This month’s April WWG presentation will be on Woodworking Glues and Adhesives – Selection of Glues and Application Tips. We all use woodworking glues and there are many glues out there. Fred will expand your understanding and use of glues.
Some questions that presentation will address:

  • Are you the typical woodworker using just Titebond 3?
  • What glues do you use? Why? Are you using 2-3 different glues in a project?
  • What is the best glue? (tough question to answer)
  • Of the 7 classes of glues, what glues should you use for woodworking, why?
  • How do glues work?
  • What are the key glue properties you should pay attention to?
  • What are the 10 key factors for successful glue-up?
  • Why use hide glue, when, and how to?
  • When to use epoxies and where?
  • What glues to use for laminations, veneering, outdoors, chair repair?
  • What are the best ways to apply glues to woodworking projects?

Most publication articles on glues provide good info, buy tend to be superficial and do not drill down sufficiently to understand which glues to use and when. Our presenter, Fred Grosse, will have you “glued to your seat” – absorbing all that info. This presentation was given to the Manassas Area Woodworking Guild (MAWG) in July & Sept 2021. Feedback from a number of MAWG members indicated session was very interesting and people learned a lot. Presentation will be done over two meetings as follows:

1st Session April 19, 2022 – Glue Overview and PVAs

  • Definitions
  • How Glues Work
  • Overview of the 7 classes of glue types, uses, key properties
  • Key factors for glue selection
  • 10 key criteria for successful glueups
  • PVA glues
  • Clamping strategies
  • Application Tips

2nd Session May 17, 2022 – Presentation dives into specific glues and related topics:

  • Epoxies
  • Polyurethane
  • Hide Glue
  • Urea Powdered Resin
  • CA Glue
  • Glues for bent laminations
  • Glues for veneering
  • Glues for the outdoors
  • Coloring glues
  • Other specialty woodworking glues
  • Criteria for Gluing different woods together
  • Independent Glue Testing
  • How Much Clamping Pressure Test Results
  • Summary of Guidelines for Glue-ups
  • Hands-on experimenting with some glues – e.g., hide glue and epoxies

Meeting Presenter

Our own WWG member, Fred Grosse, will present. Fred has been a WWG member for 20 years. Glues and finishing have been focus areas for him. You don’t want to screw up the project after spending so much time building the piece. There is a tremendous amount of information out there on glues, not all of it correct.

Fred has heard recommendations and tips from a number of national woodworking experts including Titebond Technical Manager, Marc Adams (MASW), Don Williams (The Barn), Bess Naylor (Old Mille Cabinet Shop), Marc Spagnuolo (Wood Whisperer), Charles Bender, Ron Herman, Dave Heller and other instructors over the years.

He has researched this topic over the years and in preparation for the guild meeting. But Fred is not an expert on the subject, and looks forward to a two way exchange of ideas and experiences of Guild members.