Best Glue For Maple Countertop

[Wiley's Woodworks]

I'm making a large countertop--62" X 44"--for a customer. The top will be eleven 8/4 X 4"W sugar maple boards glued edge-to-edge and reinforced with biscuits. I obtained some quality, clear sugar maple from New England. It's quite white.

Normally, I use Titebond III glue on anything that can possibly be exposed to water. My concern is that Titebond III is the darkest glue in the Titebond line, and I want to minimize any chance of dark glue lines, regardless of how hairline thin they might be. Would Titebond I be a good alternative glue? It dries much lighter in color; its drawback is it is not waterproof, and supposedly not as strong as III. The top will be finished in 3 coats of polyurethane.

 

[Rwe2156]

Yeah, I wouldn't use TB3 either. Even TB and TB2 will dry darker than the wood. Only white glue would dry clear, I guess as long as it has a good waterproof topcoat. But if you're using oil, I dunno...........

Epoxy seems the best choice if you need a waterproof glue. Bit of a mess to deal with. You have a drum sander?

 

[dancam]

Have you tried Gorilla Wood glue? It dries clear and has a very strong bond. I've been using it on cutting & charcuterie boards for the past few years with no negative results.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

I do have a 16-32 drum sander. I am gluing up the counter top in 3 sections-4-3-4 boards. The 4 board sections will be just a fraction of an inch over 16" wide, so I am reluctant to feed these sections through my sander. I could glue up 2 boards at a time and run those through, then glue them together. I wonder if clear Gorilla Glue would do a good job? It dries much harder than white glue or any Titebond, just takes longer to cure.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

Oh, forgot to add: Epoxy glue will foul up drum sander sandpaper in one pass. That will be A LOT of sandpaper and A LOT of $.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

Have you tried Gorilla Wood glue? It dries clear and has a very strong bond. I've been using it on cutting & charcuterie boards for the past few years with no negative results.

Hey Dan--I searched Lowe's and found about 4 Gorilla glues that sorta match your "Gorilla Wood Glue". You say it dries clear; they say Wood Glue dries "off white". I could say the same about Titebond. There's also a waterproof Wood Glue at about 2X the price. Which one have you had success with? If it will hold a cutting board together, it sure ought to hold a countertop. Thanks.

 

[drw]

I have used TBII with hard maple and have been very satisfied.

 

[junquecol]

I don't understand the need for biscuits. If for alignment, wouldn't a spline be better? How about dowels? I know that seems to be a dirty word now, but they have been used for hundreds of years. Benches I built for local "Y" in early 2000's, used dowels to connect aprons to legs. Still in use today.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

The primary purpose of the biscuits is alignment. The client wants the finished counter top to be as thick as possible, so I don't have 1/16" to just slap the boards together and plane/sand/scrape until the surface is flat. I do a lot of dowel joinery, and biscuits are easier to cut and allow some horizontal adjustment. Dowels have to be precise, and I would prefer to align the board ends and not have to cut them straight at the end. Dowels might add a little extra strength, but the glue surfaces are 1 3/4+" thick, face grain to face grain, and there won't be much pressure applied to the counter top when installed. Splines would show.

 

[spitzerone]

Titebond Translucent Wood Glue is what you're looking for. Completely invisible when it dries.

 

[dancam]

Hey Dan--I searched Lowe's and found about 4 Gorilla glues that sorta match your "Gorilla Wood Glue". You say it dries clear; they say Wood Glue dries "off white". I could say the same about Titebond. There's also a waterproof Wood Glue at about 2X the price. Which one have you had success with? If it will hold a cutting board together, it sure ought to hold a countertop. Thanks.

Wiley, I’ll check the bottle and get back to you.

 

[tvrgeek]

I don't understand the need for biscuits. If for alignment, wouldn't a spline be better? How about dowels? I know that seems to be a dirty word now, but they have been used for hundreds of years. Benches I built for local "Y" in early 2000's, used dowels to connect aprons to legs. Still in use today.

