Thread: Titebond Instantbond and other instant glues - do they work

Originally Posted by Arron

Hi. I'm curious about glues like Titebond Instant Bond Wood Adhesive - Rockler Woodworking Tools or other instant bond woodworking glues. Has anyone used something like this and what were your experiences ? Do they really work as described - and here's the really important bit - do they keep holding on year after year ?

I'm asking this question because I've found most CA based glues work for a while but after a year or two they fall apart. Very likely its my bad technique, so I'm curious whether anyone has used one of these products long enough ago to have an opinion on this.

I"ve done all the searches and read all the product reviews and have come away convinced that, yes, if your timeline is as long as a video review, they work well. What about those of us who like to imagine their creations lasting for a few decades ?

cheers
Arron

Hi Arron,
I've no experience with either of the glues you nominate here however, for the past 4 - 5 years I've used Fullers Cross Linked PVA and I can tell you, its sticks like poo to a blanket !
I make chairs and other things from Ironbark, mainly with mortise and tenon joints (some of them a bit loose) and nary a failure to date.
I would be rather cautious of using any "instant" glue as with something like a dining chair, you need a glue that takes say 20 minutes before it hardens for assembly and getting it all square etc.

For things that need instant bonding, I keep small tubes of Super Glue on hand but even these take up to 5 minutes to solidify. Re suoer glue, I found that the el cheapo glues from Crazy Clark's @ $2.00 for a pack of 6 or 7 work much better that the $5 tubes from the likes of Selley's
Hope this info helps.
Cheers,
Wazza

Hi Wazza,
Thanks for the reply. Am i right in thinking that your Fullers glue still requires clamping. I've been using Selleys Quickset Pva and a German instant Pva called Tesa and I'm pretty happy with both - but both still need clamping, regardless of what it says on the label. The reason I'm interested in the CA versions is that I suspect they may do away with the entire time-consuming and error-prone clamping process. In my case I'm not after a huge bond strength (like you are with your chair making), a relatively modest bond strength will do but it needs to last for years.

As a fictitious illustration, imagine I am making octagonal picture frames. I dont have any infinitely variable clamps (or whatever it is you use to make these) so it would be good to assemble them by just gluing and pressing a corner together, then going on to the next corner. The question is, does this stuff really hold, or will I find one corner springing apart in a few months or years time ?

Cheers
Arron