Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I was looking at ordering some gorilla glue for making foam wings and fuses with. I found on amazon there is now clear gorilla glue: my only gripe about the original stuff was that it does not sand well, and tends to be rubbery: Have any of you guys bought the new stuff, and if so is it any better than original flavour?


Stefan


Clear:

http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Cure-Gori...9275536&sr=1-9

Original:

http://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Glue-5...9275536&sr=1-1

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Gorilla glue foams during set-up. Which makes for a huge mess. If you read the instructions, you have to get both pieces that you are bonding damp. Moisten the material? C'mon... Read it though... I don't recommend that product to anyone.. If you want a brand new bottle, PM me address. I will ship immediately for free!

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Two cures to the foaming, use spareingly, and as it foams up oustide the joint wipe it off with a wet towel/spunge. Worked for me, I used the clear.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I use Elmer's Ultimate Polyurethane (similar to Gorilla Poly U) for laminating plywood and skinning foam wings. I prefer CA for general construction, since the parts need to be clamped with poly u.

It's true that it does foam, but this can be controlled by the amount of moisture. I believe many folks get their wood, foam, etc. too damp and this increases the foaming action. Poly U will set up when exposed to high humidity.

For skinning, after the skins are cut to shape (I cut my skins slightly oversized and sand the edges back), coat the wood with a very thin layer of glue to the point that it's almost dry. I use a water mister that sprays a very fine mist. Usually, I add a drop or two of dishwashing liquid to the bottle to help break down surface tension of the droplets. Spray the mist into the air and wave the foam core thru it - don't spray directly onto the core. Apply the skins, put back into the shucks and weight, making sure the the boards on the top and bottom are true. Because there is less moisture, it takes longer for the glue to set, so I usually let them cure for 48 to 72 hours.

Less moisture, good clamping pressure and longer setup time - I've been very pleased with the results.

andrew

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I agree with Andrew,not to mention it fills in any gap ,low spots that may have happened during cutting.I use a rubber roller similar to a roller paint brush to get a even layer of glue on the foam. Oh yeah don't forget to clean your roller . NJ

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Lots of great advice- I am looking forward to trying this-
Has anyone tried the clear version?
I am guessing that it is a more cosmetically aimed version of the glue, so hardness and strength etc. are probably less.

S

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I build a lot of foamies for control line sport and combat and gorilla glue is the glue of choice for repairs. The new stuff foams less and is better I think. My trick is to place packing tape over the glue joint and control the foaming that way. You can peal it off once the foamin stops if you want to. It forces the glue into the foam.



I inject it into broken or crunched foam as a repair. I don't use it on motor mounts, I use epoxy. All my spars, carbon booms and the like use gorilla glue.

Don't use too much. this is a commonn problem it only takes a little bit to do the job. It is so thick that is it hard to spread. wear gloves, it is tough to get off your hands

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I made up some test panels to see just how well the Poly U worked for skinning. I could pull the skin off, but it took chunks of foam and beads with it. On another cured panel, I cut the foam back to a thickness of about 1/4", then dissolved the remainder with acetone - cured Poly U was not affected with short exposure. The bottom of the skin looked as if lichen was growing on it - the glue had expanded into all the cracks and crevices between the beads; the skin/foam joint was not just limited to surface contact but had good penetration. That sold me on the product.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Original GG worked ok for me for skinning foam wings .

Rule1 : Apply very little amount of glue and spread it well till you have a very thin layer all over the wood, just before you join foam n wood apply just a lil bit of moisture.

Rule2: Join parts togheter put a heavy load over the wing 10 pounds or more and let cure.

It is the best skinning i've obtained so far, even better than using resins and wings end up lighter.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I tried the stuff, vacuum bagged it, and weighted it untill cured. The wing warped . I couldn't work the warp out. I'll stick to useing laminating epoxies and vacuum bagging for sheeting wings.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Sorry about your expierence Toad. Japanman it's key to get proper alignment in your cradle before you add weight, for instance i've cut a three piece wing total 118 inch with the two outer sections at 45 inches each. These larger wings need a leading and trailing edges made of balsa so these areas are cut before sheeting, This leaves gaps that could cause misalignment leading to warps. I reiterate alignment is imparitive! NJ

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Jman: The clear stuff is not as strong as the original and is
even more rubbery but cures much more rapidly. I have not
found a lot of uses for it yet. I am sure someone has.
Ralph

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Cool, thanks. I ordered some of the orginal.
Can`t buy this stuff in Japan, I guess there is a shortage of gorillas to squeeze the glue out of here.

