I have run into the same problem as all of you looking for Ambroid Glue. No one has it in stock. It is good to know the company that makes it did not go out of business and they just can't keep up with supply fast enough. I just wish I can get me a few tubes. I am 58 years old and used it when I was building Control Line airplanes in the 50's and 60's and believe it is still a top notch glue, even with all these new glues on the market. I too have models made when I was a kid that are in excellent shape, glue and paint as good as new, even after 50 years.

These guys have the small and large tubes in stock

http://www.google.com/search?source=...=Google+Search

I used to use ambroid all the time , I love the smell but I cant get it too work any more . I bought 6 tubes and I tried double gluing the joints and every one failed .. I know how well it worked before years ago but something seems different . It used to stick quick and I have even tried clamping and leaving for 12 hrs and it pulls right apart ..All types of joints , edge ,face , end grain etc etc.. .

This is quite an old thread - - -
There are some "craft" glues that work as well or better.
Just visit one of the stores (even WalMart) or Hobby Lobby, or even Michel's.
The glue sniffing craze killed a lot of the better old model glues, since the replacements
were not as good.

What a shame .. The old Ambroid was great stuff .. I built my first model with it ..A Sterling Piper Tri Pacer . I remember the wonderful smell . It worked great and sanded so well .. I think it was the best glue going .. I now use tite bond mostly . It doesn't sand as well but it sticks great

[QUOTE=bikerbc;11651044]I I love the smell but I cant get it too work any more .. I know how well it worked before years ago but something seems different .

QUOTE]

As chuckk2 pointed out it is not the same product many of us remember. The organic solvent used in the orginal cement a wood cellulose, was 'toluene' and this is the intoxicant that the kids discovered years ago and some abused by concentrating the fumes. Perhaps although ignorant why I remember I enjoyed so much chewing off the dryed flakes of cement from my fingers after a build session watching the latest episode of Bonanza.

I don,t recall when the change occurred but it was some time back perhaps the seventies and the subsiquient product for me just was not the same so that triggered for me a change to other products.

John

I quit using Ambroid (in spite of the attractive odor) as soon as I could find a good substitute as all I ever built with Ambroid would shatter the joints after it aged a year or two and the joint received a shock of any kind. It was not unusual for a hard landing to create a new pile of disjointed sticks.

Thanks Rod for the glue info. I am building a very old Comet Douglas Dauntless model, and since it will not be flown, using the
Ambroid glue makes the build bring back the smell of early days model building. Normally I use Balsa USA CA, and epoxy for the flying models.

Cheers!!!

[email protected]

I would be surprized if you can get Ambroid to hold well enough for even a static kit.. I really had trouble with my test joints.. they just would not stick .. I tried everything I could think of to make it work but I had no luck at all .. At one time yrs. ago that's all I used and I loved it .. As John says they have changed the formula and since that time and the new formula is not the same ..You could not beat the old glue but this new stuff is hopeless ..I would encourage you to make a few test joints and see how well they stick ..I really hope you make out better than I did ..

White glue is a problem over time...no laughs now but my OLY 750 ( a 650 with an extra 4 wing bays added, kevlar wrapped spars , etc..) self destructed this spring after only 24 years of flying..the white glue in the fuselage joints crystallized and it came apart on launch...yeah I know...BO Hoo ...but I will rebuild it this winter...just beware of white glue like Elmers in the long haul...actually I did not build it...got it in a TMSS swap meeting in Virginia in 1992...never checked inside...flew it a lot and recovered it once in 1995 and again in 2010...it was my go to plane each spring..

I never heard of white glue ( Aliphatic resins ) crystallizing before .. I am wondering if you did something wrong ..Normally once a carpenters wood glue joint has set up it has cured for life unless you do something to make it let go ...Epoxy will crystalize but only before it has cured .. I am not sure about any others crystalizing .

