Need a new glue....

[Wooden Spring]

OK, so the Civilian Archer's Society was in Tunnel Hill, GA last weekend, and it was REALLY hot and REALLY humid. I always use Titebond 3 for my bows, and I had one bow explode on me, and two bows that were heavily used take on tremendous set.

The bow that exploded revealed a failure of the glue joint itself, as, where it separated, it let go of both pieces of wood with no hickory sticking to the jatoba, and no jatoba sticking to the hickory...

All of my bows are backed with 1/8" hickory and belly woods are either red oak, jatoba, or purpleheart.

Here's the question...   

I need a glue that is going to hold up even under such hot and humid conditions.
Unibond800???
Resorcinol?
Smooth-on EA40?

Or something else??     Opinions???

[tattoo dave]

I've used system3 epoxy with good success. I'm sure any of those you mentioned would be fine though.

Tattoo Dave

[bubby]

I've used my tb3 glued bows in 117 deg heat with no ill effects, it sounds like a starved glue joint to me

[Wooden Spring]

I've used my tb3 glued bows in 117 deg heat with no ill effects, it sounds like a starved glue joint to me

Could be a starved glue joint, I haven't ruled that out. It's just difficult to get a "perfect" clamping pressure to a reflexed form using F-clamps, so I've always been afraid of not enough clamping pressure than too much pressure. My thought was if I could get a glue with gap filling properties, then I wouldn't be as afraid of backinv the clamps off a bit.

[Pat B]

Like bubby, I've never had a glue failure with any TB glues.
Although I've never used Unibond I have used Urac on many bows and they are both supposed to be similar.
Another good but cheaper option would be Weldwood Plastic Resin. It also is a urea glue like Urac and Unibond that you mix with water. I got it from ACE Hardware.  I've used it for risers and backing strips and never had a glue failure.

[Onebowonder]

Unibond 800 (basically the SAME THING as URAC) is awesome this regard.  - OneBow