla glue on padouk.

[John Michaels]

I'd buy a new bottle of TBII and clamp overnight.

[Mike Parzych]

Don't over-tighten the clamps either. You might have squeezed too much glue out of the joint area for it to hold.

[John Buzzurro]

I'd buy a new bottle of TBII and clamp overnight.

+1
I've used all 3 versions of Titebond with Padauk, and never had a problem. Could be glue that's gone bad.

[Tony Bilello]

I've used a lot of padauk and never had any trouble gluing with Titebond II. I don't do anything special, like wiping with acetone. I just cut, glued, and clamped, and it held fine. I wonder if your glue is too old or something like that.

I agree with Joe 100%.
I have worked with a lot of padauk over 30 years. I have never considered padouk an oily wood. I have used it in furniture as in table tops, I have used it in turning bowls and plates and have never seen any evidence of an oily wood. I use Titebond glue on it just like any other wood.
I know what oily wood is like because I use rosewood and tons of teak on boat repairs. I have bought padauk from various importers.
I am not a wood technologist, but I sure would like to hear from one as to whether padouk (padauk) is considered an oily or resinous wood or is this an urban kegend that keeps getting passed on.

As for the OP. The size and type of split can be a factor in how it should be reglued. The temperature in your shop could be a factor. I am not familiar with Titebond II's drying/curing time and at what temp. I normally use just plain ole Titebond and in 80 degree weather 2 hours is plenty if the wood is not under stress. If uder stress as in pressing a crack closed, I like to leave it in clamps overnight. How thick the wood is, how much was the separation, any trash or fungus in the separation, and other factors come into play as well as the integrity of the glue itself. Usually if I have a split that is parallel with the edge of the board, I will slice off the split areas on both pieces and reglue a new fresh unstressed area. As for your particular glue failures, I simply dont know.

[Bill Orbine]

Hi Guys,
Well, after a year of lurking in the background, I have decided to come out into the into the open for my first post. After 35 years as a commercial construction sup't, I spent the first year of retirement doing absolutely nothing simply because I could. Then the LOML decided that I should set up a shop in our garage so I could do something constructive.
Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I said "yes ma'm, that is a wonderful idea". I'm building a curly maple and walnut box and I want wooden hinges of padauk. the instructions call for a minimum of 6" wide stock. my piece of padauk had a split so the most I could get was 4".
When I glued the 2 pieces together with TB II, after 1 hour drying time it
fell apart when I removd the clamps. I cleaned up the edges, wiped them
with acetone, reglued and reclamped, set for 2 hours. Same results.
I hope someone out there can offer some advice, even if you think I should go buy wider piece of padauk. Thanks for your help Jim Pritchett

Wood glues, such as Elmer's and Titebond will likely be subject to failure if they're to old or had been frozen. These glues also have minimum temperatures in which you can work with it. Usually in the the range of 50 to 55 degrees depending on the make and type of glue. The minimum temp is a critical element. I know for sure with Tite-Bond II the excess sqeeze out turns white almost powdery when too cold. When that happens, I can bet on a glue joint failure. If you are certain you operate in above minumum temperatures, keep in mind it takes a long while for objects to warm up if you turn the heat off in the garage overnight. Finally, you must be assured the glue NEVER has been frozen or is too old.... even if you just bought a fresh bottle from the store. You need to test the glue by glueing up scraps and then breaking it apart after overnight clamping. The glue passes the test when try busting apart the glue joints and the result is the wood is splintered apart rather than separating the glue joints. Take a couple of scraps 4/4 x 1 1/2" x at least 12" long. Glue these wood face to face in a 1/2 overlap. You'll have one end to hold and be able to swing like a bat smashing the other end against a hard object such as a post or your mother in law to break apart the pieces. you should see splintered wood as a condition of passing the test. If the wood separates at the glue joint, you've got a failure.