S

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I had the same results with the new stuff. I use the original all the time and love it though.[sm=thumbup.gif]

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I used Elmer's Pro Bond (?) on my recent Sig Cougar build with terrific results! After sanding my balsa skins to perfection, I thoroughly cleaned them and set them aside. Lightly clean up the cores with 400 grit sand paper and clean them well too. I placed them back into the cores and drew a few lines on the edges to make sure there aligned when I do the lay up. When you're ready to glue them up, drizzle a small amount of glue on the skins and use an old credit card to squeegee the glue into a very thin layer. (just enough to make the wood look a little moist.) I then add just a small amount to the wing core and squeegee that out as well. You're now ready to place the skin on to the core, and as stated above, I too use a spray bottle with water and give it a quick, light mist coat. Lay the skin on to the core and place everything back into the shucks. I like to use heavy plywood and 2X4's or similar, and clamp the whole mess up with my big bar clamps. I've found that within a few hours, the skins are dried up enough to sand the edges flush and do the other side. If you want, you can lay some strips of fiberglass or carbon fiber in between the skin and core...this makes them almost strong enough to stand on! Give it a try, you won't be disappointed! -Craig

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

+1, West Systems is really cheap and you get a bunch of wings out of a set of cans,....

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

I use west too. Great glue.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Despite e-mail reassurances from the manufacturer that Gorilla Glue would withstand nitro bearing alcohol fuels the two C/L planes my kid and I built with the stuff started coming apart after getting fuel soaked in a couple of hours of flying. Well, I had on hand was Sig Champion 25%, but geeze, the glue just flat out failed again when we tried to use it for overnight repairs. Has anybody else had this problem?

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Given that shortage of Gorillas, I'm thinking you should inquire about glue from those macaques monkeys that hangout in hot springs in the winter time. Those dudes should make one tough glue.


For repairing foam I use the gorilla variety and love it. Generally using less than would seem necessary works well.

The shelf life is fairly short.

If the humidity is fairly high, additional moisture usually isn't necessary nor desirable.

If you need to fill a void then spraying on water will help.

Being on the scene and cutting away any overflow as it begins to set is often helpful and time saving.

Clamping is sometimes a fine idea.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Larry:
I had a new bottle of the stuff here saved up for a project: I finally got keen to do it, but it had been sitting 2 years and had gone hard in the bottle, darn it.
The next lot is going in to cool store.

P.S those monkeys travel in packs, and are the most feared wild animal here, though they are not exactly tigers.

S

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

JPM

Since it's a PolyU glue, it sets in the presence of moisture, rather than drying - intermediate humidity is sufficient to set it off. If the bottle has been opened only once, it will eventually set up over time. I have read that adding acetone to the top of the glue after using will help slow the setting process. Before using, pour the acetone off. Because any remaining acetone evaporates quickly, it supposedly doesn't impact the joint.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Yup - it is actually a premixed resin and isocyanate curative (and other additives) but the curative is a "blocked" isocyanate, meaning it is unreactive until triggered by moisture. The main thing is to keep it dry, including exposure to atmospheric humidity. Repeated cooling cycles, like fridge storage of opened bottles, IMHO actually encourages condensation and trouble. Keep it cool and dry, but do not expect months of shelf life once opened, or extended shelf life unopened either.

My experience with it skinning small foam wings has been highly positive and I consider it superior to epoxy if done right. Either adhesive far exceeds the properties of the foam surface, therefore the one that bonds to the most surface area for a given amount of weight wins for me. On a mini UAV project circa '05-'06 all I used for skinning was ProBond, and it worked like a champ. Yeah, the spooge out the ends... you can call that a negative. But it can be dealt with if you wipe it off while liquid. Oozed and cured material is indeed a ^%#^# pig to remove, you want to avoid that.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

Andrew, I like the acetone idea.
I wonder if the best thing might be to get an industrial sized silica drying pack and keep it in a sealed plastic bag.

S

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

But I would be nervous with any residual acetone if bonding to foam.

RE: Gorilla glue for foam wings advice
 

That, I think, would be the most effective means of extending the life. Put it in a ziploc with a big bag of gel and squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing. Anything that can keep out or remove moisture should help.

If it were poured off before applying to the skin (I glue the skin and mist the foam), I think the residual would likely evaporate from the skin before sticking down, enough so that the foam would not be dissolved.