Can you use gorilla glue in place of epoxy in building a balsa kit? Is it strong enough to glue firewalls in Place?

Thanks

I use it on my Q500 fire walls. Just be sure to clamp your parts togeather. The foamy action will spread things apart if you aren't careful.

Gorilla glue makes different kinds. What one are you referring to? BTW, do you fly with the Balsa Bee's?

Good catch Gorish, I wouldn't use the instant for a firewall. I normally thing of the regular.

It should hold just as well as Epoxy, my only question is, how does it hold up to glow fuel?

Yes, I am a new member of the balsa bees. I am currently building a .074 powered ace wizhard, which calls for some parts to be epoxied. I don"'t have any epoxy, so I wondered if gorilla glue would work as well. Although mostly balsa, the kit does have a foam wing which must be assembled.

The glue I have just says "gorilla glue" on the label, so I guess it is the standard variety.

Thanks,

Penny1

Do you know if it is the foaming kind, normally brown in color. They also make a wood glue that is white in color and not the foaming kind. It would be more like regular wood good, i.e, elmers. If it is the foaming kind, you need to dampen it when you apply it. The water is what cures the glue, but also causes it to foam. Like the previous post stated, make sure you clamp it so the foam won't push it apart. You can get some epoxy at wal-mart or meijers for a couple of Yankee green backs. That might be the way to go. You have joined a nice club. I fly with some of the guy and have flown at one of your fields. I am from the Balsa Butcher's club in Quincy MI. Come fly with us some time. Jerry at JT Hobby shop knows us well.

Gorilla glue = [:'(]
Just my 2 cents.

There are at least four types of Gorilla glue and each has there place in modeling. I'd use epoxy though on any firewalls where glow fuel is apt to be spilled or contacted. Their wood glue is an aliphatic which is similar in acceptable applications as is Weldwood or Titebond. I've never used their instant glue but have found the foaming ones (both the white and the brown) to be very good on many types of application, especially on foamies.

And how would one store GG so that the next time it was needed that it wasn't either dried out or impossible to remove from the bottle?

When you store the GG foaming kind you need to squeeze all of the air out of the bottle. Keep it where the temp will not go up and down to create moisture. Make sure the cap is on tight. Then, and only then, if you are lucky, it won't dry out.

I agree with OldScaleGuy.

Gorilla glue is the worst for our hobby use. What a pain in the azz.

This stuff isn't worth the effort it takes to use it properly.

Greg

I screw the cap on real tight and put it in the glue area on my board like my other glues, it doesn't seem to harden like some glues do. I THINK {ouch} that one reason I get so much time on my opened glues without ever hardening is the climate I live in. about 6 or 7% humidity? Anyway, other then storing my CA in the freezer for long term storage I do nothing special with my glue.
Gorilla glue has a lot of uses or I wouldn't bother stocking it in my shop, I'm way too cheap for that. I just glued in a hard point, a piece of dowel in a balsa rudder with the GG. It expands and will fill in any slop between the parts.
I also like it for some hinging. After Pacer quit making the hinge glue I use trhe GG quite often.
If you spritz a bit of water on the parts it really foams up but it tends to over foam so I usually just leave the parts dry, it still foams up but not as much.

There are no uses for Gorilla Glue that you listed, that couldn't be done better, faster, as strong if not stronger, and with less hastle....using alphetic, cyanoacrylate, or epoxy glue.
I can't even think of a use in modeling where Polyurethane type of glue is specific to.
Greg

WOW!lighten up man. It's just a matter of opinion. Gorrila glue is a brand name, and is commonly known as polyurethane glue, and has been in use for some time now by woodworkers and boat builders whenever you want a waterproof glue joint. If you store it right it's not an issue. Follow the directions on the lable, squeeze out the air thencap it. Since I use so little I buy the small bottle and Ilove it for putting in Robart hinge points. Oil up the hinges,dampen the holes, and then apply a drop or 2 using a tooth pick into the holes. Any foaming out canbe removed after it dries by picking it off with a #11 blade. It will notpull out period and you don't have to hurry before your epoxy sets up. Another great use is fixing foamy planes any missingpieces can be filled inwith G glue. The secret is to use it verysparingly. I lovetheirMed CA,very flexible.

i use elmers wood glue for everypart of a kit build even firewalls, wing joiners and all. i do put a layer of cloth and epoxy o nthe firewall for motor mount strength. for fuel proofing use acrylic paint as epoxy isnt 100% fuel proof.

It depends on the type of model and amount of vibes firewall will see. On electric models, no hesitation on any size motor....vibration should be minimal
On jets, glow and gas, gorilla is fine up to at least a 50cc sized model or equivalent turbine. It's the execution of the installation rather than strength tho. Don't use water to kick it off and make it foam. Well foamed will not be as strong as minimally foamed or not foamed. Must make sure that the glue (true for epoxy also) is allowed to penetrate into the wood and that the gap is minimal.

For firewalls, any glue will fail in longitudinal tensile and in shear. That means that the glue joint will be both, pulled apart and sheared. Gorilla PolyU glue has good enough properties in both directions for at least a 50 cc engine. Epoxy will be strong enough for any displacement we could use in model planes. This excludes most 5 minute LHS epoxies tho....

As a rule, I don't use Gorilla on firewalls even if it's strong enough; I trust it fine.....it's just old habit. I've been modeling for nearly 45 years so that old habit is hard to break

I don't hesitate to use Gorilla everywhere else on a model, including joining wing panels. I use Gorilla's foaming to advantage when gluing in wing tube sockets into foam for example. Very sturdy, filling small gaps better than filled epoxy. Lighter too

GG works good on Robart hinges................................

I think Robart even recommends the GG

Elmer's and standard Gorilla Glue work fine on Balsa, Plywood, Styrofoam...
I have build some planes from 1/2A to 30cc gassers with this. Works great on the firewall, too.
It's cheap, don't smell bad, come easy off of your hands, but takes some time to cure.

Relax, some products are just beyond the use of some people?? In this case I think perhaps the Gorilla glue may have out thought the user? Things like that have been know to happen.

epoxy all the way , i'm not sure what gorilla glue was designed for .

I use it to repair my Apprentice when I snap the tail off.  I store it upside down using a peg board hook to hold it. Stays nice and fresh this way.

are you trying to say some people dont have the brains God gave the apes ?

Old man, your post rating just increased! That was great.

I dare say my race planes get as much strain on the firewall as any of the other type planes out there. If not from flying, then from my crappy landings.
After five years of using GG for firewalls, wing saddle, landing gear plates, etc, the glue has never been the point of failure.
Storing it upside down helps a little but here in humid NC it only lasts about 9 months, by then it's almost gone anyway. I only buy the little bottles to keep it from going bad to.