Problem with poly glue.

[Frank Fusco]

Pictured below is part of a gun that has been damaged by Elmer’s Ultimate poly glue.
I installed the thumb plate about two years ago. The poly was used to secure it. I know there was no spilling or leakage for several months afterwards.
The gun has been leaning in a corner unused for about two years. Yesterday I picked it up and noticed the damage shown. Apparently the expanding glue just kept expanding sometime after the first two months.
I’m not happy about this. Not sure what solvents might remove that mess but will start with acetone and experiment from there.
This is another reason why I now stay away from the expanding poly glues.

[Jim Becker]

Ouch! Hopefully, you didn't get hit with the double-whammy of getting it on your hands, too...

I don't prefer poly glues, either, and would only use them on outdoor items where they are more suitable than even Type II or III PVA.

[Mike Cutler]

Ouch!!!

Don't take this wrong way Frank, but I'm glad I can learn from someone elses misfortune. Usually I'm trying to recover from my own.
That looks like a fine rifle, though. I'd like to see the clean up and repair when finished.

As to the Poly's. I used gorilla glue for a awhile, but the expanding foam was a pain. I'll stick with a epoxy's

[Hank Knight]

Frank,

Last weekend I got Gorilla glue all over my hands. I posted a question on another forum asking how to clean it off. I got several responses saying there is no known solvent for polurethane glue once it's cured. You will probably have to scrape it off or pare it off very carefully with a sharp chisel.

I agree with Mike, that's a fine looking rifle. Did you build it? If so did you have a kit or build it from scratch? I'd love to see pics of it when you're done.

Cheers,

Hank

Edited for spelling.

[Jody Malinich]

Frank,

I use alot of the poly glue and Goof Off works pretty good. At least it gets it off my fingers.

Jody

[Frank Fusco]

Frank,

Last weekend I got Gorilla glue all over my hands. I posted a question on another forum asking how to clean it off. I got several responses saying there is no known solvent for polurethane glue once it's cured. You will probably have to scrape it off or pare it off very carefully with a sharp chisel.

I agree with Mike, that's a fine looking rifle. Did you build it? If so did you have a kit or build it from scratch? I'd love to see pics of it when you're done.

Cheers,

Hank

Edited for spelling.

Scrape and sand is what the Elmer's company says. No known solvents. Oh, well.
Thanks, I did build it. Actually, it is not a rifle. It is a Brown Bess musket. This is the smoothbore, flintlock musket used widely in the American Revolution by both sides. I had removed the thumplate for engraving and replaced using the poly to secure. The spillage came months afterwards. I ain't happy.
I guess the upside is that the finish is only pure tung oil. If I scrape and sand, repairing should simply be a matter of reapplying tung.
This isn't the finish forum, but I'll add, good stuff that tung oil. This gun has been used considerably. Hunting and reenactments are, of course, outside and not always in the best of weather conditions. To look at the finish one would never think that it was applied more than 30 years ago and then handled thousands of times since.

[Loren Hedahl]

I used it a lot for awhile, thinking it was much better. For some things it appears to be. About all I use it for now is for end-grain adhesion. It seems to hold better for things like mitered corners on frames. Once the frame is glued up and dry, I usually cut and spline it using good 'ol carpenter's glue.

The only other use is for joints that aren't quite tight enough. The stuff expands to fill slight gaps.

One thing to consider about your musket application is polyurethane glue requires moisture to set up. For sure, no moisture would come from the metal, but perhaps the wood was too dry and it took a period of time for the needed moisture to become available for complete set-up/expansion. I wonder what would have happened, had you swabbed the glue area with a damp sponge or cloth before applying the glue.

Dunno for sure. Just Monday morning quarterbacking.

[Mark Singer]

I never use the stuff and no, I did not invent it!

Other glue manufacturers disagree. Mark Singer, the founder of Gorilla Glue, says that polyurethane glue is actually stronger than yellow glue when