Endgrain glueing

It's common knowledge that you don't/can't end grain glue timber.

BUT years ago at Sturt School for Wood I made a mallet with a New Guinea Rosewood head with 10mm rubber faces.
This was a standard student project where the end grain of the mallet head was attached with superglue.
After the glue set on the round head (the NG Rosewood) a flush trimmer was used to clean up the hard rubber face - I was amazed at the time and expected the rubber to detach during matching (yep was a bit nervous on the router).

That tool has served me reliably now for 20 years and has taken a hammering (sorry fro the pun). So now I'm thinking that superglue might be just the ticket for timber-to-timber end grain glueing.

Has anyone done this with good results? What I'm thinking is end grain to side grain first then if that works well try end-to-end glueing.

You could try it as an experiment. Nearest I have gone is keyed miter joints and the keys are backup with long grain to long grain.
Regards
John

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by orraloon

You could try it as an experiment. .....

---

Good idea, John.

But you forgot to add "... and report back."

An old trick I've learnt with end-grain gluing is to pre-seal both joins with glue and let it dry completely first, this seals and blocks the end fibres and won't allow more absorption, you may want to just give it a quick sand with a fine grit sand paper to reduce any bumps and to allow a tight neat joint.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kiwi75

An old trick I've learnt with end-grain gluing is to pre-seal both joins with glue and let it dry completely first, this seals and blocks the end fibres and won't allow more absorption, you may want to just give it a quick sand with a fine grit sand paper to reduce any bumps and to allow a tight neat joint.

---

This will only work if you use epoxy or hide glue. They are the only glues that will really adhere to themselves once dry. If you use PVA you have to clamp the joint with fresh glue while the sealing layer is still soft. Don't know about polyurethane glue but I rate it as a weaker alternative.

I actually think that the glue being forced into the timber fibres results in a stronger joint as long as there is sufficient glue available for the joint.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bohdan

Don't know about polyurethane glue but I rate it as a weaker alternative.

---

Why?

Quote:

---

I actually think that the glue being forced into the timber fibres results in a stronger joint as long as there is sufficient glue available for the joint.

---

In that case, you WANT polyurethane; it expands as it cures and will actually bubble through the grain for quite a distance in some timbers

Thx you were absolutely correct. I used polyurethane to bond 10mm thick jarrah end grain burl to a substrate of red cedar side grain.
Stuck like a champion but did squeeze up thro a few spots in the end grain where the grain was not consistent or gum veiny.
The bond is strong and poly obviously does key into the pores.

Like Festrules, I made that mallet too, and it's still stuck, gets used all the time. From memory, it didn't stick properly the first time, so I had to clean the glue off the rubber with acetone, plane a smidgeon off the mallet faces and re-do, using plenty of superglue and keeping it lightly clamped overnight.