Thread: Thinning Polyurethane Glue

Originally Posted by hardwood

Hi Elan
I have also had delamination probs with poly glues, what species of timber are you gluing up.

I work in the furniture industry and we use a large variety of timbers, but mostly American Oak and Vic Ash.

We have had some delamination issues with large section oak in summer: 22 pieces @ 3mx120x60 face to face for the thickest dining tables on the planet - we had to borrow a forklift to move them (they wanted 2 of these things) around and I believe they had to crane them into the house through an unfinished glass wall.

That being said, part of the problem was that they were ordered as urgent and then sat around the factory unsealed for nearly 2 months because the house wasn't ready. American oak is highly unstable at the best of times and a slab that big is going to move and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. We packed the joins that opened with Techniglue and they bloody moved again .

Right after that I made an island bench in American walnut: 31 pieces @ 4mx100x45 face to face (I always seem to get the largest jobs) with 180x180 legs using the same glue and it also sat around for over a month. Not a single join moved.

Make of it what you will, but I'm going to call that a timber issue, not a glue issue.

Originally Posted by gumred

I don't like epoxy for furniture in general, but that's just a personal preference.


I would have thought, epoxy would be a excellent glue for furniture..

It probably is, but the glue lines are thicker and more noticeable. I do use it at work for parquetry table tops where it won't be seen.

A bit harder to get but I still prefer Urea Formaldehyde (UF) for laminations, as long as it is not for exterior applications.
Cheap, no creep, fast, easy to spread/roll and above all the least noticeable glue lines.

Originally Posted by Bernt

A bit harder to get but I still prefer Urea Formaldehyde (UF) for laminations, as long as it is not for exterior applications.
Cheap, no creep, fast, easy to spread/roll and above all the least noticeable glue lines.

Also highly toxic and releases formaldehyde gas, which is listed as a "known human carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer since 2004. There's a reason they're trying to phase it out.