Plastic Resin Glue Temps?

[Dan Owen]

Being new to using plastic resin glue for woodworking, can anyone tell me how critical the room temperature is as far as adhesion and curing of the glue. Having a basement shop with an average temperature between 55 and 62 degrees I'm wondering if it is going to be a problem. The instructions call for a 70 degree room temperature for proper curing. Am I being to anal or is the temperature that critical? The brand I have is Weldwood. Are their alternatives to plastic resin glue as far as a long open time for assembly in a cooler environment?

Thanks
Dan

[David Duke]

I'm sure some of the pros will step in on this but from what I have seen in past post such as this I believe 65* is the critical point, I have minimal experience with this type of glue so don't take my word for it but if you do a search you may find more definitive answers.

[Matt Meiser]

I have heard that the temperature is critical--below a certain temperature and it will fail to cure properly and have virtually no strength if any. I kept my shop about 70-72 during the time my Weldwood was curing and it worked fine. David Marks uses an electric blanket to keep his glueups warm while curing.

[Jamie Buxton]

Yes, 55 degrees is pushing the envelope on urea-formaldehyde. I've had a glue job fail badly at someplace near that temperature. The electric blanket trick works like a champ. I put the blanket on top of the vacuum bag which contains the workpiece, and then put a couple shipping blankets on top of that. Turn the blanket up to toast, and the glue cures quite nicely.

[James Biddle]

Does PVA also have a critical temp that will cuase it to fail?

[Vaughn McMillan]

I've done some assemblies with Weldwood plastic resin glue in the 60° to 65° range in my garage. (With a little electric space heater pointed in the general direction of the glue-up.) When possible, also try to take the assembly into the house once the glue has set up. I realize working in those temps was skirting the edge of the specs, but to date none of the joints have failed. From what I understand, when it's too cold you'll get no adhesion (or relatively little) from the get-go, so I suspect I won't have any problems with these joints in the future. I do make sure I mix it with 70° to 75° water, though. Dunno if I've just been lucky, or if the 70° minimum spec has a bit of cushion in it. YMMV. ;)

- Vaughn

[Earl Kelly]

You do need the 65-70 degree temps minimum. One way to help the situation is to use a quartz work light, the kind with 2 lights and adjustable. I place these where they can warm the work piece and confirm it with a thermometer. They will raise the temp around 10 degrees, but be careful not to dry out and warp your work piece with too much directed heat.

[Barry O'Mahony]

Does PVA also have a critical temp that will cuase it to fail?Yes, Titebond III has the lowest (47 F), which is why like to use it.

David Marks recommends glues likw Weldwood for their long open time on complex glue-ups, but the 70 degree minimum on the MSDS scared me off. Heck ,we don't keep the house above 67-68, let alone the shop.

[Dan Owen]

Thanks for all the replys from everyone. The info is defintely helpful. I may consider the electric blanket for some upcoming assemblies. Like Barry, we don't even keep the house above 65 degrees let alone the shop. I like the Titebond III but it seems to set up fairly quick --- quicker than the 15 minute open time they claim. I have used Titebond Extend with fairly good success, but the stuff is hard.

Sincerely
Dan

[Howard Acheson]

>> I have used Titebond Extend with fairly good success, but the stuff is hard.

Not sure I understand what you mean by "hard". TB Extend is a PVA adhesive and PVA adhesives are known as hard adhesives. In fact, they are relatively soft and flexible. Urea Formaldehyde adhesives like Plastic Resin are "hard". Their hardness is a benefit it that it means that they are strong in shear strength and do not allow bent laminations to slip over time.

When cured, UF adhesives are hard and brittle and perfect edge gluing panels being used for tabletops.

[Dan Owen]

I think I posted my reply before I was finished typing. I meant to say hard to find locally. I generally mail order it and still is not that easy to find---at least in this neck of the woods.

Dan

[Barry O'Mahony]

Yea Dan, Helena's a little out of the ways. I drove by it once and it went by pretty quickly (OK, the State Troopers in Montana seem to be OK with 90 MPH, but still it is a small town).

I know what you mean about the the short open time on Titebond III; that's why I looked into Weldwood. It's funny what people in different areas find to be comfortable temperatures. I've seen people in the San Jose, CA, wearing heavy overcoats when it gets into the low 60's. OTOH, every time I have to go to Florida, I don't understand why the place is inhabited.