Gluing Teak

[George Summers]

I know that when working with teak that you should, just before glue-up, wipe the glue surfaces with acetone to reduce the oil effect. But, which glue will work better, standard yellow glue or Gorilla Glue?

George

[Doug Shepard]

The only time I've worked with teak I used Gorilla glue and it's still holding up after 7-8 years. This was before I knew you were supposed to wipe down teak with acetone first, so I either got lucky or it just works.

[Jamie Buxton]

A few years ago in FWW somebody did a careful study of gluing oily woods. I think he used teak, but maybe it was rosewood. He tried all sorts of schemes -- acetone wipe, roughening the surface, nothing, etc. Then he tested the joints to failure. His conclusion was that the best scheme is to glue the surfaces within a day or two of machining them. If they're left a long time before gluing, nothing much helps. In particular, he found that washing the surface with solvent doesn't help at all. Apparently, the solvent just brings more oils to the surface and spreads them around.

I've glued freshly-machined teak with PVA, and it has held.

[Mark Singer]

I hate Gorilla glue...PVA or Epoxy!

[Dan Larson]

I don't know which glue is better, but I know what works. A number of years ago, I purchased a solid teak bed that had an unfortunate encounter with a forklift during shipping. I glued a split in one of the boards back together using the acetone wipe/Gorilla Glue method. The repair has held tight now through quite a few dry Midwestern winters. Nearly impossible to find the glue line.

Dan

[J.R. Rutter]

Last teak project I did was some cold frame lids that have withstood several wet northwest winters. I used epoxy.