# Wood Glue?



## candy1land (Apr 2, 2010)

So I have a quick question.  I'm experimenting with making cutting boards right now from a band saw class I just took.  Does the kind of wood glue matter?  I have some guerilla glue at home, could I use that?  

Or is there other types of glues I should use instead? 

Please advise and share your best practices.  Thanks, Candy


----------



## JBCustomPens (Apr 2, 2010)

Wood glue is a lot cheaper than gorilla and I believe, just my guess, that is more resistant to the things that cutting boards go through. I have made 4 or 5 boards myself, and used regular wood glue on them, and they have held up well in use, even through a trip through the dishwasher!


----------



## chrisk (Apr 2, 2010)

Candy,
If you're ready to begin... "guerilla" go ahead with that glue... Well, I was joking.

More seriously, for the kind of jobs you're referring to, personally I prefer original Wood glue, that is PVA or aliphatic glue, like Titebond I, II or III. IMHO the latter glues are easier to work with for larger surfaces especially when you need tight joining.

Now if you have only gorilla glue and can manage the specific setting (gluing one surface/wetting the other and above all anticipate the curing) I think it will be fine and maybe more resistant to water than aliphatic glues.

But anyway personally I would not try it.

Hope that helps


----------



## JBCustomPens (Apr 2, 2010)

Something I forgot to mention, whatever glue you use, it should be able to withstand the "drop test". A long time ago, my old wood shop teacher used to make us drop our glued up boards from shoulder height onto a concrete floor!:biggrin:


While it was funny, it showed us the importance of using a strong glue, and using enough too. 

Hope this helps!


----------



## Mack C. (Apr 2, 2010)

candy1land said:


> So I have a quick question. I'm experimenting with making cutting boards right now from a band saw class I just took. Does the kind of wood glue matter? I have some guerilla glue at home, could I use that?
> 
> Or is there other types of glues I should use instead?
> 
> Please advise and share your best practices. Thanks, Candy


Hi Candy; Here's a few end grain cutting boards I've made.























Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue all the way!


----------



## woodman928 (Apr 2, 2010)

Man those are nice Mack :good::good::good:


----------



## HaroldD (Apr 2, 2010)

Another vote for TiteBond III.  I use it on my flyrod grips.  Cleans up with water when you apply too much or it seeps out, but impervious to water once cured.  Dries in an hour but shouldn't be stressed for 24 hrs.


----------



## MesquiteMan (Apr 2, 2010)

Titebond I is not waterproof so I would not use that.  Titebond II and III are waterproof.  Titebond III has a longer open time and would work better for glueing a lot of pieces together since it allows more working time.  I use either II or III, depending on what I have on hand at the moment.  Make sure you get good clamp pressure.


----------



## Gary Max (Apr 2, 2010)

Around here it's Titebond 11 all the way.


----------



## FrankG (Apr 2, 2010)

Titebond II - haven't used III yet.


----------



## VisExp (Apr 3, 2010)

As others have mentioned, I use Titebond III when making cutting boards because it is waterproof.

These links may help you as well:

http://syzygypens.com/blog/2008/12/02/end-grain-cutting-board/

http://syzygypens.com/blog/2009/07/12/cutting-board-design-software-2


----------



## candy1land (Apr 3, 2010)

mackc said:


> Hi Candy; Here's a few end grain cutting boards I've made.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



These are EXACTLY what I want to get into doing.  I had so much fun cutting free hand patterns on my band saw.  Thanks for sharing these!  I am inspired and heading to Woodcraft today to get some things for my cutting board journey.  

Now if only I could figure out the whole router thing.  LOL


----------



## candy1land (Apr 3, 2010)

VisExp said:


> As others have mentioned, I use Titebond III when making cutting boards because it is waterproof.
> 
> These links may help you as well:
> 
> ...



I Love you site!  Thanks for sharing these links with me.  I'm excited to finish my first small project and then get into doing more of them.

I have some questions about finding "end" grain wood.  What types of wood are good for this and where should I buy it?  

I'm only used to buying pen blanks for now and I'd like to get into other types of wood too.

Thanks again! 

Candy


----------



## VisExp (Apr 4, 2010)

Candy

All woods have "end grain".  If you look at your pen blanks, the end grain is at each end of the blank, while the side or face grain is what you would normally turn and see on a pen.  A good analogy is to imagine wood as a bunch of straws packed together.  The end grain is the open ends of the straws.  The advantage of using end grain on the exposed surface of a cutting board is that when the knife cuts into the end grain, they draw back together so the surface of the cutting board last longer.

Domestic woods that are good for cutting boards include cherry and maple, both tight grained hard woods.  You want to avoid using woods with open grain, like oak, as the open pores might give bacteria a place to hide.  At least that is what I've read, I've always imagined that bacteria are small enough to hide in even the pores of tight grained woods


----------



## greggas (Apr 4, 2010)

I make lots of cutting boards and have great success with typical wood glue.  i would stay away from gorilla glue due to expansion ( and cost)


----------

