What is the "Best" glue for wood

Hi Bull, I have built balsa A/C kits in ther past and more recently carved the fuselage and wings for a F2G out of balsa blocks. You are right in doubting the Elmers white glue for wooden construction. My experience is that it stays too flexable and time & moisture can undo your work. Now I have had good luck with the yellow carpenters glue but more recently I've tried CA and love the effect. It not only bonds well it soaks into the wood making it very hard and strong. I have also given some thought to using the Gorilla brand glue, which is the best (IMHO) for wood working, for wooden models.

Greetings Bull, and congratulations on your kit!

For general purpose woodworking I use the yellow exterior grade carpenter's glue. For fiddly bits or when a quick set is required I use CA.
I prefer contact cement or Ambroid when coppering hulls, but recently some on this forum have said the newer Ambroid formulas don't work too well, so if you are doing copper, I'd use contact cement.

Enjoy!
Bruce

Go with what Bruse said. You will use many differnet types of adhesives depending on the situation.
I've used a lot of different CA's. My favorite is Goldberg Jet or Hotstuff. I started using Gorrilla Glue and with it, have found myself not having to use so much epoxy or CA. Far as expoxy, I tend to use the two part 5 min stuff found at Walmart or home stores. It's cheap and easy to use.

Scott

I use most of the different types of glue depending on what I am glueing.I like ca for areas where I dont want any surface glue to show as it will soak into the wood without leaving anything on the surface.One thing I did on my HMS Victory was to use 2 part epoxy on the interior of the hull below the waterline.I used fibreglass cloth soaked in the glue and plastered it on the hull.The hull was finished about 25 years ago and nothing has moved in all those years even though it has been exposed to extremes of temperature and humidity.It also made a great ground for the bamboo trunells and copper plate nails.Cheers! John.

There is no "best" glue for any application. I think that Zap,Zapagap or Hotstuff are good. The yellow alaphatic resin adhesives are also very good. I have used white glue tissuepaper and K&B coating resin for inside work. I built several pond yachts for my children using balsa cement an old stocking and paint to waterproof the things and the lasted for many years of hard use. It acan also depend on which country you live in and where it that country you live. Don't ask for Elmers or Gorrila in Australia. They won't know what you're talking about!
Dai

I also am building the Constitution as we speak. Mine is a full plank on frame model...but boy, I've seen the one you have in catalogs...man, WHAT a project, but it is going to be AWESOME when its done! Good luck

I'm done with all the steps up to working on the cutway details. This includes all the framing, the planking, and all the railing detailing. I use CA exclusively (although, I've never used Gorilla glue before...so I'm gonna check it out) I tried using some of the slower drying glues, ie wood glue...but I find it just doesn't fit my building style. I like being able to hold something together for only a few seconds, then its done!

But...the reason for my post is not to just to repeat what everyone has said, but to offer this tid-bit: I found that the combination of CA glue and sawdust is like SUPER super glue. By accident, I sanded over some wet superglue in a crack in the planking...MAN oh man, it was the BEST sealer. I went ahead and sealed the whole ship up that way. I just applied some CA in the cracks, then before it was dry, I sanded over it...makes just enough sawdust to fill the crack. Then, its the same color as the surrounding wood. Occasionally, it leaves a little darker sealing lines, but I'm planning on painting my ship for actual realism, so I wasn't too concerned about these. I also find that If I've got a joint or something that just won't seem to hold, even with the CA that just sanding a bit over the wet glue makes a STRONG bond.

One of the other potential drawbacks to the CA is that a: it often decides to glue my fingers to random parts But more important to the model is b: it can leave white chemical stains in places. Its ugly, but with a little sanding, its gone...no problem

Anyways good luck...I'm in the proccess of building my ship too...so ask away, mabye we can just help each other along.

-jonathan

PS, do you have much info on the colors of the ship?

Oh hey, one more thing about that little sealing method above...

You will go through a LOT of sand paper. The glue sticks it up relatively quick. But hey...a piece of sand paper is like 89 cents right?? no worries!

I vote for yellow glue, contact cement and epoxy. For wood to wood gluing I use yellow carpenter's glue. I have furniture I built 40 years ago that hasn't come apart yet. For laminating I use contact cement. For attaching small intricate parts I use 2-part, 5 min., epoxy.

The trick with using the yellow carpenter's glue is to wipe/wash off the excess that squeezes out around the edges, using a wet paper towel. If you don't wash the excess off well enough then stains and or sealants won't soak in evenly.