wagonmaker Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 Good afternoon all, I was in a Lowe's store yesterday picking up some 2x6's & wandered over to the glue /caulking aisle.Clearance priced was quart bottles of Gorilla glue. The normal retail was $36.............reduced to $11.Anyone out there used the stuff? I know it is polyurethane & said to be waterproof. I don't really need anymore regular woodworking glue in my shop but was wondering about this stuff . Is it suiable for boatmaking? I asked the clerk in the store & he said it was not old stock or anything wrong with it. He says it just doesn't sell good because of the high price of it so it has been reduced. If it is of use for boatbuilding I am going back & scarf another 2 or 3 quarts. Thanks, ..............Wayne Quote
Hirilonde Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 The stuff is water-proof, and it is quite strong. I have used it for building outdoor furniture and gluing exterior house and deck trim (which is also screwed or nailed) to help maintain a tight joint. It worked quite well for both. I have even seen it used to glue leather work boots and stand up for quite a while. I still think I would choose epoxy over it for any boat application. Glue manufacturers will have to come up with something quite revolutionary for me to choose anything over epoxy, and they will have to prove its worth first as well. Quote
Mike Routley Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 The stuff is pretty strong, but it is NOT waterproof. I use some on some boards around the pool. The joints went bad during the winter. If you follow the directions and wet one suffice, it will bubble out of the joint as it dries. Good stuff, but needs to be used on the right application. Quote
Greg Luckett Posted July 4, 2007 Posted July 4, 2007 Epoxy will not bond wet wood very well but Gorilla glue will. In fact it requires wetting dry wood prior to bonding. I would not purchase any larger container than needed as it goes bad quickly once the bottle has been opened, no matter how careful it is kept closed between uses. It is nasty stuff which caused me to get rashes that took months to get rid of. Be sure to use gloves and protect your skin. It is very strong bonding and I have used it to make a cradle for my grand children and to build interior panels for bulkheads in boats. Quote
Greg Luckett Posted July 4, 2007 Posted July 4, 2007 Ray, Gorilla glue is not supposed to be a gap filler. It requires normally tight clamping, unlike epoxy which will squeeze out. I have bonded red oak, white oak, cedar, pine, and sassafras with Gorilla glue, butt jointed sometimes, and have yet to have a joint failure. Several of these items are pushing 10 years in age, and are heavily used. I suggest following the directions on the bottle, which is all I have done. Quote
Greg Luckett Posted July 4, 2007 Posted July 4, 2007 LOL, ok Ray, you have peaked my curiosity now and I will get a copy of that magazine to read. Thanks for the heads up about it. Quote
Greg Luckett Posted July 4, 2007 Posted July 4, 2007 I stopped using Gorilla glue several years ago, mostly because my skin reacts to it, it is nearly impossible to clean off of the skin, and there is as good a substitute: Titebond Polyurethane. I am looking at the last bottle purchased, several years ago now, and it is probably hardened. I have found that Titebond I, II, and III suit most of my needs and are a lot more forgiving when I slop it on myself. The plain old yellow glues I pretty much avoid as they do not hold up well. I do use the Polyurethanes as well as epoxy with thickners to repair furniture, especially legs and backs. Since I have several gallons of the epoxy sitting around now, and it stays good for years, the polys are not high on my list of things to use. It makes me doubt the validity of the testing if the yellow glue beat the Gorilla glue at bonding. I have not used any hide glue in over 40 years (shop class in 8th grade) and have no plans to do so. What is PVA glue? Thanks for the discussion. This topic is always something to keep abreast of. Quote
lewisboats Posted July 6, 2007 Posted July 6, 2007 What is PVA glue? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_acetate http://www.answers.com/topic/polyvinyl-acetate-1?cat=technology and something to really fry your brain.... http://www.tt.luth.se/forskning/pdf/artLim.pdf Enjoy... Steve Quote
Greg Luckett Posted July 6, 2007 Posted July 6, 2007 I guess the Gorilla Glue people should be pretty quick to respond if they see any problems with their methodology. Maybe they have or did? How would the public know? Quote
Greg Luckett Posted July 6, 2007 Posted July 6, 2007 I have seen what you are speaking of before. We may see some sort of reply from Gorilla Glue months from now, in print, or maybe sooner on some web site. Quote
Greg Luckett Posted July 21, 2007 Posted July 21, 2007 Most reputable magazines will publish letters that take issue with their articles. I suspect Fie Woodworking would as well. Still looking for the magazine to read in detail, just skimmed over in the store. Did you find one yet? I hope to get to the stores tomorrow and will look for one too. Quote
Greg Luckett Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 I found the Fine WoodWorking magazine (Aug 2007, #192) which Ray referred to. I remain unconvinced that they applied the Gorilla Glue per the instructions from its manufacturerer and intend to contact Fine WoodWorking to get more details. The article is rather vague and simply states the glues were "prepared and applied according to the manufacturer's instructions". When Gorilla Glue is applied without wetting the wood first, then joint failures like described in the article are probable, from my own experiences. The other problem with this test is the size of the gap. Gorilla Glue is not made to be a filler like epoxy with a thickner is. I have used a lot of red oak, sassafras, white oak, mahagany, and yellow pine to build with and have used Gorilla Glue in the past and have yet to experience a glued joint failure. I have repaired many chairs using it too, and they are still being used in resteraunts over several years of hard usage. A couple of years ago I shifted to the similar Titebond product. My biggest complaint with the polyurethane glue is the clean up afterwards and my skin reactions to it. Both it and epoxy are a real pain to get off the skin. I wear gloves and protective clothing but still manage to get some on the skin occasionally. My favorite glues currently are Titebond II and III. It is hard to beat the water wash up. Check out these links: http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/gorilaglurevu.html http://www.epinions.com/content_142817529476 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.