Titebond II, am I the only one with issues?

Hiya, I've been using Titebond II pretty much exclusively for all my projects the past few years. I posted a while back that I had problems with the glue after finishing when it crept. I kind of put it in the back of my mind thinking that maybe temperature had been the culprit (I glued up pretty close to their lower limit).

Well, today I wandered by one of my projects, a cherry bed built about 3 years ago and low and behold, I have glue creep. Now this thing was built in the summer and I took my sweet time with it (meaning I didn't glue up and start sanding within the first 12 hours....more like days between the glue up and futher working of it). What's going on here? Am I the only one with this issue? Could the glue be "spoiled" (ie. age wise)? I'm pretty ticked off as I noticed I have this problem on just about every other project around the house as well. Is there another glue that folks recommend (yellow or white preferably). Thanks for the rant! Cheers, cc

Reply to
James "Cubby" Culbertson
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Can you take photos? It would be very useful to see the exact characteristics of what you are talking about.

I can't say that I have ever had an issue with TBII, but I have not used it much. I use standard Titebond whenever I can. In the back of my mind I always think that it is best to use the most tried and true when you don't need the characteristics for which a specialty glue is intended. A very good example is the use of polyurethane glues. Hate that stuff. I only use it if I have to glue dissimilar materials to wood or some examples of waterproof applications. It is messy on the project and on your hands (if you don't use gloves).

Now you are making me wonder if there is any concern about Titebond Extend. I am considering using that as my mainline glue because it would give me added working time. Should I stick to my rule?

Reply to
eganders

I'm using the term "Glue Creep" to describe what appears to be glue that over time, has squeezed out between joints. Not sure it's the correct terminology. Basically what I get, and this is for edge glued stuff, is a slight ridge where the two boards are joined that wasn't there when I built it. I can't take photos of it as it's really too small to see but you can definitely feel it as you rub your fingers over the joint. My method of edge glue ups goes something like this. I joint my edges, set up the clamps with cauls as needed, apply the glue, clamp the boards, and let sit for anywhere from 12 hours to days. Afterwards, I scrape the dried glue off and give the panel or whatever a good sanding (or handplane sometimes) to the point where you cannot feel the joint with your fingers. I typically finish with a light coat of oil (linseed, watco, tried and true, etc...) and then shellac. After all the finishing, the joint is still as smooth as before. Months (or even years) later, I'm getting this ridge where the joint is. I had this happen once before on a box I made and the diagnosis from the group was I believe, "Glue Creep". I took a scraper to it and very gently removed it and sure enough it looked like dried glue.

Thanks for any help/advice! Cheers, cc

Reply to
James "Cubby" Culbertson

Mmmm. Are you sure it isn't the wood creeping? By that I mean that if two pieces from the exact same board were not glued together, a slightly different cut (say for example, one more plainsawn and the other more quartersawn) might produce an edge situation like you describe.

Reply to
eganders

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It's sort of the accepted thing on instrument (guitar, etc...) making forums (like mimf.com) that Titebond II is not suitable for instruments because of glue creep. Hide glue (the ground stuff that you mix fresh yourself, not the pre-bottled stuff) and original Titebond are probably the most two most common glues used for building instruments. But when they talk about "glue creep" it usually means that the joint is moving, not that it's really squeezing the glue out of the joint.

Jon

Reply to
Jonathan

Any "white" glue will creep under sustained load. The solutions are to design your structure so that there is no shear load on the glue joints or to use a different type of glue (plastic resin or phenol-formaldehyde for example) that does not creep under sustained load.

Reply to
J. Clarke

I am beginning to wonder if it has something to do with clamp pressure. and the quality of the joining of the boards. From all accounts white and yellow glues do "creep". So if clamp excessive clamp pressure is used to ensure squeeze out the jointed edge is in compression ,some areas more than others . When the clamps are released the compressive load is gone but in the joint "valleys" there will remain in fact a tension load which over time will be allieviated by glue "creep".

I dont know the solution other than using hide glue where. most joints of this type were "rubbed" joints requiring no clamp pressure.....mjh .

Reply to
mike hide

If you have the time, call the company, They're the real experts on the subject.

Reply to
BUB 209

Reply to
nospambob

I haven't experienced the problem you are citing but one possible explanation is that the wood was not totally dry when you did the glue up. Over time the wood will shrink but the glued edge will shrink less due to the wood cells being soaked with glue. Basically the glue saturated cells will feel like a ridge.

One way to check this is with a caliper if you are confident in the 'final' dimension of your boards. The 'ridge' would be virtually the same as your 'final' dimension and the base wood would be thinner.

TWS

Reply to
TWS

If it is too small to see, why do you care about it?

Reply to
Chuck

That really sounds more like the wood expanding and or contracting. That is perfectly normal.

Reply to
Leon

...

BTW, I've been using Type III for the barn restoration for exterior work...so far, it seems to hold up well and is immeasureably easier to use than the polyurethanes--significantly cheaper as well, although about twice the cost of Type I

I'd stay w/ Type I yellow glues for interior furniture work myself unless there were a reason...

I've used the extended open glues for special purposes w/ no observable problems, but those have been very unusual cases.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

James, The common definition of glue creep is during the clamping process, the pieces may tend to move on non-mechanically aided joints.

After the glue, any common wood glue, sets it will not creep. What you are describing is seasonal wood movement. Very common. Design and construction techniques can eliminate or hide this common problem to all woodworkers.

Dave

Reply to
TeamCasa

Are you sure it's glue creep and not wood movement. PVA glue does not expand or contract with humidity changes. Wood does. Another thing that might cause the problem is not allowing enough time for the wood to acclimatize to the environment (where it will reside) before glue up.

Check the piece when the humidity is high and see if the glue line is still proud of the wood.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

Reply to
Nova

I think I am going to switch to TBIII for everything. Franklin sent me a case of the it to evaluate and with 3 bottles left I am beginning to like it. I was not real fond of it in the beginning as the open time seemed shorter and the glue seems a bit thicker but I find with it being thicker that it is less likely to run and it dries to a medium dark brown color as opposed to yellow. The cured color tends to blend better with the color of the wood than TBII. This is more important to me where normally I am not concerned with a bit of squeeze out showing. But if the squeeze out is less noticeable, all the better.

Reply to
Leon

I too like it better and now use it almost exclusively. Its a good product.

Dave

Reply to
TeamCasa

I switched to using probond a while ago, and haven't had any complanits about it, there indoor/outdoor isn't to bad price wise and seems to hold up really well, on both indoor and outdoor projects

Reply to
Richard Clements

I thought "creep" meant the gradual inelastic deformation of a material as a result of constant applied load below the material's yield point, or something like that, anyway.

Reply to
Lawrence Wasserman

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