Titebond III, melamine, heat observations

Just on the odd chance that someone might find it useful, I'm tossing out a couple of observations about Titebond III.

Making wagon wheels, FWIW (not asking for advice on that, the wheels are as done as they're going to get and I know pretty much what I did wrong and what I need to do in the future).

First, clamping the hub pieces together I used a couple of pieces of

3/4" melamine covered particleboard (the Home Despot stuff) and a half inch bolt. That worked a treat for clamping but the first time I did it I neglected to wax the melamine and was surprised to find that the hub was bonded to it tightly enough to pull some wood fibers off. There were a couple of drips of Titebond that just came off with my thumbnail, but where it had been under clamping pressure I had to carve it off with a chisel.

Second, had the wheels in the car for a couple of days. They had been sitting in the shop for a week with all joints fitting tightly. After sitting in the car for a couple of days one of the rims opened a gap at one of the joints between the felloes (the pieces of the rim--it's in four sections on these wheels, on larger ones it would have been in 6 or more). I suspect that the heat did the Titebond in.

So, lessons about Titebond III:

(1) There are circumstances under which it sticks surprisingly well to melamine--if you don't want it to do that be sure to wax (reminder--it also sticks to steel--wax your clamps).

(2) Heat may soften Titebond III enough for a joint with residual tension to open up.

Lessons about wheels:

There's a reason they put steel tires on them and it wasn't just because they wear longer--before I do more wheels I really have to set up to make and attach tires.

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J. Clarke
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