I've tried several glues that are not the same as the old glues.
CR can give mixed results
The various "rubber" cements have all the classic problems
The commonly available wood glues work well for furniture, but not that great for models.
So far other than CR and epoxy I've added two glues to my gotta haves.
UHU POR is a good canopy glue, and also very useful for temporary use in sticking things together (Trial, alignment, etc.) Can be hard to find, and is often out of stock.
A glue from the craft hobby area, E6000 is similar to UHU POR, but has more bonding strength, and gives a stiffer joint.
It seems to do well when structural considerations are involved.
"Hot Glues" don't seem to have as good a bond as the more conventional glues, although the higher temperature type works a bit better.
As to Epoxy, I've had some short working time problems with some of the popular "30 minute" ones.

I doubt that the white glue mentioned is aliphatic, more likely similar to the school kids white glue. True aliphatic will not crystallize and will hold up well for years.

Oh well no wonder ..I have never heard of trying to glue a RC plane together with school kids glue either.. That stuff is for eating ..

I used Ambroid back in the 60s the same as most of you, but I just cant see much good reason to use it today with all the truly great adhesives available to us... Epoxy, GG, and CA.

Bob

I still have a large tube of Ambroid, probably purchased from Stanton Hobby Shop in Chicago...when hobby shops were Hobby Shops. For a much stronger Ambriod glue bond, try a 2 step process: apply a thin smear on the part's glue surface first before assmbly, let it dry, then assembly with a generous application of glue. That first coat sinks in and promotes a much stronger bond with that second application of glue.


This 2 step procedure also does well with Aliphatic glues. One can actually thin the first coat with water or rubbing alcohol so it thoroghly sinks into the parts' glue surface. Ive a TriSquire bult in 1979 with Tightbond that still flies & shows no sign glue failure.

The modern aliphatics can't be beat IMO: no fumes, super holding power, easily sanded, etc. I especially like it on ply and around gear blocks and firewalls.

I second the 'two-step' method of jdmachinery. Dad was a cabinetmaker and showed that to us many decades ago. Almost all my joints are done that way.

Hey, maybe some of us like the smell. Besides its cheaper sniffing than some of the other stuff out there. and you are creating something at the same time.

Hi Ken,

Hard to say. I didn't build the original OLY 650 fuselage, but looking down inside ( getting ready for yet another rebuild!) I can see white glue lines( actually sort of yellow white) and it looks suspiciously like Casein glue as old Elmers was casein based...machs nix..I actually have an original OLY 650 kit NIB from Airtronics that I bought at the same swap meet in 1991..complete with the poor quality balsa the used...that is why I flew the "ARF" plane I sawand bought after I had bought the kit!
I can use the kit for patterns, use Herk Stokley's article on how to soup it up, along with what I learned about such things from the late Bob Champine,,, have another one in a week or less that will out perform the kit buy a bunch!..probably will put a electric motor on it as no one here has a winch and my Trusty New England Sailplane Products heavy duty highstart is a bit much for a 2m...also the electrics are a hoot to fly...

Oh Yeah, I still have 2 liquid tubes of AMBEROID...one from the 1950's and one from the early 1990's...almost the same lable..and yes it is like incense for those of us of a "certain" age...never"sniffed it" but certainly smelled enough of it .

And if you go back fr enough there was DUCO Cement Glue ..and before that acetate film dissolved in acetone and MEK...

DUCO cement is still available. Seems the same to me now as it was 35 yrs ago.

If you thin Ambroid glue with acetone, you can brush it on the firewall and engine compartment for a fuel proofing that 's hard to beat. Not as messy as using epoxy and looks good too. I've used Ambroid since I was a kid in the 50's and still use it today. You can order it from the manufacture in quarts, and gallons.
I have found that I can thin it with acetone and use a brush to paint my wood for bonding. The thinning seems to help it soak into the wood and provide a much stronger bond. It dries fast, is fuel proof and easy to sand.

I don't think the formula has changed at all. It is also available at my local Hobbytown USA hobby shop.

Frank

But I did like the smell of it when building control line models :-)

Holy necropost.