Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
By:Dave Gentry
Date: 8/13/2010, 12:18 pm

: On boatbuilding sites I see, at least, one, "I'm worried about
: using epoxy", threads each week.
: Epoxy will glue almost anything
: Epoxy is the most waterproof glue in common use today
: Epoxy can sit on your shelf for years and still be good
: Epoxy can be used to repair itself. Some non-epoxy glue joints can
: only be repaired with epoxy.
: Epoxy is not all that critical about clamping. None of mine
: (paddles, masts, spars, hulls, gunnals, plywood scarfs, deck
: beams laminations, yada, yada) have ever let go including a
: piroque that came off my roofrack and landed in the road. I
: never worried about clamping pressure one bit.
: The dream that THERE HAS TO BE a glue as good as epoxy is still a
: dream.

Absolutely, but . . . there's a whole other side of the coin, isn't there?

When I use Titebond glue, for instance (of which both 2 & 3 are just dandy for paddle making) here's what it takes: Pop open the top, apply, close top. Add a clamp. Done.

There's no putting on nitrile gloves, donning the organic vapor respirator and the added eye protection. There's no oh-so-critical measuring of two components (just hoping your pumps don't burp, etc), and there's no 2 minutes (!) of mixing - followed by even more mixing with supplemental fillers to get just the right consistency. There's no rushing to make sure you get things coated before the inexorable and only-to-be-guessed at deadline arrives. There's no pre-coating your wood with one batch of unthickened epoxy, only to have to do it all over again with a thickened batch. And, there is still clamping, since you have to hold the stuff together, somehow.
And, there's no worrying about developing a permanent, intolerable allergic reaction to the stuff, either.

Yup, epoxy is the best adhesive. But, clearly, you can save yourself a huge amount of hassle and time, as well as a potential health problem, by using a different adhesive that also happens to work perfectly well.

Messages In This Thread

Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
John lasky -- 8/13/2010, 9:29 am
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Bill Hamm -- 8/14/2010, 1:30 am
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Fred -- 8/13/2010, 2:25 pm
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Brian Nystrom -- 8/13/2010, 6:04 pm
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Kurt Maurer -- 8/13/2010, 8:36 pm
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Malcolm Schweizer -- 8/13/2010, 11:47 am
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Bill Hamm -- 8/14/2010, 1:35 am
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Charlie -- 8/13/2010, 11:35 am
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Will N to Go -- 8/13/2010, 1:03 pm
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Dave Gentry -- 8/13/2010, 12:18 pm
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Dean -- 8/13/2010, 10:05 am
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup *PIC*
Kurt Maurer -- 8/13/2010, 10:21 am
Re: Paddle: favorite glue for paddle layup
Kudzu -- 8/13/2010, 9:59 am