What glues do you use and for what purpose do you use each for.

Carpenters glue (Tite Bond II, Elmers Carpenters Glue) for most glue-ups, epoxy for high-stress areas or areas requiring strength. Occasionally I'll use CA where I want a quick glue-up but not very often, and hinge glue for gluing pinned hinges (I don't use CA hinges).

Hogflyer

edit: For the next foam core wing I do I'll be using polyurethane (Gorilla Glue or similar) to glue the skins both together and to the core all in one shot.

epoxy-fire walls,high stress areas where extra strength is needed,when thinned provides a good fuel resistant coating.
CA-where fast tack or quick building is desired,not in areas where sanding is needed.
Tite Bond,or alphatic resin glue-can be used everywhere, tends to need more pinning/clamping before it sets, super strong, sands the best, great for gluing sheeting together,flexable and low or no odor.

I use what hog flyer uses except I use just elmers white glue

I use just what hogflyer mentioned.
I want to caution you on one thing: one reason for using very little CA is because it can create breathing difficulties if you do not use it in a very well ventilated area. I used it when I was building in my garage (with doors closed) before I knew this and had problems breathing in a few hours. My lungs hurt. I'm not young, but still athletic (somewhat), don't smoke, and have never had breathing problems. So if you use CA, be very careful!

I just started a new build and have decided to skip the CA this time, mainly because of how my lungs feel after using it. I built one wing half of my Bel Air 40 over the weekend, and after trying rubber bands, barbell weights, etc., I went to Sears and found these:

They are about 3" long, cost $1.99 each, and have a ratchet clamping action. They are perfect for holding down the leading edge of wing sheeting, and then I put some 2 1/2 lb plates on the wing to hold down the trailing edge. I highly recommend them.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...y&sName=Clamps

The greatest advance in glues that has happened most recently are two specialty ones. They deserve to be here with the basic glues.

Canopy glue is awesome. Gluing a canopy with epoxy is almost always a major task and very often a catastrophy. Canopy glue is a slam dunk. Dead simple, crazy easy, and almost impossible to screw up.

Hinge glue is awesome for about the same reasons. Epoxy was your only choice before. And it often was a catastrophy no matter how diligently you worked. Hinge glue does for hinges what canopy glue does for canopies.

Both these glues need special billing, special recognition. They are miracles to those who've built models for years.

i appear to be developing an intolerance to cyano so only use aliphatic now and find it a lot nicer to use and easier to sand.

I for one cannot use CA, all I have to do is un-cap it and the next day I can't breath. So I do it the old fashion way. Titebond-pacer hinge glue, epoxy and white glue. Takes me a little longer but I don't have the health problem. I mostly scratch build, so I use glue alot.

Is there any real difference between yellow carpenter's glue (eg. Titebond) and white carpenter's glue? They are both Aliphatic resin.

Some white glues aren't aliphatic, some say.

Why does that matter?

You can heat activate some of those glues after they are dried. You let it dry on sheeting then iron on that sheeting and the heat activates the glue. And the yellow glue doesn't work for that but the white does. And it's because one is aliphatic and the other isn't. I've not done that or seen it myself, but have read about it in a couple of different places, so am passing on hearsay that I think is probably true. Anybody know for sure?

Most carpenters glues (Titebond, Elmers etc. ) are aliphatic, some white glues are not; they are PVC's. There are also some differences in the various aliphatics, for instance there is Titebond, Titebond II and a third varieant--do not remember its name. All work well with wood and properly used make joints stronger than the wood. Yes, the aliphatics can be used as heat activated coatings. They are only good for one heat activation though, do it a second time like reposistioning a piece and the strength suffers greatly.

Guess I'm in the minority here. I use ca for pretty much everything. Have built several planes with nothing but Ca with no problems. I will admit that they don't always take a crash as well, but I don't build my planes to crash, I build them to fly. I also make sure to have plenty of fresh air when using large amounts of ca.

Glad you can do that with the CA--Wish I could. I even tried very expensive respirators. No help.

Third variety of TiteBond is TiteBond III. Go figure. I prefer TiteBond II myself with an occasional drop of CA.

epoxies. 5 minute mostly useless, it sets too fast and does not penetrate the wood surfaces too deeply. strength is lacking compared to other epoxies. 12 to 15 minute epoxy are good epoxies, reasonably strong. 30 to 45 minute epoxies good for fiberglassing a wing or when you need extra time to mix spread and position components, extremly strong with good penetration into surfaces. the only way to break the bonds with the 12 to 45 minute is to cut it or top apply heat until it softens.

