The lesson? Glue really does have a shelf life. Last summer I completed an Arts and Crafts renovation of the family room with lots of cabinets for book storage, etc. My wife collects pottery and asked me to build some display shelves in the same style. I did so, using cherry stanchions and mortised the shelf support into the stanchion.
At about 3:00 a.m. one day last week I jumped out of bed after hearing a crash and clatter that made me think “burglar.” Wrong, one of the shelves had literally fallen apart, smashing a vase. In looking at the joint, the yellow glue was rubbery and scraped off with a finger nail.
After completing the cabinets, I was low on glue and used some that had been around for an unknown period of time. Obviously a bad decision. I could have bought 20 bottles for glue for the price of the vase.
My new rule — 3 months and you’re out!
Dan T.
Replies
I had that rule years ago while I was still dating . . . who'd of thought of such a diverse application?
"The child is grown / The dream is gone / And I have become / Comfortably numb " lyrics by Roger Waters
Sure
Do you think the glue may have Froze at one time?
I have had glue get that way not drying after it had froze.
People have told me It will not hurt glue to Freeze - it never worked for me they must use different glue than the glue I use.
Dan,
A big unknown in the age of a bottle of glue is how long the retailer has had the product and their diligence in selling the oldest items first. Most clerks want to restock by putting the new stuff in front of the old so the items at the back of the shelf continue to age.
Franklin (Titebond) puts a date of manufacture code on the glue bottle. It works as follows:
First digit equals last digit of year. i.e. 3 = 2003
Second digit is an alpha indicating month A= Jan B=Feb etc. but they skip the letter I.
The rest of the code doesn't mean anything to us.
They advise a shelf life of 2 years on Titebond. If you have any questions their customer service is very good. I am sure other glues have similar dating schemes.
Thanks. I think I saw an explanation of the code in FWW or another magazine. This glue could not have been around more than a yea (it was Titebond II). Dan T.
I ALWAYS, ALWAYS change out my glue after a year. When I buy a new bottle I use a Sharpie to write the date on the bottom of the bottle. When the year is up, I buy a new bottle. My thinking is, the projects I make will last a life time or several, glue is cheap. Keep it fresh.
TIGHTBOND CUSTOMER SERVICE IN JUNE 03. I WAS TOLD
ONE YEAR. ODD!
jordan
Yes that is interesting.
Discussed this with a salesman at a local woodworking store who is an avid woodworker. He showed me the May 2003 issue of Wood Magazine with an item about this subject. On page 36 they wrote, "According to Franklin spokesman Dale Zimmerman, white and yellow glue have a shelf life of two years; polyurethane and liquid hide glue have a one-year shelf life." Mixed messages from the same company?
Looked at their web site today and they definitely say one year. Maybe the difference is compensation for the delay between manufacture date and date of purchase, storeage conditions, etc. Can't blame them for being conservative.
In any case, if I am building something nice I am going to get fresh products from glue to finishing to use. No sense in taking a chance. I always have enough "junk" projects going to use up the old stuff.
You can resolve the issue by paying attention to how well (hard) glue squeezed out of joints hardens. I use a lot of epoxy and one has to pay attention to epoxy, so I'm conditioned to check on glue hardness. Seems to me that aliphatic resin glue gets pretty thick by the time it's a year old, so if it doesn't flow well, that could be a clue.
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