The Great Glue Test | What Is The Best Wood Glue | Results

Here are the results of the glue test. so what is the best wood glue? the great glue test is here to answer all your woodworking glue questions and create a bunch more questions in their place. here are your answers to what is the best glue for woodworking.

He is also the same person that made the steel frames for my beam clamps and it is well worth a look.

Glues in the test
Super glue and wood Glue, (2P10 Thick and Titebond II)

---Tools I Use---

---Book I am Listening to in the video---

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[metals]

This is a significant contribution for many of us, and I would like to thank you for taking the time (which I am sure was and is still, ...considerable), and effort in presenting such a comprehensive review of the many glue options available. Those companies that did well SHOULD be sending you a huge thank you, and enough glue to last you a life time.

[doibing]

8:44 That's because in the Cyanoacrylate molecule, the acryl groups in the resin rapidly polymerise in the presence of water to form long, strong chains. Meaning when it comes into contact with the moisture in the wood it sets very fast before the end grain can absorb it completely into the wood. Protip: Baking soda causes the super glue to instantly set and it becomes much stronger because it donates carbon atoms to the superglue itself. That's a tip alot of model aircraft hobbyists use, because it gives ALOT of structural support.

[atthebrink]

5200 is great stuff in the right application. It's not really meant for bonding wood. For waterproofing fittings on a boat it is the best. Also, when using epoxy as a glue you can add wood flour (fine wood dust) and silicone powder to thicken it. It makes an amazing glue and will fill almost any gap.

[markharris]

For somebody totally new like myself it was a fascinating piece of research that in all probability has saved me money. Thank you very much indeed.

[markbaker]

Might get some 'stuck up' responses from people who get 'unglued' by your tests . But keep right on 'sticking it' to them !

[beyondthis]

I've been using TB III as my go to glue for many marine applications (paddles, gunwales on boats, etc etc) and have had good success, and more importantly no failures.... yet.
So It surprises me to hear it failed in the "outdoor weathering" test you did.
Now I have to rethink my construction. I have a great example sitting in my back yard, where I attached an ash gunwale (11 feet long, with a 16.5" bend, so it's under constant strong tension) to a sailboat, with nothing but TB III to hold it in place.
I live in a climate that literally explores randomly wild extremes in temperature and moisture including being the coldest place on the planet from time to time, so I have exhibited a good deal of faith in the product, --- and looking at it in its storage place, having gone through one winter in place... it hasn't seemed to weaken (how could I tell unless it failed?).
Maybe I should add some mechanical fasteners to it (screws) to ensure things stay in place???
Any chance your test was tainted?

[curtwagner]

I'm kinda late to the party, but wanted to comment on the marine adhesive. I have not tried it on wood, but it is has phenomenal adhesive properties on most other materials. I used it to attach an ABS box to a Polyethylene surface. It has been exposed to sunlight and weathering for several years without failure. It is rather flexible and takes a couple of days to fully cure. Probably works better in a thick layer and I imagine it would bond well to wood finishes.

[anrstone]

Great to see the results. I use West Epoxy a lot for boat repair work and the only drawback is that it like many epoxy products it is a little susceptible to UV damage so you do need to cover it with something to provide UV protection. Thanks for doing the test - very interesting

[RexKrueger]

Hey James, this is an important piece of work. Thanks a lot for doing it!

[sooth]

I'm happy to hear that your homemade hide glue worked out so well. The main takeaway from the video solidified some of my current choices. I primarily restore antiques (clocks) and I always use hide glue for the repairs, and with newer pieces or laminations I use regular wood glue (PVA), which seems to have performed fairly well on your tests. I've used 2P-10 at a previous job and I know it's a really good quality glue, but the actual test results were surprising to hear (gap filling and exterior). The thin is mainly good to fill cracks or chips. We used it a lot with the activator when installing crown mouldings and baseboards. Just glue the joint perfectly, then brad nail it in place.

[PeteLewisWoodwork]

Congratulations on your red carpet, oscar winner, protracted introduction - fantastic. Almost had me in tears...!

[MrMNRichardWright]

Well, you certainly worked your way out of that sticky mess. Your marathon skills show. The CA glue results are a surprise for long to long and gap filling, I imagine a bit pricey per square inch. On a “hold for buck” the tried and try PVAs did well except outside. Thanks so much for all your efforts.

[dangbert]

Now that the children have left the room, let me say how much I appreciate your efforts. The live session will be interesting to watch and I am looking forward to it.

[David-hmic]

As a lifelong model airplane builder (control line and radio control) and a sailor for most of my life, your results don't surprise me much. The 3M 5200 is a very impressive adhesive for its intended purposes but I have not heard of it being recommended for wood to wood gluing. It excels for bonding fiberglass to metals and fiberglass to teak. CA glues tend to be very strong in a linear pull but empirical experience has demonstrated in the RC community that it is very brittle and the accelerator makes it even more brittle. Shock loads like a hard landing tend to break the CA. Of course, that is a very different application than yours. Many model airplane builders prefer Titebond because it does have some flexibility and works extremely well for bonding balsa to balsa, aircraft birch ply, basswood and spruce. Again, empirical results demonstrate that Titebond does not tend to break like CA. Lots of other modelers use CA because they don't have the patience of a woodworker and expect instant gratification from everything including adhesives. One of my airplanes was built in 1981 with Titebond and some epoxy when necessary and it's still in flying condition.


Boat builders have learned that epoxy has to be protected from sunlight. Sunlight will pipe into an epoxy seam and deteriorate the glue over time. There seem to be lots of woodworkers that like 5 minute epoxies but in mu experience it is a poor performer over the long term. It tends to discolor to an orange hue and when that happens it has almost always weakened or failed. I've been able to peel old 5 minute form the insides of models even where sunlight would not have been a factor. Little or no wood grain comes with the old glue.


One final thought. A garage door installer told me to install a header to get the opening ready for him. I screwed and glued a piece of yellow pine in as directed using Titebond, only to find out later that he told me the wrong size. The Titebond proved to be far stronger than the yellow pine which was split and destroyed when I attempted to remove it. A chisel was required to pare the wood off of the adjoining piece.

[paul]

Wow. You did a great job. Putting together a DOE and executing like this is not easy. Thank you for doing it! Now I am going to check out the updated video with more glues added!

[BulletproofPastor]

Most of us appreciate your valuable research. I'm sure 3M and others are looking for you in some dark alley. (lol) Currently I use West 105/205 and Titebond II but will be looking into adding 2P10 next to my single bottle of CA glue. Your results have modified how I'll use these resources in the future. It was a lot of work but greatly appreciated.

[patrickweckermann]

Definitely interested in seeing how the construction adhesive performs for those of us without heated shops . It may be ugly and hard to clean up, but it will properly cure in the cold.

[OscarEdvardsson]

I'm watching a glue test at 11pm on a Saturday night and not ever regretting it. Way to go! Looking forward for the long term results of the super glues. Do you expect any difference in shear and pull strengths? I imagine if you glue a board (e.g. a table top) it would see more pull forces than shear forces? Keep it up - liking you channel the more I watch it.

[JimDockrellWatertone]

Some interesting results. Particularly with the CA glue. I have used it for cracks by squeezing a bit in while sanding. Also have used it to raise the string action on guitar nuts by using it and baking soda to fill the slots and then re filing.

[WebBelief]

So basically super glue is super awesome!!! Congratulations on the test James - that is some amount of work.