Which Epoxy

[Jody Malinich]

I'll be making a chest from Cumaru (Brazilian Teak) shortly and need advice on which epoxy glue will work best for this naturally oily wood? Construction will include 45's and dovetails. The 45's are my biggest concern as those need to be strong joints. Hmm...maybe I can get the LOML to let me get one of them Dominoe thingy ma jigs.

Any suggestions?

Jody

[James Kuhn]

Smith and Co. makes something called Tropical Hardwood Epoxy for boat builders but you could get away with any standard two part (System Three, WEST System, etc.). As long as you wipe down all of the joints with acetone just prior to glue up and put a good coat of epoxy on both of the surfaces you are joining things will go fine. Another recommended step is to mix up a putty of epoxy and fine sawdust to sandwich in between, but some people would call that overkill. As far as te 45's go, anytime you can make some sort mechanical connection like a lock miter, especially when working endgrain, its not a bad idea.

[Mike Henderson]

I agree with James - don't depend on any glue to hold a 45* joint together. You can put a spline in it , or even put a biscuit in it to hold it together better, or use a lock miter (I don't recommend this because of the difficulty in making the joint).

Mike

[Doug Shepard]

I traded a couple of PMs or emails (I forget which) with Steve Knight several weeks ago. I was curious what he used for gluing the Ipe soles to his planes as I need to glue up a bit of Ipe for a mallet. Anyway, it was Gorilla Glue for the Ipe. But he mentioned he'd been having problems getting Ipe lately and had been using Cumaru instead, and that he was able to use plain old Titebond for the Cumaru.

[Ed Hyatt]

I would have to say West System epoxy. Coming for have two sailboats with loads of teak. One a 48 and the other a 41 footer. I always had West System epoxy around and it was widely used at the marina. Properly used I have seen the wood break before the epoxy would give up. Using it a 45's might require some other kind of support along with the epoxy.

[Allen Bookout]

Another West System fan here.

[John Schreiber]

Another West System fan here too. Others brands of epoxy are cheaper, but West System inspires confidence in me.

Anyplace which sells their products (I'd recommend Jamestown Distributors for good prices and good service) will give you a copy of the West System manual for free. Follow the instructions properly and it's hard to go wrong.