what type of glue will survive steam bending?
 

I want to add a thin line of ebony to my binding strips before installation, and I am wondering what type of adhesive to use that will survive the steam bending process? Thanks

I have heard that Titebond III is the one, but I have not tried it.

It's kind of a long story, but Gorilla glue is the strongest glue I've found. I use it for Spearguns as well as pontoon boats. Tightbond III failed in less than 24 hours, Gorilla glue is going on 7 years and still holding delaminating marine plywood. I used/tried very expensive 2 part wood epoxy too, failed in 24 hours. Buddy of mine makes hand made laminated gun stocks and it's all he uses too. Gorilla Glue baby.

There is a glue called Resorcinol that is what they use for outdoor plywood, wooden aircraft propellers, wooden boats,etc. it is waterproof, resistant to high heat, won't delaminate and stronger than epoxy. Here's a link to a site that tells about it. I'm not saying it's what you want to use, just putting it out there -
https://christinedemerchant.com/adhe...esorcinol.html

Interesting stuff. Developed in 1943.

Interesting. Thank for posting the information.

One potential issue is, "Water content of the 2 parts to be joined must be similar and around 12%." Most furniture and instrument making uses wood that is 6 to 8%. The long clamping time and nasty VOC's wouldn't make it very nice to work with for instruments.


I've used Titebond I - or similar - for years for laminating wood bindings/purflings. It mostly holds for standard binding bending - not soaked or steamed for long periods. There is the occasional localized failure that is easy to re-glue after bending. Titebond III would probably be a good/better choice, with its water-resistance.

I apologize for not answering the question asked, buy I have to ask: Why steam bend? I’ve bent edge glued panels for sides, where they were glued with Titebond Original. No problem. (I really don’t believe the II or III versions have any use in guitar building. Ditto Gorilla glue, which creeps.) I’ve always used a bending pipe, with the wood as dry as I can get away with. I’ve heard of people even doing this with hide-glued pieces. Steam is another story...

I use Titebond II to glue my purflings to my bindings before I bend them. I do not use additional moisture however, and bend them dry. I have found it is a good idea to let the glue dry for a full day before bending.

I have used either regular TB or CA laminate purfs but I also bend dry too.

Also known as Asian Mystery Glue.

If the glue did not soften enough to flex as it's being bent, wouldn't that mean the bend would be very difficult to accomplish. In my mind it's like epoxy glued neck joints, they hold up well under stress and but if you try to remove them, they just don't co-operate.
That being the purpose of that type adhesive in the first place.
JMHO

Ed

That's funny! I use this glue a lot for laminating necks. It holds great, and has a very thing brown glue line that blends in well with most woods. It dries very hard, unlike epoxy, that always retains a bit of pliability.

What exactly do you mean by steam bending?

Something different that the usual hotpipe or blanket/bulb style bender?

FWIW, I use TB3 to attach purflings, but that's the only thing I use it for. It works very well, and has greatly reduced the amount of delam/buckling that I got with TB1. Often I will go from glueing them on, sanding them flush, and bending them in the space of an hour with no problems.

Not in this case, where the bend is perpendicular to the glue line (side purfling).

I used Titebond 3 on my only attempt at prelaminating rosewood binding strips with purfling strips. It didn’t delaminate but IIRC I didn’t have to heat it too much to get the rosewood to bend.