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I have a question regarding Titebond 2, recently I have noticed that the glue has thickened slightly due to slow use I bought over a year and a half ago and I was wondering if I can dilute to gain a little more flow. Ie thin it out. Can I use water to dilute and how much should I add to dilute. Will this also affect its strength?
thanks
Dunno about Titebond specifically, but I have thinned other PVA glues with no issue. It shouldn't affect the strength, all you're doing is putting back some of the water that's evaporated off.
I never worked out an exact ratio, but it doesn't need very much. Just add the water slowly and keep stirring until it's at the consistency you want.
My question when I bought my last lot about shelf life I was told If it gets thick time to throw out,after all where does the water go If it is in a closed container?
Of course they'd tell you to throw it out, it means you will need to buy more........ There is moisture loss every time you open the bottle, and if you leave it open for 20mins or so (being forgetful) do that quite a few times and its starts thickening up.Quote:
Originally Posted by nrb
Quite often it is the difficulty in completely mix the glue with water that causes one to throw out the whole bottle once the glue has gotten too thick. I found the best way to mix the glue is the pour it all out of the bottle into a mixing bowl and use a cake mixer on it. You do while your better half is out shopping or something and wash everything up before she's back.
I had a big bottle for over 2 years and never had problems with it. I did notice the viscosity did vary quite a bit with ambient temperature fluctuations.
Titebond can be diluted 5% according the their website. I diluted some recently and it still sticks stuff together with no problems. There is a code on the bottle which can be used to work out how old it is.
In addition to water loss one of the main problems with PVA adhesives (including Titebond that I use in 1 US gallon bottles) is for the larger emulsion particles to settle and compact on the bottom of the container which often makes mixing quite difficult. Titebond 2 is only 48% solids while Titebond 3 is 52% solids with the balance mostly water.
I tend to cut open the 1 gallon bottles and ensure the Titebond is well mixed then repack in smaller wide mouth containers before refilling special glue bottles.
Cheers,
Paintman