What glue is best

[glennb17]

I like Titebond Transparent. I had a hard time finding it, but it's worth it. It has the strength of Tightbond II but it doesn't yellow the wood like typical carpenter's glues. A decent amount of work time but you don't have to wait forever to move on. It's easy to sand and scrape. It's not gummy or spongy like the quick set PVAs, it sets up like normal carpenter's glue without the yellow stain. And you can de-bond it like any other PVA.

I'm not the best modeller, but I feel I've found a great glue. The only time I use CA is for wood-to-metal; it's too messy and seals the grain of the wood it overflows on, making staining less attractive.

PVA is the way to go on wood in my book and Titebond Transparent White seems to be the best at scale for me.

 

[Loracs]

If not too late to add to the discussion. What about Titebond hide glue? I'm reading that it provides several advantages in wood working, guitar, etc... I the context of ship modeling, particularly POF ribs, is that it has little water content. Because of that you have little wood swelling and therefore more precision in gluing, retaining the precise position while drying/curing. Secondly, it dries crystal hard allowing for no deformation down the road if some stress/pressure is applied. This is unlike PVA-type glue that always remain somewhat flexible and can allow for slight play under stress. Lastly, it is fully reversible with water/heat, allowing to potentially fix problems.

Given those advantages... why don't we see it used more often in ship building?

 

[ConsNZ]

If not too late to add to the discussion. What about Titebond hide glue? I'm reading that it provides several advantages in wood working, guitar, etc... I the context of ship modeling, particularly POF ribs, is that it has little water content. Because of that you have little wood swelling and therefore more precision in gluing, retaining the precise position while drying/curing. Secondly, it dries crystal hard allowing for no deformation down the road if some stress/pressure is applied. This is unlike PVA-type glue that always remain somewhat flexible and can allow for slight play under stress. Lastly, it is fully reversible with water/heat, allowing to potentially fix problems.

Given those advantages... why don't we see it used more often in ship building?

Never too late and never heard of it. Checked it out due to your post and found it's available down here but at quite an expensive price. I guess Titebond hide glue would be more suitable to the very experienced members that strive for total perfection or achieve it as close as possible.

 

[Loracs]

I was just curious... price and ~2 years shelf life maybe a deterrent for model builder. I have some in hand and was indeed planning to try it out in current model. I can have first-hand experience with it. Time will say...

 

[Roger Pellett]

Hide glue is very old; no idea how old. Its existence is the basis for the expression of old horses being ready for a trip to the glue factory. (Maybe that’s just another midwestern expression inherited from my mother!). I remember having a bottle of hide glue as a youngster. Messy stuff in young hands. I believe that the brand was Lepages. I have two ship models made by my father that are over 80 years old that were built with hide glues.

Hide glue is still used by specialty woodworkers. Possibly musical instrument makers. It’s available in dried form from quality woodworking suppliers. In this form it’s used hot. Crock pot like glue pots are available from these same sources.

so, Titebond Is just another brand of a very old woodworking glue. It and my old Lepages hide glues are apparently formulated to be used without heating.

Roger