My six year old is getting ready for a test at his Tae Kwon Do school. I glued up some boards for him to practice breaking out of 1×3 So Yelow pine. I used Gorrila glue and clamps (left on for 24 hrs). The boards had good edges on them. I then cross cut them into 3 inch wide boards with the grain perpendicular to the longest dimension of the board. Sonny boy busted them all. They all broke on the glue lines.
The glue foamed out and made a mess. The joints failed. So what little niche is this glue supposed to fill?
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Gorilla Glue has to be used correctly to develop full strength. Adding water to wood that is already at 10-12 EMC will actually cause excessive foaming and a weakened joint. Also, GG takes up to 5-6 days to develop full strength. Even standard PVA adhesives need 48 hours or more to develop full strength.
That said, I know of no real benefits to polyurethane adhesives. There are cheaper and better alternatives.
The glue had dried for a week.
I don't have a clue why your gluejoint failed without some tests on your wood. Coulda easily been too dry or clamped too tightly.
I use it all the time in outdoor furniture applications and have no complaints. Best thing since sliced bread for green wood.
But I hassle folks all the time on other forums for using it for the wrong applications.
It's waterproof, but that feature hasn't stood the test of time as in epoxy and recorcinol, so don't use it beneath the waterline. While it foams and expands..that foam is aerated so it's a lousy gap filler, unlike thickened epoxy. It's also not near as strong as epoxy, either. In a repair as on a gunstock where you only get one chance to do it right...once contaminated with glue, if it fails again you are in trouble...use only epoxy heated to 110 degrees to thin and seep deep into the crack, followed by dyed and thickened epoxy.
And don't buy the Gorilla brand name...Elmers makes a poly that is the same thing for a third less in price.
Edited 11/29/2003 2:47:57 PM ET by Bob
It's great for gluing bricks together around a flower bed!
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Yep, this ground has been covered. As time has gone along and the magazine advertisements more ubiquitous, this stuff has been exposed for the mediocre product it really is.
I am not personally acquainted with any furnituremaker, cabinet shop, or millwork shop that uses the stuff. In fact, the only people who I 'know' that use it are the guys who pipe up on boards like this when the subject comes up.
The stuff is crap. For virtually any application you can think of there's a better adhesive - whether you're making fine furniture, boats, kitchen cabinets, or whatever.
Yep, couldn't have said it better except to add that it is overpriced junk.
...but remember what I said about green wood, if you ever have to use such wood, usually in large joinery like the 16' gate I posted elsewhere.
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