I agree. Dumped my biscuit joiner as they did not provide decent alignment anyway. Splines and dowels for me.

Seems to me, if you don't have enough thickness to spare to plane/sand, then you started with the wrong stock. Just saying. 1/32 should be all you need. More would suggest the boards were not flat to start with. Based on my limited experience of course.

 

[Rwe2156]

@Wiley's Woodworks do use use a double row of biscuits on thick boards?

Titebond Translucent Wood Glue is what you're looking for. Completely invisible when it dries.

I'll bet it's the same as Glue all.

I agree. Dumped my biscuit joiner as they did not provide decent alignment anyway. Splines and dowels for me.

Seems to me, if you don't have enough thickness to spare to plane/sand, then you started with the wrong stock. Just saying. 1/32 should be all you need. More would suggest the boards were not flat to start with. Based on my limited experience of course.

Funny how the same tool in two people's hands are 180° opposite experiences. I get better alignment with a biscuit jointer than a Domino. Double biscuits on boards over 1 1/4" thick.

I despise dowels. Way too time consuming/totally unnecessary for panel alignment. Gave up on them a long time ago!

 

[chris_goris]

Dry color shouldnt matter unless you have bad joints... and then it shouldnt be a countertop IMO. As for type, I would use Gorilla glue since it will be exposed to water even if not adjacent to a sink , plan for the worst case, its cheap insurance.

 

[Jim Wallace]

I wouldn’t worry about a waterproof glue if you are finishing with poly.

As for the biscuits - dowels - splines the best solution for strength of joint and alignment is probably cauls. Bruce Hoadley says that the use of cauls during glue-up strengthens the joint by evenly distributing the pressure. His tests show that dowels, splines, or biscuits only weaken the joint.

 

[Willemjm]

The only time I do not use Titebond Original, is when assembly needs more open time to put pieces together, or for pieces which will see a lot of water. The latter will be cutting boards, mortar and pestle.

On countertops, once I cut the edges to size, I always break the offcut pieces by hand and there is never a glue failure, It is always a wood failure.

For those who do a lot of segmented turning, the original always gives clean joint lines and it is easier to work with.

 

[mpeele]

There is a Gorilla pollyurathane glue that drys white instead of tan.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

@Wiley's Woodworks do use use a double row of biscuits on thick boards?



I'll bet it's the same as Glue all.

Funny how the same tool in two people's hands are 180° opposite experiences. I get better alignment with a biscuit jointer than a Domino. Double biscuits on boards over 1 1/4" thick.

I despise dowels. Way too time consuming/totally unnecessary for panel alignment. Gave up on them a long time ago!

Dr. Bob--Just a single row of #20 biscuits, 5 for a 64" span. They're for alignment only, not looking for strength. I'm using them to get top surface as flat as possible after glue up. I will be using 3 cauls to aid in flattening; dry fit is coming really close to evening the top surface flat. Looking like I'll only need to take off 1/32" before final sanding.

 

[dancam]

Hey Dan--I searched Lowe's and found about 4 Gorilla glues that sorta match your "Gorilla Wood Glue". You say it dries clear; they say Wood Glue dries "off white". I could say the same about Titebond. There's also a waterproof Wood Glue at about 2X the price. Which one have you had success with? If it will hold a cutting board together, it sure ought to hold a countertop. Thanks.

Wiley, here's a picture of the Gorilla glue I use. It's labeled Ultimate, and it's also labeled as waterproof with a 15 min open time. I've had great results with it, and I"ve not experienced any failures.

 

[junquecol]

Splines would show.

Not if you don't run them all the way to the end. For dowels, use a piece of 1/2" BB plywood. At the drill press, drill a series of holes, sized for router bushing. Add a top piece to plywood so as to register it to top of each strip. Using a plunge router with guide bushing, and an up cut spiral bit, drill one side of each board. Move top piece of plywood so it's flush with other side of outside of guide board, then plunge holes for dowels. Don't forget to NOT do outside outside of boards. DAMHIK!