Glue for steam bent laminations

[John C Bush]

I'm starting to make nets for fly fishing and need suggestions on glue choices. I have the jigs good to go and have milled oak, mahogany, bloodwood, maple, and some other hard wood that I haven't identified-- but it looks good-- and I will likely try teak and any other contrasting stock lying around. The hoops are 3/4" wide and I'll lam two ~~1/8" thick strips and have a final thickness of a bit less than 1/4". I steamed some oak, maple, and mahogany and jigged them up w/o glue to see how it all works and I was amazed how flexible the strips were. Left them overnight and they held their shape perfectly. Here's the ????. The strips were very damp, almost wet and hot so I'm not sure what the best glue would be for this application. I was going to use Tightbond III but not sure if the moisture level would affect the bond. Gorilla would likely set too quickly( too messy??), and not sure what epoxy does on a wet surface. The larger dip nets will be 1 1/2" wide with three 1/8" laminations. Any suggestions or experience with this process. I was also wondering if the teak and other more exotic stock would need a specific glue due to resin(?) content. Thanks. JCB.

[Joe Kieve]

Not sure this would work for you, but years ago, when I taught high school woodworking, several students made water skis and used Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue. Never had one returned because of delamination.
Just a thought and here's a link: http://woodworkersshop.com/dapweldwoodplasticresinglue.aspx

joe

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, when I glued bent laminations, I let them dry before gluing them with plastic resin gkue.

I'm assuming that you want to laminate them to have colour differences, otherwise I would just bend one piece of the correct size and not worry about laminating them.

Regards, Rod.

[Dell Littlefield]

I have had good luck in forming canoe stems by allowing the laminated parts to dry before gluing. I used epoxy glue. This is the method recommended in several books I have read. I don't think I would try gluing damp wood.

[Stephen Cherry]

resorcinol? I think that this glue is mixed up with water, so maybe it would be worth a try.

[Ben Hatcher]

I'm with Rod on this one. Steam, bend, allow to dry, then glue up the bent pieces and put them back in your form. You won't have time to apply glue before the parts cooled down and stiffened up again.