Budget Glue

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

throbscottle

Established Member
Joined
12 Jun 2022
Messages
204
Reaction score
88
Location
Nuneaton
I've been using some PVA-based UHU wood glue I got from Lidl years ago, which has served me pretty well, but then I don't do anything very serious, so that's fine. Now I'm looking forward to my makes getting a bit more serious.

Still on a budget, but I'd like to get some better glue.

Recommendations please?
 
I'm a titebond fan - original is interior only I think, II (my goto) is water resistant and III is water proof (more resistant!)

I use CA medium on pens, and 5min epoxy occasionally usually if I need a gap filling.

HTH

Padster
 
I remember reading a review of glues in' Fine Woodworking' a few years ago and they found that PVA glue was actually stronger than Polyurethane. For indoor work virtually any PVA will do. You might want to match the colour of the glue line to the wood. For outdoor work I tend to use Titebond 3 or one hour polyurethane if you need a long assembly time.
 
What about the open time, if you are a seasoned pro then assembly may be easy but for many of us mere mortals then open time becomes important. I get in a bit of a gluey mess when it comes to assembly trying to get things pulled up and clamped before the glue sets!
 
For a budget glue Everbuild 501. A few years ago I laminated several pieces of pine cladding together as I needed some thicker pieces and had a lot of cladding and little 3x3. They where left outside for two winters. Then had another use for them so they came inside and dried out with no issues. Decant some into another bottle and thin with water, 5 - 10% as it's too thick neat.
 
First up you need to decide what type of glue for the work you want to do, typically epoxy, pva or CA. Then worry about brands/cost etc. Most glue failures stem from poor surface preparation and/or wrong type altogether.

If you have been happy with pva and mostly work in wood, pva of almost any brand should be fine.
 
I use Titebond 3 mostly. Although more expensive than others I don't want several glues on the go at the same time. When you spend £££'s on decent wood and then saw and plane a lot of it away the cost of the glue to stick the finished bits together is minimal even with Titebond 3.
Nigel
 
Interesting. Thanks for the responses.

So the balance is, stick with PVA for larger areas, and consider a more specialist glue for smaller pieces, yes?

Brand loyalty aside, is Titebond significantly better? I see it used in various projects on the web. What are it's advantages?
 
I use titebond because it works, as others have said when you spend on timber, it is a small fraction, I buy when it’s on offer and buy larger and split into smaller bottles.

Cheaper may do the job, but I’m a believer in if it ain’t broke….

Padster
 
I generally use Evo-stick resin W - the blue version or, if I want a long open time, Titebond 3. Sometimes I'll use Semforite if, for some unforeseen reason 🙂, theres a large gap to fill.
For a budget glue Everbuild 501............. Decant some into another bottle and thin with water, 5 - 10% as it's too thick neat.
That's where I went wrong! I tried Everbuild 501, or was it 502, and it was so thick I couldn't get it out of the bottle. Yes, before you ask, it was only a few months post manufacture.
Martin
 
Titbond 3 is an ungodly price but it allows a longer set up time ( about 20 mins ) over standard PVA'a or aliphatic resins. Anybody tried Titebond Extend ? I glued up some planks once and they had not set after two hours. :(
 
O. K. budget glue, how much do you save?
Assume you will make a frame from a bit of timber 25mm x 150mm x 1M. This will cost you from about £5 ( cheapest I could find ). To glue the mitres should take no more than 1ml of glue. With Titebond 3 at close to £30/litre the glue will cost 3p. If you can get your glue for free you will save 3p, if you have to buy some glue then the saving will be less than that. Not worth bothering about in my opinion.
Nigel
 
Back
Top