I use Titebond glue all the time for work as well as for building airplane kits, the differences in the types.
TB-the origonal formula durrable for interior use not water proof
TB II-water resistant formula can be used for exterior uses when sealed from the weather
TB III-water proof exterior formula
http://www.titebond.com/IntroPageTB....uctIntroTB.asp
in all my years of modeling and wood working I have never used wt. glue for glueing wood, unless it was for a craft project, yellow wood glue is by far the best and strongest to glue any wood.
the exeption would be weldbond which is wt. in color but way stronger than Elmers wt glue

So is there any difference in RC/56 and Zap 560, or is there another glue for canopies?

I haven't had good luck with RC/56. I ended up using Cya and kicker to glue a canopy, it gets brittle.

I like Titebond II the best of the three. "I" isn't waterproof and "III" is brittle - hasn't failed yet but I like using II. Cleans up nicer (I put it in medicine cups and apply with an acid brush). It's also nice to be able to wipe up any excess with a damp rag.

When I need epoxy I use 30 minute for all cementing (and thinned with acetone for fuelproofing). If I'm laminating fiberglass I use epoxy finishing resin. Takes even longer to set but I like the results better.

I use CA for hinges and in gluing up wings. Hate the stuff but being able to frame up the wing and then just run along hitting the joints is still near miraculous for me. Thiose little pipette applicators are worth the added expense as it eliminates the tip problems with CA bottles. Guess I better try this hinge glue.

I was helping an Explorer post and we built four Sig LT-40s using only Titebond II (the host site would not allow epoxy or CA glue). We did sneak the models out to CA the hinges and fiberglass tape the wing roots with epoxy; but otherwise all Titebond II. One group used two bottles, another used 1/2 of one bottle. All the models flew and (to my knowledge) held up in service. A good testement.

I also use Aileen's Tacky Glue. A Vinyl glue similar to Canopy ("56" ) glue but much cheaper.

Gorilla glue foams too much and is a mess. The "Sumo" glue, similar but less foaming, may be a good choice for wing bolt blocks and other "internal" attachments like sevo trays and fuselage frames.

And I like CA gell for repairs. I trust it more than CA and it fills cracks nicely.

Take a look at West Systems - G/Flex Epoxy. A 2 part glue.

Reasonable price for 8 oz, Slow setup (45 mins for initial working time) but glues many different kinds of materials. Woods, Plastics, Foams & moreI just bought a kit & think it will be useful, very strong & versatile. Formulated to withstand the stresses of expansion, contraction, vibration & Impact. So it says on the label anyway.

Those folks are big in Marine adhesives that I know of. I expect it will be good stuff.

I found that too. But rather than disagree with you; try coating both surfaces with epoxy and then join them and work the glue into the wood with a toothpick. The strength is tremendous for the time it requires...... Maybe you did that anyways.... but it has worked very well for me in the last couple months. Ya can't beat the 30 minute epoxy for shear strength though.


And while the subject is open, what in the world does aliphatic mean anyways? While I was searching for a glue to bond sheeting I went to the LHS and announced that I wanted aliphatic glue. You'da thought I asked for kryptonite or something.... Nevertheless, I didn't get any.

dictionary.com says this, but it doesn't mean anything to me. Is is an ingredient in the glue that can be read on the label? or a property of the glue?
pertaining to nonaromatic hydrocarbon compounds in which the constituent carbon atoms can be straight-chain, branched chain, or cyclic, as in alicyclic compounds; saturated, as in the paraffins; or unsaturated, as in the olefins and alkynes

Spiral 72, Try going to your local Lowes, Home Depot, or Walmart. You can get Tite Bond in small 8 oz. containers or by the gallon. If you insist on pating more and getting it a t your LHS ask for Great Planes Pro Wood Glue.

If you are still looking for the different used for adhesives and glues, try doing a search of woodworking magazines, or google "Wood Glue".

Short answer is that aliphatic glues are fat based (root word is Latin or Greek or some such for "fat") some are also described as casein based (a protein in milk fat). White glues are PVA (poly-Vinyl-acetate) based. There is also a "brown" glue made up of colligen chains - used to be made by boiling down fish skin and/or animal hides - aka "Hide" glue

The aliphatic part of the name in the aliphatic resin is not the actual base of the glue, just an additive in it.

PVA/white glue is a PVA ( polyvinyl acetate), based glue, most aren't pure PVA , the pva is copolymerised with various other monomers such as acrylates, styrene, pva, eva etc depending on the exact type and level of various comonomers the glue will have different properties

Aliphatic resin is a PVA based glue (pva copolymer, as above) with an amount of an aliphatic hydrocarbon resin added as a tackifying resin , makes it more tacky at room temp when wet, not as rubbery so will sand better than a standard type pva glue

Then you can get aliphatic PVA , these again are an aliphatic resin added to a PVA copolymer, difference is that they are made with a colourless aliphatic resin to make them look like a white glue

All types of PVA or aliphatic resin can have many other aditives to alter the speed of set and wether they crosslink after drying to make them fully water resistant or not