How To Refresh Tite Bond Glue?

[Derek Arita]

Buy a glue-bot, and keep the glue. It is air tight, and easy to use.

Wow...bought a Glue Bot a couple of years ago. Used it for while, but recently I went to use it again and the glue had started to go bad in some places. I tried to clean it out, but with all the nooks and crannies, it was tough, so I think it's toast. I couldn't think of a good way to get it cleaned out well.

[Robin Dobbie]

All this talk about throw it away, it's garbage, crosslinking, the paperwork says it's bad... What I really want to see now is a strength test between a new bottle and the old garbage. If its joints are no longer stronger than the wood itself, then that's something to consider.

[David Utterback]

The biggest mistake that I have made as a woodworker (and there have been many, many other ones) was to grab a bottle of glue that I had had for no one knows how long to glue the edge joints of a dresser top that I completed a few years back. One of the 2 glue joints has failed. Being G&G style, the top has a breadboard end with plugs and expansion joint inserts so the only thing I can think of as a repair is replace the entire top. Could recycle some of the existing top at least.

I now place a date on each of my new glue bottles and never hesitate to throw them away after a year has passed.

[Wade Lippman]

Secondly, all polymer glues have a shelf life including epoxy. Information like this is found on product data sheets which should always be studied for every product used. Cheers

You are wrong about epoxy; well, West Systems anyhow.
I had some 8 year old epoxy and contacted them about the shelf life. They said it was good forever.
That was 7 years ago; I am still using it and it is still good. Dark brown, but still good. (I figure the dark brown will prevent UV damage.)

[Rick Potter]

Listened to a talk a couple months ago by a Tite Bond rep. He said if it is getting stringy and thick, pitch it. As others have said, it is 'linking'.

[Wayne Lomman]

You are wrong about epoxy; well, West Systems anyhow.
I had some 8 year old epoxy and contacted them about the shelf life. They said it was good forever.
That was 7 years ago; I am still using it and it is still good. Dark brown, but still good. (I figure the dark brown will prevent UV damage.)

Sorry but this is incorrect. All epoxies have a shelf life beyond which the manufacturer will not guarantee the results. It is not forever. Sure, the user may get away with it but that's just what it is - getting away with it. I work with a wide range of epoxies every day of the week. All of them are shelf life limited. And no, the colour change won't help with UV stability. It's just a sign it has gone over. Cheers

[Justin Meyer]

I have a 20+ year old bottle of TB1 I unearthed a while ago... every year or so I add an ounce or two of water and massage the crosslinked mers back appart. Mind you, it's always been stored 60-80degF. I use it for non critical panel laminations, sizing, etc. Been a while, I should probably go check on it.

[Curt Harms]

I just tossed a bottle of System3 T-88. One of the two bottles - don't recall which one - was fine if a little thick. The other bottle seemed solid. They were purchased in 2012 so pretty good shelf life I guess but not infinite. I imagine that not all epoxies are created equal either.