best wood glue?

[Rod Sheridan]

I use Lee Valley GF2002 for darker wood furniture projects.

I use Titebond III for outdoor stuff that's not water immersed.

I use Resorcinol for bent wood laminations, as well as epoxy occasionally................Rod.

[roger wiegand]

How many actual glue failures have you had? Unless you use contact cement or hot melt glue sticks I'm going to guess approximately none. I can't remember having one in my own work in the last three decades. I have seen commercial cabinetry joints fail, but that was due to stupid construction methods, not the glue employed. It is my impression that all modern and most old glues are strong enough to do what they are intended to do, and indeed stronger than the wood they are applied to. The choice of glue then comes down to other properties, which invariably are going to lead you to different answers depending on the situation.

I end up using a glue that I know will eventually fail for many of my projects, hot hide glue. Why? Both because of those "other properties" (instant grab, reversibility, great sandability, compatibility with finishes, and so on) and because it is not permanent. I rebuild old organs and other musical instruments and I'm thrilled when I get one that hasn't been mucked up with modern glues. Hide glue lets me pull things apart as needed without leaving a contaminated surface requiring removal of irreplaceable material. The downside is that joints need to be refreshed every hundred years or so. I can live with that.

[Matt larkinson]

Thanks for bringing up the post. I have been using Tite bond for a long time, but if something is cheaper and better I won’t hesitate to switch. A lot of people say you get what you pay for, but we might not realize is that in the purchase price we are paying mostly for advertising. I try to purchase based on product specifications and reviews. It has saved me lots of money which is important to me now given that my wife lost her job because of COVID.

[Stan Calow]

I use all different kinds, depending on which bottle is open. I'll throw one more out there for consideration: Titebond Moulding & Trim Glue. Its white, and its thicker than regular so it doesnt drip, run or squeeze out as much. I have no idea of its strength relative to the other versions, but I think most glues are strong enough for the job they're being used for. You don't need welded steel strength for everything. But I end up using slow cure epoxy for most joints on larger projects, because I think its gap filling ability makes up for my typical sloppy M/T work.

[Thomas McCurnin]

+1 on Epoxy. I have two cans of West System Slow Cure and bought some plastic condiment cups. One pump gives me a tablespoon.

For routine glues, I just use yellow PVA.

For trim carpentry and narrow small moldings, I use CA glue with an accelerator

For most temporary jigs and hold downs, I use CA glue with an accelerator

For some instant tack for parts which will be screwed together later, I'll use hot melt glue.

[Mark Bolton]

How many actual glue failures have you had?

Ive had several issues and failures over the years for a lot of varied reasons. Customer mistreatment, and mainly issues with creep are the two most common and they all have pretty much come at the hands of TB3 though others glues have issues for their own reasons.

As you said, its really a matter of the type of work you do, and with general woodworking (not restoration or luthier work) your workflow dictates heavily which glue is best for the application. Hide glue has zero place in my business but I can absolutely see where it would if I did a different type of work.

To me, this issue comes up constantly because TB3 is marketed as "ultimate" and its marketed in a manner where an individual scanning down the shelf would undoubtedly think if original is x$ a bottle, TB2 is xx$ a bottle, and TB3 is xxx$ a bottle, the most expensive and the "ultimate" must be the bomb proof glue so people use it by default for everything when in fact it is NOT the best glue for a mile of applications and I would argue once you get in a little deeper its not even a great glue for exterior/wet applications right down to cutting boards though when your having to fire out cutting boards for $50 retail or $25 wholesale, your not going any other route than a one bottle option.

[Frank Drackman]

You want slow set epoxy.

Best to me would be the strongest wood glue that I could find that had a long open time and was waterproof

[Clifford McGuire]

I’ve always heard about the weakness of end grain to end grain...so it was interesting to see the strength of that part of his test.
earl

That was surprising to me. End grain to end grain holding up to 5000 of force. Wow.