Polyurethance wood glue

[Dave West]

Would anyone know of a retail outlet in the London area to buy over the counter 'polyurethane wood glue', not in a sealent tube, but in a pot or container which would give it a longer shelf life ?

[newshound]

Do you mean like Gorilla Glue? Readily available on line and from good ironmongers. Comes in a variety of sizes.

[Rick Hughes]

just about any tools shop, woodshop or timber yard ... Jewson for example.

All stock bottles of Polyurethane

also nice easy one for you ... Screwfix sell this, 236ml up to 1000ml bottles

[polygonum]

I have actually found this:

a better life after unsealing the container. Has a re-attachable screw cap on the nozzle. It is white and seems to work well. I think it foams somewhat less than others.

[The Natural Philosopher]

someone did a test on this glue, and various others. it came out worst. Even epoxy was better strength and gap[ filling.

Guess what topped out?

White carpenters glue, the cheapest shit there is.

[Jim K]

not this one then

K

[newshound]

Toolstation list several PU adhesives as well

[polygonum]

>>I was being lazy... :-)

Their 310ml cartridge is less expensive but still has a screw nozzle cap.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, it was not that one. I am surprised how well the hot glue comes out there.

[Tim Watts]

On Friday 04 January 2013 21:33 The Natural Philosopher wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Provided you have a tight fit. It doesn't bridge gaps at all.

So if you have a sloppy fit (a repair job say) it would be better to use PU and get a reasonable bond over a large area compared to PVA over very little.

Of course, epoxy is better but it's hugely expensive and PU may be perefctly adequate for say bonding ply to a frame where the contact area is massive.

[polygonum]

In the real world, we often have to glue wood that is at least slightly damp. I strongly suspect that polyurethane comes out on top for that use

- though maybe Aerolite or similar is as good or better? (PVA seems much happier on fairly dry wood. Takes forever to set if damp.)

[The Medway Handyman]

Is that for a sealant gun?

[Dave West]

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Thanks to all. My interest in PU adhesive came from the 'stick on soles' you used to be able to buy from Woolworths and the PU adhesive they supplied for sticking them on. It was a clear thick liquid adhesive that really stuck on, dried quickly and was waterproof. Absolutely brilliant stuff, came in small tubes and was expensive. (Downside was the surface had to be dry on application).

So imagine my disappointment when I bought a sealent tube of glue from homebase that had that it was PU adhesive written on the label, I think it was evostick or bostick.

But it was more like a white glue that dried to a white slightly *rubbery* finish. Almost like a firm silicon sealent. It messed up a nice dark coloured ceramic outdoor pot because the finish was white instead of drying clear. It's O.K. for window frames, but not was I was looking for or expecting.

Some of these glues just mentioned here, are calling themselves PU, but i'm wondering now which ones might be more like the original PU glue that was used for the rubber stick on soles and heels ?

[Andy Dingley]

Buy it from a shop with a high turnover, because some shops sell it so old that it's already going "crunchy" inside the bottle.

Then wrap the bottle with aluminium foil or tape, because polyethylene bottles are too moisture permeable to store PU glue in.

Then don't bother because PU is expensive, messy and crap.

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 05 January 2013 14:29 Andy Dingley wrote in uk.d-i-y:

What would you use for gluing and screwing 18mm ply to a 3x3" frame that needs stiffening (about 20 linear metres worth) - and the frame is all slightly skewed (which is why we are plating it)?

Less than £40 budget for glue.

[polygonum]

Indeedy.

And for clarification, it is approximately white/clear - somewhere between. Not "honey" like most PU glues.

[michael adams]

First up, the precise formulations of most adhesives probably change over the years. The fact that Homebase glue was described as PU probably refers to the specific advantages common to all PU adhesives which is the reason for people choosing them.

However there are probably loads of PU adhesives on the market which while they all share the specific PU advantage, otherwise all have different characteristics, viscosity, colour, setting time etc.

As to colour, I've not used PU adhesives myself but unless there's a lot of gap filling involved the usual procedure with most adhesives is to remove all the surplus from any visible glueline as soon as the components are clamped together. And then do it again five or ten minutes later. Apparently IPA (isopropyl alcohol) is one solvent of choice for cleaning up PU. Acetone would also definitely work but might be detrimental to the object being clamped. So that whether the adhesive is clear or coloured shouldnt normally be an issue where there's no gap filling involved.

michael adams

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