Construction Adhesive???

[PeteM]

Just finished reading an old Woodsmith article about building Adirondack chairs and they talked about using construction adhesive to glue it up.

I use Titebond III and have had recomendations for epoxy but I never thought about tubes of adhesive. Anybody here ever use it?

pete

 

[DaveO]

I've used a bunch of construction adhesive for landscape projects, like bonding retaining wall caps to the wall, and repairing cultured stone veneers. It sticks very well and has some gap filling properties. I think it is basically a thick form of Gorilla Glue. This stuff would be worth a try:

http://www.stickwithpl.com/Products.aspx?ID=500-Outdoor-Project-Adhesive.

It is also fun to get off your hands :eusa_doh:

Dave

 

[frigator]

I made a chair yrs ago out of cypress and epoxy and it worked well. That adhesive will gum up any sandpaper if you get it on the wood. If you bung your screwholes I would think epoxy would work better and if you mix it with microfibers it has better gap filling properties. I just used a ton of adhesive putting down a plywood floor and would only use it for a "rough" project.

 

[jmauldin]

Pete
My experience with construction adhesive is that it is for "construction" - meaning installing panels, subfloors, etc., not furniture. The problem I have with epoxy is that it is very brittle, does not fare will with temperature changes, esp. outside. Titebond III would be my preference. It is more elastic and will give more with changes in weather, etc.
Jim in Mayberry

 

[Steve D]

Just curious what parts you are gluing... I built around Norm's plan and there wasn't any gluing involved in that design.

 

[Ray Martin]

I don't think I would use construction adhesive for anything but rough framing type jobs. Use it to bond the subfloor to the joists; use it under the sole plates of walls. It's thick and gummy. It has a VERY short open time. It will skin over in minutes. When laying in a subfloor, I have my volunteers lay a bead on each joist where the next panel will go.... and not one inch more until that panel has been hammered into place and nailed down and the next panel is ready to be dropped in. It does its job quite well but its job is quite limited. I would use Titebond III or Gorilla Glue on anything like outdoor furniture, cabinetry, etc.

Ray

 

[PeteM]

I built one from plans in American Woodworker that uses sliding dovetails and M&T's for all the joints and I glued everything with Titebond III. It's a solid chair.

I don't think I'd actually use Construction Adhesive for furniture. I was suprised to see it in Woodsmith and was just wondering if anyone else had used it.

pete

 

[Ray Martin]

Pete,

Really nice chair.

I guess you can tell from my post that I've never used the adhesive for anything in a furniture project. I have a love / hate relationship with it. We buy truckloads of the stuff. I love the way it stiffens a floor and stops wall movement... but it is nasty stuff. If you get it on shoes or clothing, it requires napalm and a chainsaw to remove.

Ray

 

[Oakwood]

Construction Adhesive is basically a very high solids Neoprene rubber compound. It is great for construction projects and will sure keep yoour floors from squeaking if you put on the floor joist before laying down the floors.
It would be a terrible furniture glue.

John

 

[Howard Acheson]

Construction adhesives never really harden. The remain flexible and do a good job holding panels and some construction joints. They do not have anywhere near the final strength of woodworking adhesive.

For some types of outdoor projects, they have some value. Where there are cross grain joints--as there would be in Adirondack chairs, the adhesive will allow the joint to flex without failing. However, it should not be used without some other type of mechanical fastener.

 

[sapwood]

Pete, that's one fine looking chair :icon_thum

Sapwood

 

[SkintKnuckle]

Pete, construction adhesives will not provide the bond strength which can be achieved in PVA wood glue (titebond types) or moisture cured urethane (gorrila glue types) provided your joints are well fitted and are properly clamped while the glue is being set. Construction adhesive will most likely provide a superior bond over the other 2 if you have gaps in your joints or cannot provide adequate clamp pressure.

So, here's what I would recommend:

For tight fitting joints with adquate clamp pressure:
1- If you outside furniture will only be exposed to rain intermintently, I'd say go with the Titebond III. It's designated as a 1 part Type 1 PVA, and I'm probably going to get into trouble here, but I would say that it will have difficulty meeting that spec.
2- If your furniture will be totally exposed to rain go with the moisure cured urethane (gorrilla glue types). For this application I like to spritz both wood surfaces with water then apply the glue and assemble, something like an old windex bottle will work nicely. Keep in mind that this system relies on foaming action of the glue to drive the adhesive into the wood pores, so you need very tight fitting joints and strong clamping pressure. Glueline performance will be degraded if the glueline is more than several mils thick. Properly done, this system will most likely provide 100% wood failure in a destructive test, and will easily meet a Type 1 spec.

If you feel you can't get good fitting joints or adequate clamp pressure on your joints you're probably best off with one of the better construction adhesives.

Hope this helps, let us know which way you go.