# The Trials of Bubinga



## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

We visited Kansas City this past weekend and went to the Metro Hardwoods store.
I got some beautiful 8/4 Bubinga, which I am planning to make into a Rocker using the plans of Hal Taylor.

The question i have is about gluing - I have seen on David Marks he edge glued his chair seat with Titebond.
As always he does the laminations with Unibond 800 or Weldwood resin glue.

From the general wood descriptions from suppliers they mention difficulty gluing because of sap pockets. Is this manageable by an acetone wipedown? Take a fresh pass across the jointer and glue before any oxidation happens, switch to an epoxy???
I would appreciate the insights of those who have already crossed this bridge.

Dave


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## MattH (Jun 9, 2008)

Bubinga will glue up just fine - I've built guitars with it (acoustics) with tiny glue joints and they hold just fine without lots of treatment. Just make certain that the joint is good before gluing.

There will be pieces which are oily, but they're kind of obvious - they'll FEEL oily. Mostly, I just get a good surface on the glue faces by sanding or jointing just before gluing, and then use either hot hide glue or titebond.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

Hi Matt Thanks
In this my biggest worry is for there to be seperation along the glueline or the seat once it is sculpted. I had seen tabletops which were edgeglued but they have skirting and a fairly substantial thickness/gluing area.


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## jeffthewoodwacker (Dec 26, 2007)

The best way to avoid joint failure with bubinga is to try and do the glue up as soon as possible after cutting the stock to size. I have used titebond II successfully to glue up bubinga.


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## MattH (Jun 9, 2008)

Jeff's right - joint and glue asap when dealing with bubinga; it seems to oxidize pretty rapidly. And make sure that the joint is tight - it's not a forgiving wood with iffy joinery.


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## lashing (Sep 4, 2010)

Bubinga, cocobolo, Brazilan RW … its all oily dense stuff and its all ben glued successfully millions times over.

Its getting harder to find people who actually know what they are talking about with glues, finishes etc at point of purchase. My local lumberyard tells me Unibond 800 is illegal in Canada and wont stick to maple. Both false. Just a for instance.


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## agallant (Jul 1, 2010)

+1 for glue shortly after cutting. It is my wood of choice and I have never had an issue with it coming apart. If I can get away with it I try to reinforce all of my joints with a biscuit.


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