Use of Gorilla glue for lamination
There have been many posts on laminating, accompanied with information on which glues to use. Many people recommend NOT using Gorilla glue because of the excessive foaming. My early experiences supported that view. But in the last two years, I have been using Gorilla glue for bent laminations with good success and without excessive foaming.
I was motivated to keep trying because of the shortcomings of the other glues. PVA glues don’t cure to a hard glue line, and are therefore exposed to long term creep. Plastic resin glues cure to a hard glue line, but they require a minimum temp of 65 F, and are very temperature sensitive. At 70 degrees, it takes about 12 hours to cure. Cure time reduces to about 2 hours at 95 degrees, which is why marquetry craftsmen use electric blankets when pressing veneer. My shop is in a basement and the temperature never exceeds 70 degrees. Gorilla glue cures to a hard glue line and cures in 4 hours in my shop.
The secret to controlling foam is to limit the amount of glue. If you read the instructions for Gorilla glue, they emphasize this point. But you must “wet” the entire surface. So I apply a liberal amount of glue to one side of the glue joint and spread it around with a putty knife. Then I use a putty knife with very light pressure to remove most of the glue. I then moisten the other face with water before closing the joint. I would estimate that I remove about 70% to 80% of the glue, and I don’t think the amount is critical, as long as the surface is completely wet with glue. You can set up a process where you transfer the excess glue to the next lamination and repeat the steps as you progress through the stack.
I have included two photos showing my most recent lamination project. The amount of glue foam is pretty typical. When cured, it is hard and can be milled using a jointer to clean up the bottom edge. (I recommend this because the form causes the foam to flatten out unlike the top, where the foam “bubbles”.) If you are interested, give it a try as an experiment.
Good luck, Tom.
Replies
recommend NOT using Gorilla glue because of the excessive foaming.
SO SCRAPE THE FOAM OFF!
Thanks for your in depth analysis and explanation of laminating with Gorilla glue.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
(soon to be www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Polyurethane glue is good stuff for the right application but I find that Gorilla glue is like AOL. Over hyped for what it is. There are some Poly glues that don't foam as much such as the Jowatt and a few others. http://www.eclecticproducts.com/eg_extreme.htm
I agree that Gorilla glue is a little over hyped, but it does work well for lamination. My motive in writing the first post was to counter the "conventional wisdom" in some previous posts about the glue being a poor choice. There are indeed other polyurethane glues that seem to work well and do foam less. There is one available locally called Boulder Glue. (not certain of spelling) I plan to try it on a future project.I checked out the link in your post. The ECO extreme glue sounds interesting, but they emphasize "instant grab". That would be a problem in lamination applications if it is literally true. Do you have any experience with this glue? If so, does it have some working time?Best regards, Tom.
I used Gorilla Glue a while back for a bent lamination and it worked great. Even though I had a lot of foam squeeze out, cleaning up the joint was easy because polyurethane glue foam can be machined along with the wood without damaging blades etc...
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