What glue to use?

What glue to use?

A brief guide;

This is something I often ask myself, well it depends upon what you are going to require from your glue.

For instance, if you are going to repair a very valuable Violin then you will have to consider that someday in the future, you might have to back engineer your Violin again.

In this case, you must use a glue that can be re-softened such as animal glue.

This will soften with hot water gently worked into the joints that will then soon start to come apart.

However, if you were to use wood PVA glue you would have great difficulty in separating any joints and would most likely damage your Violin. 

Well, I do not repair Violins so I don’t have to worry about that. 

However, I sometimes have to carry out repairs on Furniture, such as loose joints in Chair legs etc.

For this kind of repair I use wood PVA glue, as I find that it gives me enough time to be able to clamp up all the joints unlike fast drying glues.

And for joints that are loose fitting, I like to use glue called Gorilla glue.

As this glue has a very strong bond, and as it expands within the joint which makes for a very tough repair, and when dry the excess glue has to be cleaned off with a sharp chisel.

When using Gorilla glue you have to apply the glue to one side of the joint and wet the other side with a mist of water, then clamp together and when dry you will not be able to separate the joint.

Glue should I think be suitable for its purpose.

 If you use glue for repairing Boats then you would need to purchase exterior glue suited to a salt water environment.

With the advance in glue technology, it is now possible to have tough bonding glues that can set in super fast drying times.

Another glue that I have found very useful is Mitre glue it comes in Two parts, the glue which you apply to one side of the break and the other side you apply a spray liquid provided, you have to bond them together extremely fast as the glue sets in about five seconds, no room for error I’m afraid.

Before you begin your project stop for a minute and ask yourself what do I expect of my glue?  When you know this then you can start to look for the correct glue for your job.

I hope this has been helpful to you?  If so feedback is always welcome.