Gorilla glue

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Gorilla glue: I often came across this brand in the American WW magazines, yet I never found it in Italy. Is it sold in the UK ? Is it really what it says ?

Thanks
Alberto
 
Yes it is availible here.
It's a polyeurethane glue and many brands are availible as well as the original.
 
mantrakalas":wba9vhfz said:
is it a polyurethane mono- or bi-component ?
Just glue in a bottle.
It cures with the moisture in the wood.
You only glue the one piece & dampen the other if you choose to.
It foams as it cures filling all joint gaps so use sparingly.
You don't brush it on as it hardens on the brush.
Use a scrap of wood or card to spead it.
 
Make sure you wear gloves when using it. It takes ages to wear off and I haven't found anything that washes it off.

John
 
Gorilla, as a PU glue, has numerous properties:

It's gap fillling, but it provides no strength in the gap.
It's water-proof (not resistant)
It stains your hands like nobody's business
It foams, so if you use too much, you have to clean off a load of excess that's foamed out the side of the joint. You know if you've used the right amount when there's minimal cleaning up after.
It's mono-component - one bottle, apply glue to ONE side of the joint.
Don't use it with biscuits - biscuits work by absobing moisture to swell and fill the biscuit slot - PU glues cure by taking moisture from the surroundings, so using the 2 together gives contention for the moisture content of the wood and also the atmosphere
It's pretty strong - but I've heard that it doesn't live up to claims of 'the strongest glue you an buy'. It's also considerably more expensive than other PU glues with similar, if not identical, properties.
If you use it, make sure you squeeze out as much air from the bottle as possible when finished, cos it will set from the moisture in the air remaining in the bottle.
Shelf life is not long. (3-6 months, IIRC)

That's about the extent of my knowledge on it.

Oh yeah - Isaac Lords have started stocking it, though may not be available from their web-site, which is driven by their trade counter, and which used to stock the same PU glue as Screwfix sell.
 
Johnboy
You are right about gloves - use the glue on a Saturday and you won't have clean hands again until Wednesday.
But - if you have some acetone, you can use that while the glue is still wet (ie not very long). I used to have a gallon of the stuff but last time I tried to get some more (from my friendly independednt pharmacist) he quoted me £12 for 2 litres. Sounds a lot to me for an industial solvent. Maybe it was because it was B.P. quality.
But yes, acetone or gloves are a must.
Cheers
Steve
 
John":36gjs8l4 said:
Make sure you wear gloves when using it. It takes ages to wear off and I haven't found anything that washes it off.

Agree with that! But nothing beats that expanding foam stuff in the difficulty in getting off stakes! Absolute nightmare - only thing that helped a little was vegetable oil!

Sorry OT.

Sorry Alberto - I have some Gorilla glue and use it occasionally - but couldn't say if it justifies the advertising, hype (and price) given to it. For me the extra faff involved in wetting one surface and having to wear gloves puts me off! Screwfixhere in the UK sell a cheaper equivilent which is meant to be pretty good (based on heresay - never used it).

There's some more information about glues in thisTaunton article and specifically here.

Cheers

Gidon
 
When I made the two benches that I posted the pictures of in General Chat the other day ( https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... c&start=15 ) I made the first one using the Screwfix PU but found it so difficult to clean up around all the mortice and tenons that for the second I used Screwfix waterproof PVA. Both benches seem to be holding up OK 18 months later. All the main joints were dowelled M/T with Iroko plugs to hide the holes.

John
 
Thanks a lot to all of you friends. Amazingly exhaustive treaty about gorillas: Dian Fossey could not have said more :D !

I think I will stick to Vinavil !
Cheers
Alberto
 
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