smooth on ???

[Sparky Buckwheat]

I have been using G2 epoxy from System Three. It does not require a hot box. I have not used one at all and I have not had any problems with the 15 or so bows i have made with it. Yes it does take longer to cure without a hotbox - about 2 days - but so far, i like it.

SB

[bow101]

I used G2 seems good to me, try it.  I have also heard that heat and humidity affects wood bows so whatever glue you use like TB or Epoxies nothing will eliminate the effects that the environment has on wood.     Wood is wood when its cut, dead and fully dried  its still alive. 

[LittleBen]

I've used smooth-on almost exclusively for a few years and have never used a hot box. It will cure without heat but will take longer. When I spoke to the smooth-on tech people they said it will attain full strength in something like a week at room temp vs. 4hrs at hot box temps. I generally give it a day on the form, then a day or two off the for, to make sure it's fully cured.

The main thing is heat resistance. It will have improved heat resistance when cured at elevated temperature, but as mentioned before your wood is still wood so it may be irrelevant.

I have also cured it just putting the form out on the driveway in the sun. I haven't measured the temp but it cures pretty quickly maybe 4-8hrs depending on temp.

Considering that bows glued with Tb or other water based glues might take a week or more to get back down to the starting moisture content, 1 day is still very quick.

[Wooden Spring]

I've tried just about every glue known to man, and I keep coming back to Resorcinol. I use Aerodux 185 ordered from Amazon for $62 a quart. It was highly recommended to me from a friend who builds wooden boats for a living. You'll do around 2 dozen bows for the quart, so it's really not that bad of a price, and you don't have to bake it, it's gap filling, won't shrink, it's impervious to water, not sensative to heat or cold. And when I've had bows blow up that were glued with this stuff, it literally rips the wood apart (even ipe) - the joint will NOT fail. And if you ask me, it's much easier to deal with than epoxy.

[GB]

I've used Unibond and Smooth On and haven't had a bad glue up with either one.  I use a small hot box that's just wide enough for the form and one 75 watt bulb that keeps the temp around 90 degrees.  I use the same box for drying wood.  Don't know if it's my imagination, but Smooth On seems slipperier to me.  I just use more tape to hold the lams together.  But I like to glue the handle on the same time as the lams if the design permits.  Can't go wrong with either one.

[bubby]

Got my smooth on and have a ? Keep in the fridge or room temperature inside

[mwosborn]

I store mine in my "shop" which normally does not get much hotter than 75ºF.  I have some that was 3 years old and worked fine.  The can says to store at room temperature.  There may be others that have tried storing in fridge, but I have not tried it.

[Knoll]

Been keeping unibond in freezer with no apparent ill effects. But know nuttin' about smooth on.