Best wood adhesive

[atx111]

I'm currently in the process of starting to make a teak swim deck for my '78 Cobalt. It's going to be basically an open slat style and I'm going to use adhesive and 3" SS screws to hold it together. The adhesives I'm looking at are the West System Epoxy or just plain old Gorilla Glue. I've never had experience working with epoxy, how hard is it? Gorilla Glue claims it's 100% waterproof, and no mixing required. So, what would work best? Thanks!

 

[JoLin]

Re: Best wood adhesive

I am a fan of Elmers's waterproof wood glue. If the directions are followed I've never found anything that holds to wood as well.

No experience here, but do you think it'd work okay with teak? From what I've read, teak is tough to bond because it's naturally oily.

Just thinking out loud (so to speak)

 

[mjgates]

Re: Best wood adhesive

West System is really good stuff. I have used the epoxy 105 and hardener 206 (slow hardener) on floor projects and been very happy with it. It's a 5:1 mix. I first waterproofed with epoxy. Let it dry, and then used it to bind the fiber mats and it was very strong and waterproff when done. Never seen gorilla glue used on marine projects, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Best wood adhesive

Prepping teak for gluing is really important. Wipe it down with acetone or lacquer thinner, to pull the oil out of the bonding surface, then glue. I prefer Gorilla Glue, but as Bubba pointed out, it can be messy as it foams up while curing.

Wear disposable gloves while working with Gorilla Glue as it can stain your hands. It's not something that can be washed away with soap or solvents, it has to wear off...

 

[atx111]

Re: Best wood adhesive

Thanks for the great replies! Can Gorilla glue be sanded down after it's cured in case there is some squeeze out?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Best wood adhesive

With a swim deck it would be a real pain to sand down Gorilla Glue, getting in all those nooks and crannies. The foamy residue will come off easily, but there will still be a solid layer directly against the wood that will be a pain to sand. If you leave it as-is, the excess would make a nice fillet and strengthen the bond, but I'm not sure how that would look, might not be noticeable, could be hideous. Any time I use gorilla glue where appearance is important, I tape outside the joints, so any excess glue flows out onto the tape where it can be scraped off, easily.

Gorilla glue uses moisture to cure, so if you decide to use it, make sure you dampen your parts before gluing them. The foamy residue can be cleaned off as the glue cures, since it takes a long time for it cure, but you would be baby sitting the part for 8 hours or so, cleaning up the excess as it pushed out. A pain, but not 1/2 the pain it would be trying to sand the cured glue off.