bamboo backing: wood glue or epoxy?

[Manolovis]

Hi all,
bamboo flatten to 3.5 mm, stave  is nice and flat and oil free.... but what is best to glue with? wood glue or epoxy.
Thanks

[Yooper Bowyer]

What kind of wood glue, what kind of epoxy, what are your gluing standards and methods?

[PatM]

Generally, epoxy or at least one of the urac or resocinol types glues.  People do use TB 3 though.

[BowEd]

Smooth on.

[Pat B]

I never had a glue failure with TBIII and have used it on Bamboo and hickory backings.

[Eric Krewson]

Like Pat said it depends on what kind of epoxy, defiantly don't use the two ton type from the local Walmart. I have used Urac, Unibond and Smooth On. I have a friend that uses nothing but TB3 and has very good luck with it, he even says he can make heat corrections after glue up with no delaminating.

Good glues for bowmaking have a degree of flexibility in them after they cure, not so with double squeeze tube types. I tried Gorilla glue once, it failed in short order.

[Dances with squirrels]

Glue choice should be made in conjunction with how you prep the gluing surfaces. If smooth and perfectly mated with no gaps, use something without gap filling properties like Titebond. If rougher, like sanded with 50 to 80 grit, use a good epoxy like Smooth On ea40.

I finish thinning and prep the glue surface of my bamboo with a toothing plane, and sand the core wood with 40-50 grit in my thickness sander. I use Smooth On epoxy.

The same concerns apply to adding pieces to the handle area to build thickness. I prep all those surfaces with the toothing plane blade and use Smooth On.

I have also made numerous heat corrections on bows glued up with Smooth On without incident.

[Eric Krewson]

I use a toothing plane as well to prep surfaces. I did heat correction on a static limb tip to move it over and center the string in the groove, the tip overlay was glued on with smooth on and fell off, I went back to Unibond.

[Del the cat]

I've had success with TBIII and Cascamite
Del

[bownarra]

The data sheet (every glue has one if you just email the manufacturer) will tell you everything you need to know.

[BoltBows]

Hi Manolovis,

Like everyone else is indicating: ''Best'' is relative to your preferences. I'll try to list some properties to help you with your choice .

TB3 upsides:
- Cheap
- Easy & quick to apply, generally easy to work with.
- Strong, somewhat elastic glue that will definitely hold bows together.
- Clean glue lines are nearly invisible.
- Easy to clean.

TB3 downsides:
- ''Open time'' is limited to about 10 minutes (assembly time to 20)
- Requires a really tight fit and good even clamping pressure (The glue shrinks while it dries)
- Does stretch and doesn't hold reflex as well as epoxy in my experience...

Epoxy upsides: (I mainly have EA-40 in mind here)
- Long open time (up to 2 hours).
- Glue lines don't need to be as tight because it's thicker than PVAC.
- Can be heated to improve strength and performance.
- Gets thinner when heated, which can be useful for application.
- Holds reflex and curves very well.

Downsides:
- Pretty unhealthy stuff, don't want it on your skin. Also the vapors are bad.
- Expensive.
- Not easy to clean.
- Gets thinner when heated and so doesn't exactly fill gaps in that way...
- Generally requires more preparation time.
- Requires a heat box and decent setup if you want to optimize the results.

Hope this helps!

Jaap

[Manolovis]

Thanks to you all!
I have tried to laminate once with pva before ( gorilla ) and the bamboo delaminated... i suppose my glue line was not perfect as i don t have the tools to make something neat. so ill try epoxy this time (west system). my glue line again is not perfect but still quite decent really. it will hopefully keep things together.

[AndrewS]

I had best results with resorcinol glue (Bindan Cin). It is a glue especially for wood/wood .
Epoxy is more for wood / gfk (cfk)

Resorcinol is also no friend of your health.


What about hideglue. If you live not in a to humid climate it is a choice.

[Eric Krewson]

I have not used hide glue for backing but have used it for sinew and wraps. It has worked for centuries so I am sure it will be fine. Although I haven't tried it I have heard the kind that comes in a bottle at the big box home improvement stores is to be avoided, something about additives.

I have use powdered hide glue and Knox from Walmart, I can tell no difference.

[HH~]

2 part epoxy specifically manufactured for laminating, No Question.

HH~