hot weather glue

[bill walton]

It's that time of year down here in the Florida Keys, hot, high 80s, and humid, mid 70s. I'm working on a cabinet for the shop and am finding that the glue, titebond extend, tacks up too quickly. I've got a couple of furniture projects almost ready for glueup and I'm concerned because the glueup will be more complicated. I'd be interested in discussing other glue alternatives.
TIA

[Tom Jones III]

While there are lots of different glues that have longer open times, if you just want something that you are used to, I have noticed that Elmers Wood Glue has a longer open time in hot and humid weather than Titebond.

[Gary Bingham]

Try plastic resin glue, aka urea formaldehyde. It's cheap, has plenty of open time, and works great. The only problem might be finding it. I had to order it online. You might find some at ace hardware under the name dap weldwood plastic resin glue though.

[Kurt Aebi]

Polyurethane Glues, like Gorilla Glue should allow you plenty of adjustment time - and they actually work better in more humid conditions than dry conditions. Just follow the directions on the label and you should do just fine.

[Steve Silber]

Be careful with the polyurethane glues - they MUST be clamped and the squeeze out foams terribly. The only time I use this is when I have a 'quicky' joint of some sort that doesn't fit too well and needs a glue that will expand to fill the "occasional" voids.

[Rob Russell]

Hey Steve,

Welcome to SMC. Way to go, making your post a helpful response! :D

Rob

[Chris Padilla]

In that kind of humidity, you may not even need to use the "additional water" step called out in the directions for most poly glues. Or, at least, you can minimize the amount of water used.

I haven't actually tested this but some claim that no water is needed and that the less water one uses, the less the poly glue will foam all over the place. Either way, I suggest glueing up some scrap with poly to get a feel for it. Wear gloves because it will stain your finger/hands dark brown for several days until it wears off.

Also, you see David Marks (Woodworks) using miles of blue painters tape to minimize the squeeze-out beyond the joint and getting onto the surrounding wood. However, I would only do this in areas where it is difficult to sand or scrape the squeeze-out away easily.

Finally, resist, resist, resist the urge to touch the poly squeeze-out until it is FULLY CURED. Don't worry, it comes off easily and sands nicely and it will not interfere with your finishing process. Don't touch it for 24 hours!! :)

Poly glue is great...it ain't perfect...but I do like it alot for its open time.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Polyurethane Glues, like Gorilla Glue should allow you plenty of adjustment time - and they actually work better in more humid conditions than dry conditions. Just follow the directions on the label and you should do just fine.

Be careful with the polys in either too hot or too humid conditions. It will most definitely start foaming up more quickly. Still better open time than yeller glues, but you can't fart around.

KC

[Richard McComas]

It's that time of year down here in the Florida Keys, hot, high 80s, and humid, mid 70s. I'm working on a cabinet for the shop and am finding that the glue, titebond extend, tacks up too quickly. I've got a couple of furniture projects almost ready for glueup and I'm concerned because the glue will be more complicated. I'd be interested in discussing other glue alternatives.
TIA Sorry, can't help you, it's 58 degrees here today and I just don't have any experience with your conditions.

Hope I can survive the 115 degree weather in Las Vegas next week at the show.

[bill walton]

I've used poly frequently for outdoor and shop projects but never, yet, on a furniture project. I'll have to think about that. With planning and attentiveness to detail, I could probably get by. I'll get some white glue and try it out on this shop cabinet and then decide what to use. I dopn't know anything about the plastic resin glue. More research:(

Richard, I talked with a friend of mine that lives in Vegas and it's been over 118 sevral times this Summer, watch out. 58 sounds pretty nice right about now. We see that low at least 6 times per year.:)

[Vaughn McMillan]

Sorry, can't help you, it's 58 degrees here today and I just don't have any experience with your conditions.

Hope I can survive the 115 degree weather in Las Vegas next week at the show.
Hey Rich, I'll send you 20 degree up if you'll send me 20 degrees down. It's about 105 today here in Beautiful Downtown Burbank (where my office is), which means my garage/shop will be about the same.

I've also been having problems with short glue working times as the temps have increased. I've only used Gorilla Glue once in the past (for something I where foamy squeeze out wasn't going to be a problem), but I might ought to give it a try for some of my other stuff.

- Vaughn

[Gary Bingham]

I dopn't know anything about the plastic resin glue. More research:(

http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?product_id=42

It's a brown powder that you mix with water. Pretty simple, although it's kind of hard at first to estimate how much to mix up. I've wasted quite a bit of it because of mixing too much up. Has a shelf life of a year and and open time of up to an hour or more. I just used some today and the temp is 90+ degrees. It was still usable 30 minutes after mixing. Four hours after assembly the parts that i glued up were pretty much completely dry and ready to work. It's cheap, has long open times, doesn't creep, and doesn't move around nearly as much while clamping as poly gules.

[Eric McMillan]

http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?product_id=42

It's a brown powder that you mix with water. Pretty simple, although it's kind of hard at first to estimate how much to mix up. I've wasted quite a bit of it because of mixing too much up. Has a shelf life of a year and and open time of up to an hour or more. I just used some today and the temp is 90+ degrees. It was still usable 30 minutes after mixing. Four hours after assembly the parts that i glued up were pretty much completely dry and ready to work. It's cheap, has long open times, doesn't creep, and doesn't move around nearly as much while clamping as poly gules.

Gary,

Where did you order it from? I've been thinking about trying it ever since I read Bob's thread on <a href=http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=21822> Repairable Glue Joints. </a<

[Gary Bingham]

http://www.joewoodworker.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=186

I think that's the stuff I ordered. It's been about 10 months since I ordered, and I guess they've changed the name and label because it looks different than what I have. They also sell some stuff called unibond 800 that's supposed to be really good. Vacupress.com sells the unibond 800 too. The dap brand stuff is pretty easy to find online. Just search froogle.com for "dap plastic resin."

[Phil Phelps]

While there are lots of different glues that have longer open times, if you just want something that you are used to, I have noticed that Elmers Wood Glue has a longer open time in hot and humid weather than Titebond.

Elmers white. A great glue for many reasons.

[Mike Cutler]

Bill. I also have an involved glue-up to do. I'm going to use the System Three epoxy with the #3 hardner. According to the info it is supposed to give an approximate 70 minute pot life/open time. I'm also waiting for the heat and humidity to clear out, hopefully tonite. It we'll be my first "large" scale epoxy glue up.
I've also used the Titebond Extend, like you I experienced it has a much shorter than 25 minute open time as temp increases. I've used the Gorilla Glue and it works just fine. Tape the joints and wait 24 hours to scrape the foam off just like Chris suggested, it will have a consistency similar to gummy bears, but if you wait too long, a few days, it will really rock up on you.
Good luck with your glue up.