Adhesives For Woodworking
Although there are approximately 1,500 adhesive products manufactured in the Untied States, less than a dozen are suitable for woodworking. Before getting into the individual types of adhesives, it might be helpful to know how glue bonds wooden parts together. It is helpful to understand a little about the chemical makeup of wood and how an adhesive interacts with these components during the bonding process. Wood is a complex mixture of organic chemicals and water.
About 95 percent of a board consists of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, which form the structural matrix of wood and give it its rigidity, strength and elasticity. The remaining five percent contained in dry wood is composed of tannins, essential oils, resins, gums, coloring agents and sugars. This chemical mixture of extractives is responsible for wood’s smell, color and decay resistance. Unfortunately, extractive in some resinous woods, such as teak and rosewood can interfere with the gluing process.
Once an adhesive is applied to adjacent wood surfaces and the pieces are clamped up, the structural elements of the wood of wood are linked together by the bonding process. First, the liquid adhesive is absorbed into the wood and its polymer molecules intermingle with the structural fibers of wood. Then, the adhesive’s polymer molecules coalesce or come together, surround the structural fibers and harden, mechanically interlocking the fibers.
Thermosetting glues such as epoxy, urea formaldehyde and resorcinol cure by a chemical reaction, usually after two components have been mixed, while thermoplastic adhesives, such as yellow and white glues cure by evaporations. Once either type of glue is dry, the think layer of cured adhesive between the two wood surfaces acts like a bridge holding the boards together.
Polyvinyl acetates –
Yellow and white glues are probably the most often and most popular glues used in woodworking today. Both are polyvinyl acetates (PVA) adhesives that come in three main varieties: yellow aliphatic resin, white or craft glue and cross-linking PVA emulsion. All of these have a balanced set of properties, which make them ideal fro gluing wood. They are easy to use, have quick grab, set rapidly clean up with water, are non-toxic and work in most wood-gluing situations. In addition, the liquid adhesives will spoil if frozen. However, PVA adhesives have poor creep resistance and they should never be used in structural assemblies, like load-bearing beams, without some form of mechanical fastening such as nails or screws.
Resorcinol and urea formaldehydes –
Urea formaldehyde and resorcinol formaldehyde adhesives are most frequently used for bonding wood when strong, creep-and water-resistant bonds are required. Urea formaldehyde (UF) adhesive sometimes called plastic resin glue comes as a one-part powder. The powder is a mixture of dry resins and hardeners that if kept dry will remain storable indefinitely. Water is added to dissolve the chemicals and activate the adhesive. The pot life after mixing is relatively long, but the viscosity of the activated glue slowly increases until after about an hour, the adhesive is too thick to work with. Once cured, UF adhesives produce structural bonds and the tan glueline is hardly noticeable even on light-colored woods. Interior load-bearing beams and hardwood plywood panels are often glued with UF adhesives. However it is not 100 percent waterproof.
Resorcinol formaldehyde or RF adhesives have high strength, exceptional solvent resistance and when properly cured, will withstand prolonged immersion in water, making them perfect for marine applications. RF glues come as two-part kits: part one is the resorcinol resin dissolved in ethyl alcohol; the other part contains powdered parafomaldehyed. The premeasured components are stirred together to activate the adhesive, but careful mixing is necessary to avoid lumps.
Working with RF and UF adhesives can cause health issues, so work in a well ventilated area, wear a mask and take breaks whenever possible. This is because they both give off a formaldehyde gas.
Epoxy –
With their high strength, great gap-filling capacity, ability to structurally join difficult-to-bond materials and waterproof nature, epoxies are surely the high-performance adhesives of the woodworking world. Epoxy consists of an epoxy resin and an amine hardener. Typically equal parts of resin and hardener are mixed to activate the adhesive and start the curing process, which works by chemical reaction rather than solvent evaporation. The exact mixing proportions are fairly critical; too much of either component will adversely affect bonding strength. Because of the lack of solvent, epoxy has an exceptional gap-filling ability.
Sharpening Tools – Get To The Point
There are several ways to keep your woodworking tool sharp. Most are kept sharp by using an abrasive whetstone to wear the metal to a narrow cutting edge. The better-quality natural stones are more expensive, but you can get satisfactory results from cheaper, synthetic stones. As part of the sharpening, whetstones are lubricated with water or oils to make sure the steel does not overheat and to prevent fine particles of metal and stone from clogging the abrasive surface.
Generally, whetstones are sold as rectangular blocks – know as bench stones – for sharpening everyday tools or as small knife edges or teardrop section stones for honing gouges and carving chisels. Blades can also be sharpened on a perfectly flat metal plat that has been dusted with abrasive powder.
Oilstones –
The majority of man-made and natural sharpening stones are lubricated with light oil. Novaculite generally considered to be the finest oilstones available are only found in Arkansas. This compact silica crystal occurs naturally in various grades. The course, mottled-gray Soft Arkansas stone removes metal quickly and is used for the preliminary shaping of edged tools. The white Hard Arkansas stone puts the honing angle on the cutting edge, which is then refined and polished with the Black Arkansas stone. Even finer is the rare translucent variety. Synthetic oilstones are made from sintered aluminum oxide or silicon carbide. Categorized as coarse, medium and find, man-made sharpening stones are far cheaper than their natural equivalents.
Waterstones –
Because it is relatively soft and friable, a sharpening stone that is lubricated with water cuts faster than an equivalent oilstone; fresh abrasive particles are exposed and released constantly as a meta blade is rubbed across the surface of the waterstone. However, this soft bond also makes a waterstone vulnerable to accidental damage, especially when honing narrow chisels that could score the surface. Naturally occurring waterstones are so costly that most tool suppliers offer only the synthetic varieties which are almost as efficient.
Diamond stones –
Extremely durable coarse – and fine-grade sharpening ‘stones’ comprise a nickel plated steel plate that is embedded with monocrystalline diamond particles and bonded to a rigid polycarbonate base. These fast-cutting sharpening tools, available as bench stones and narrow files, can be used dry or lubricated with water. Diamond stones will sharpen steel and carbide tools.
Metal lapping plates –
Available as alternatives to conventional sharpening stones, oiled steel or cast-iron plates sprinkled with successively finer particles of silicon carbide produce an absolutely flat polished back to a plane or chisel blade and razor-sharp cutting edges. For the ultimate cutting edge on steel tools, finish with diamond-grit compound spread on a flat steel plate. Diamond abrasives are also used to hone carbide-tipped tools.