Need a wood glue with long setting time

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Matt Furjanic

New User
Matt
I will be making some walnut chairs, and need a wood glue (not epoxy) with a long-set time. Just wanted to get some opinions.
 

CarvedTones

Board of Directors, Vice President
Andy
You need to quantify what you mean. I think plain old TightBond I has a long set time.
 

WoodWrangler

New User
Jeremy
Plastic Resin glue has a long set time, but is very hard/brittle and does not work good in all applications. Titebond also has a slow setting glue (white in color) that is decent.
 

Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
When I need a glue with a long open time, I use Weldwood (made by DAP). This is a type of plastic resin glue, Ace Hardware sells it. It is water resistant and a good choice for Walnut because it's brown. Unlike yellow (PVA) glue, it has very little movement, so you're not likely to get any kind of "creep". Whether that's good or bad depends on the application. For a table top, it's probably good, but for chair joints some flexibility may actually be desirable. I'm not sure I would classify it as "brittle", but it is definitely harder.
 

nelsone

New User
Ed
Hide glue is traditional for chairs because it is reversable making chair repairs easier. I have a bottle of Titebonds Liquid hide glue, but haven't used it enough to give an opinion on it. The one time I did use it, I had to warm it up to make it usable. I think it has a pretty long open time.
 

chesterboyd

New User
chester
I thinkl Andy is right----good old titebond I has worked well for me.I'm just wondering why you need a long open time? I have glued up a lot of chairs and normally you can work out a system to do one section at a time (unless it is a Windsor type (those are dogs)).If you can imagine a chippendale style: I glue the back 2 legs with the back rail and stretcher and clamp them across. Then add the shoe, splat, and crest rail and clamp down from the top of the crest rail (use a clamping jig on the rail) to the bottom of the legs.Let this set up and clamp the 2 front legs and rail together.Let the 2 front legs set up and all that's left is the side rails and stretchers, which are easy.I don't mean to question your technique but thought I would share mine.Good Luck.:icon_thum
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
Another option I have used with intricate glue ups is polyurethane glue (i,e gorilla glue, etc). Altho I am not a big fan of it most times, the advantage is that you can spread the glue on one of the mating surfaces where it will remain soft for quite a while, and then just spritz the other with a water spray bottle right before you join them to activate the glue.

The glue expansion factor may make it unsuitable for chairs, as is the strength loss over time, but it is another option.

Go
 

Howard Acheson

New User
Howard
I will be making some walnut chairs, and need a wood glue (not epoxy) with a long-set time. Just wanted to get some opinions.

Why do you rule out epoxy. IMO, it is the best and safest choice for chairs. It's all we used for any chairs we made in the shop I was involved with. We built over a thousand chairs in ten years and did lots of testing of adhesives. Epoxy was best for the types of stresses that chairs are subjected to.
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
Titebond makes a slow set glue also, I just cant drag its name outta my tired brain tonight. You can google it
 

CarvedTones

Board of Directors, Vice President
Andy
Here is a good page on various options:

http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/etip61.html

I found that looking for the "how to slow hide glue" tips that I know I have seen somewhere, but reading the above page, the one that jumps out as simplest, easiest and (one of my favorite attributes) cheapest is this:

You can thin Titebond yellow glue with about 5% water (one part water to twenty parts glue). One of the researchers at Franklin Industries (manufacturer of Titebond) told us that this will slow the set time about 50%. And he said that it won't have any significant effect on the strength of the glue joint as long as you don't mix in more than 5% water.

I have not used the liquid hide glue, but have used the old "mix and use" for years. I know an instrument maker who does his assembly in a small room he heats up like a sauna and he leaves the wood in there for a couple of hours before he goes in and glues it up. Its open time is dictated by temperature.
 
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