Titebond Set time?

Welcome to the new Bear Mountain Builders Forum - an interactive internet service we provide to encourage communication between canoe and kayak builders
Post Reply
User avatar
Patricks Dad
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:11 pm
Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Titebond Set time?

Post by Patricks Dad »

I'm building without staples using Titebond glue. The bottle says to clamp for 30 minutes but avoid stress for 24 hours. How long should I expect to wait after putting on a strip until I can remove the clamps and move on to the next strip? 30 minutes seems a bit short given there is stress on the joints but 24 hours is obviously too conservative. I've probably been waiting too long (about 4-5 hours). I'm thinking I could probably move quite a bit faster. Anyone have experience with Titebond who has tried to minimize the wait time?

thanks in advance.
Randy Pfeifer
(847) 341-0618
Randy.Pfeifer1@gmail.com
User avatar
Glen Smith
Posts: 3719
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Randy, you could do a test like I did a few years ago and maybe you could do one better than me by remembering the results. :embarassed

I took 2 short B & C strips ( about 2' long ) and glued them together then placed them so a few inches at the end of just one strip was held tight in a vise. I waited a certain time then twisted the other end of the strips to see if the glue would let go. I could twist the strips 90 degrees without glue failure after 45 or 60 minutes (can't remember which) so it would be safe to say 1 hour is fine. I used Titebond II. I now use ordinary yellow carpenter's glue which survives the same test after just 25 minutes. Going over the joint with a hot-air gun will speed the cure process if you are really rushed but don't bring the glue to a boil.
User avatar
Bassbug
Posts: 136
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 1:09 pm
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Contact:

Post by Bassbug »

Randy,

I used Titebond (not II) and waiedt about 1 hr, just as Glen stated; however in warmer temperatures (last summer) we found that it was difficult to reposition strips after 10 min. We glue three strips at a time and repositioning is often done before all clamps are set. We used Lee Valley Cabinetmaker's Glue 2002 GF on our first boat (the Redbird). This was the other extreme as we had to wait several hours before we laid more strips on. The biggest problem was attempting to glue strips to the stem without staples. I switched to Titebond on the subsequent 2 boats and in my opinion the joints were not near as tight. Also Lee Valley's glue is better at gap filling than Titebond. Titebond II may give some additional time compared to originalTitebond which we used.
sluggo
Posts: 244
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:17 pm
Location: Vancouver BC

Post by sluggo »

Which reminds me, I bought a bunch of Titebond because I thought I would be gluing in the winter and early spring and Titebond has a lower min working temp. As things are going, I will be able to use regular carpenters glue now that the weather is warming. Maybe I'll save my Titebond for next winter...
Post Reply