# Glue Up Survey: Tightbond III (Type III PVA Adhesive)



## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

I'm gluing up an edge-grain cutting board today which has some Maple, Paduak, Purpleheart, White Oak and Walnut "tiles". All the surfaces are sanded to 80 grit (Look Ma, no P - as in not P80) with a drum sander.

Do any of you folks see any difficulty in using the Paduak and Tightbond III without a solvent wipedown, and if you advocate it's use (remembering that the end result will be a cutting board albeit with a diluted salad bowl finish), what solvent would you recommend.

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There are two standards for abrasive paper. The American system is the CAMI grading standard. CAMI stands for Coated Abrasives Manufacturers' Institute. The P designation is for the European standard, developed by the Federation of European Producers of Abrasives (FEPA). Above 220 grit there is a wider desparity between the two systems, with the FEPA standard being coarser than CAMI paper. The consistency of acceptable variation in size from the stated grit {the 80+/-} s tighter for FEPA standard than CAMI grit paper.


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

I wanted to add that I could use Gorilla Glue, but I feel the beating wings of time and I want to ship one of the boards to California before Christmas and I think for production speed I wanted to use the PVA.


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## Caliper (Mar 12, 2007)

Hey Doug. Why not epoxy? After it is cured it's inert. Also, it won't give you any sanding issues because it's not affected by the heat of friction like Titebond (assuming you will do some power sanding).

I guess I should ask if you plan to put to use that beautiful plane Tom made for you first… That and a card scraper would make a FINE finish.

Just curious.


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## Grumpy (Nov 9, 2007)

Sorry Doug, I have not used Tightbond III on end grain. Isn't it more an outdoors water resistant glue. 
I probably would use an epoxy glue. The solvent is usually written on the product (perhaps Acetone but I am not sure). In any case I would ring the manufacturer regarding any food safe issues, but I guess a good wash with soapy water won't go astray after the glue sets. Regards Tony


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

I use Titebond III almost exclusively, but I haven't made anything that needs to be food-safe.

This comes from the Titebond website:

Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue is the first one-part, water cleanup wood glue ever offered that is proven waterproof. The waterproof formula passes the ANSI/HPVA Type I water-resistance specification and offers superior bond strength, longer open assembly time and lower application temperature.

Titebond III is non-toxic, solvent free and cleans up with water - safer to use than traditional waterproof wood glues. It provides strong initial tack, sands easily without softening and *is FDA approved for indirect food contact (cutting boards).* The ultimate in wood glues - ideal for both interior and exterior applications.


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## che (May 18, 2007)

Epoxy doesn't solve the oily wood problem. You should still wipe down oily woods with alcohol (or acetone see below) before applying the epoxy. I have seen many problems with epoxy and freshly cut teak. I have heard of problems with acetone and epoxy, although I have not experienced any such problem and yes I do use an acetone wipe. I don't have the literature in front of me but acetone is a good solvent for one part of the epoxy but not the other so they may have rushed the epoxy and applied it before the acetone was completely evaporated. Incidentally alcohol is an excellent solvent for the other half of marine epoxies and nothing is a good solvent once it is mixed.

TBIII should be fine for a hand washed cutting board.

I would use either acetone or alcohol and give it ample time to evaporate, neither one will harm the wood.

If you ever need to speed up epoxy cure times add heat. I use MAS slow for most of my boat projects which takes 2-3 DAYS to fully cure in my basement during the winter ~60F


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## Tangle (Jul 21, 2007)

If in doubt, wipe it down!! Ol' Tom's rule of thumb.


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## LeeJ (Jul 4, 2007)

I'm with Tom.

It only takes a second to wipe the wood off, either with acetone or alcohol, and will certainly do the trick.

Have fun, Douglas.

Lee


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

Thanks!


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## Dorje (Jun 17, 2007)

So - what did you end up doing? The wipe down I assume?


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## USCJeff (Apr 6, 2007)

I've never had any problems with TB III, indoors or out. Epoxy should also get the job done if you have it on hand.


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

Yup, I wiped down the paduak. If anyone has contemplated doing the mosaic end-grain cutting board as a Christmas present, you should have started last month. OMG, this is one time consuming project.
This was last weekend's labor.



First series of glue-ups done…


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## Tangle (Jul 21, 2007)

That looks like enough kindling to last you through January.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

I won't say anything about the glue you'll be using. I just wanted to say that it's going to be real pretty.

Mineral oil is also a good finish for cutting boards.


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## bbrooks (Jan 3, 2007)

As Obi would say..lots of little sticks..

I use Titebond 3 almost exclusively as well. It works great, but with all oily woods you will need to wipe them down before gluing.

Looking forward to seeing your projects Doug.


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## Hawgnutz (Mar 29, 2007)

Doug, looks like one beautiful project a brewing. I will look forward to reading your posting when you get the project completed. It will probably be too pretty for someone to cut food on…LOL Really, I hope the intended recipients will enjoy it!

God Bless,
Hawg


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## mikega (Oct 24, 2007)

Hi Doug
I used the Titebond 3 on a segmented turning that I did. The only problem I had with it was the the glue is dark and on the Maple portion of the turning you can see the glue in the seams. I have gone back to Titebond Original for 2 reasons. 1. the seams don't show on the lighter woods and 2. there does not seem to be as much glue creep.
Can't wait to see your project

Mike


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## scottb (Jul 21, 2006)

Kindling?! - looks like a lot of potential pens to me…

I can certainly wait for, and enjoy the time leading up until Christmas (which isn't going by slow enough for my taste - a problem that accelerates every year), but I am eager to see all the project posts of the gifts we've given this year.


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

It's looking a lot like a bunch of edge grain cheese boards, rather than the desired 1-3 ornate end-grain boards I envisioned. As my buddy Bob#2 has said, time is not my friend. Rushed glue-ups, bowed initial board assemblies with no additional thickness to remove the warp…*aargh*. This one may never see the light of day on LJs. Might have to make it a Harry and David's gift giving this year. It's hard to work nine to ten hours a day at the paying job and then try and put in the required 2-3 hours per night in the 20° shop with the propane torpedo heater. Friday will be crunch day…


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## Dorje (Jun 17, 2007)

"It's hard to work nine to ten hours a day at the paying job and then try and put in the required 2-3 hours per night in the 20° shop with the propane torpedo heater…"

I second that emotion! And, I'm just dealing with 30s and 40s…

Hey - how did you get that degree symbol in there? Special font set or something?


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

On a Mac it's option shift 8, on a PC you can go to the character map (Start menu>system tools>character map -
this varies with operating system, but I just checked it on my wife's box running XP) and then copy paste or remember the keyboard shortcut - usually alt + some combination of numbers and it goes in when you let up the alt key.


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