Glue: Holding Things Together when Nails Can’t

Woodworking excursions involve the shaping and joining pieces of wood in an effort to form a structure with a particular purpose. Be it a chair or a table, the basic concept of forming woodpieces, then putting them together applies. Cutting tools are used to cut woodpieces to form. Nails are usually used to join the cut woodpieces together, but not in all cases. When nails can’t come to play their part, wood glue takes their place quite well.

(photo: Arul Jegadish)

Mostly for aesthetic reasons, woodworkers use wood glue when nails couldn’t be utilized in joining woodpieces together, as they are specialized adhesives which tightly bond woodpieces together. They tightly bond to wood, but not to itself, thus the strong bond they form. The most effective of wood glues are water based, which is easily absorbable to wood.

Many chemical substances have been utilized as wood glues, with polyvinyl acetate as the most common. Also labeled as yellow glue and/or carpenter’s glue, polyvinyl acetate based wood glues are now readily available in white, leaving behind a clean finish after using. Drying joined woodpieces usually need the aid of clamps, thus the need for clamps when using wood glue to join woodpieces together.

There are also other adhesive types which yield more or less the same results as polyvinyl acetate based wood glues. They also require clamping, as well as ample drying time. Animal glues, especially hide glue, are still being used as wood glue, especially during restoration work. They aren’t exactly as popular as polyvinyl acetate these days, but still work as well. Hide glue was the glue of choice for woodworkers, until synthetic glues, like polyvinyl acetate, came about. Hide glue would have to be dissolved in water before they could be applied on a wood surface. They weren’t exactly ideal for gap filling, so spaces between woodpieces had to be accurately cut.

Cyanoacrylate, more popularly known as crazy glue or superglue, is also utilized for small woodwork repairs, though not exactly for jointing or bonding woodpieces together. Glues of this type are often used for small detail adhesion needs, thus the need for clamps isn’t necessary. Notorious for “instant bonding”, cyanoacrylate glues are ideal for detail repairs.

For veneers, Contact Cement comes in handy. “Hot melt” glues, like glue sticks are also utilized by woodworkers, though their adhesions are mostly for temporary bonds. They are easy to apply, as well as easy to remove.

All in all, wood glues are perfect proxies for nails, in some cases even better. What they lack in fast joining, they make up for clean results.

Woodworkers know this, and value wood glue for the aesthetic points they bring.