Glue advice

[Steve B]

I have a chair that needs fixing. It has dowels that hold a curved arm in place, and the dowels have been broken. I need to drill it out and replace the dowels, and glue it back.

I have various sorts of glues in my shop, all seem to be old, separated, or hard. So, I'll be off to buy a new container of glue. For joining raw wood, what is the best? Where should I store it so it is usable the next time I go to get it? Is the Gorilla stuff any good? I've seen it used, and it foams a lot. At the store, there seems to be about six varieties of Elmer's. Something better? As anything, I assume joint preparation, cleaning, and clamping until very dry are important parts. Should I put a heater close to it for a couple of days?

Steve

[Swingman]

Most often for "furniture" repair, particular with antique/old pieces, is a glue that can be undone in the future if need be ... this type of glue has a better chance of maintaining the value of the piece:

the instructions. It can be purchased at Rocklers or WoodCraft stores, as well as online as above.

[tiredofspam]

Just plain old elmers white or carpenters glue will do well. I don't like Gorilla glue. In my opinion it isn't that great.

just drill the hole and put glue in the hole and on the dowel. I always take my dowels and put them in the back of linemans pliers where they have the serated crimping area. That way the glue has a way of pushing out of the hole.

clamp and keep it from freezing.. the warmer the better.

Storage is another issue. if you are not go> eem to be old, separated, or

[-MIKE-]

I just did that very thing on a friend's mass produced chair. Straight up carpenter's yellow glue with do the trick. Gorilla glue and other polyurethane glues aren't the best for clean wood to clean wood contact and aren't as strong as regular wood glue. The glue label will indicate the minimum operating temperature for curing. Only heat if it's colder than that. Wood glue can be stored anywhere as long as it's above freezing.

[Lew Hodgett]

-------------------------------------- SFWIW, I use two (2) different adhesives.

TiteBondII for general wood working.

Quality laminating epoxy with microballoons added as required for everything else.

Epoxy provides longer open time than TiteBondII as well as gap filling abilities, especially when thickened with micro balloons.

TiteBondII definitely has a shelf life, work with fresh glue.

Epoxy has an almost indefinite shelf life.

TiteBondII, epoxy and this writer all work better when warm.

You want at least 60F, 70F is better.

As far as Gorilla glue is concerned, it is strictly over priced and under peckered IMHO.

I wouldn't touch the stuff, especially when good epoxy is available.

Have fun.

Lew

[Larry Blanchard]

You sure got a lot of replies suggesting yellow glue or epoxy. If it's a worthless mass produced chair, fine. Otherwise, or if you don't know, I'd go with Swingman's suggestion and use hide glue.

[Little Abner]

I contemplated using gorilla glue to assemble a rocking chair. From what others said here I didn't. Thank goodness I asked. I used white wood glue and it turned out well. Since I had the gorilla glue, I used it to repair a small foot stool. Too much weight had mad the short legs pull out the studs. The glue was applied and wiped away a little that seeped out of the joints. Came back after a few hours and the stuff had ozzed out everywhere, like expanding urethane foam sealant. It migrated upward and filled a little crack I hadn't seen. Two hours of judicious use of a small chisel, pocketknife, and figer nails got mos of the stuff off. It's still tacky. We'll see how strong it is tommorrow.

[RonB]

Titebond II has been my glue of choice for many years. Reasonable price and good, consistent results. I have used their darker III for some outdoor projects but II does the job for most of my stuff.

I used the old foamy Gorilla a few years ago for an outdoor project and found it to be foamy, messy, stainy, etc.; but it got the job done. I did buy a small bottle of their newer cream colored outdoor rated glue this fall for a weather application and it was less messy and set pretty quick. I'm still a Titebond II guy. Just bone-headed I guess.

Joints need to be straight, clean and dry. They should be clamped firmly, but not overtightened. You want the glue to stay in the joint. Titebond is usually dried in less than an hour (I think the bottle says 30 minutes). I still keep it clamped up longer depending on use. If the joint will be put under any stress, overnight is best. Keep the temperature reasonable - above freezing or move the work into a heated area.

There. I have probably said more than I know.

RonB

[Martin Eastburn]

I used it once - needed it once. It was a old 4 legged foot stool. I set a Tank flywheel, and anvil on to of it and made sure it was square to the ground - and legs right. The next afternoon (work day) I found the stool had pushed up the weight on one leg - the worst one and more glue to expand I suppose. The stool was slightly off center but tight. It finally came apart and it is in the shop for 1. trash or

1. try it again. Still thinking on that job. I think I might. Might just drill new holes - but maybe I'll be lucky.

Mart> >> I have a chair that needs fixing. It has dowels that hold a curved arm in