Which glue to use for edge glue up?

[pmaczik]

I am working with walnut and creating kitchen wide table top with several pieces.  I usually use the Titebond products.  Is there a better choice?

thanks for your time,
Pete

[Rob Young]

I am working with walnut and creating kitchen wide table top with several pieces.  I usually use the Titebond products.  Is there a better choice?

thanks for your time,
Pete

Criteria : long open time, comes in a bottle, easy to get fresh stock

Liquid hide glue (not water proof, but won't come apart from incidental contact either, especially if you plan to put some kind of film finish on the table) has a very long open time if you heat it just a little.  Not hotter than 140F.  But anything between 100F and 120F is great.  Dark glue line, minimal interference with oil based finishes and water-based dyes.  Some interference with shellac colors but only if you leave great heaping globs of it.  Rigid glue line, glass hard.

TB-III, reasonably long open time and a dark glue line.  All PVAs tend to block colors and oil finishes but clean up and careful surface prep deals with that.  Rather elastic glue line as these things go.  Not like stretching a rubber band, but softer than type I, type II and hide glue.  Water resistant for prolonged exposure.  Good for sloppy eaters.

TB-II, reasonably long open time, light glue line.  More rigid glue line and good water resistance.  Not suitable for making a table to go on the outdoor patio of your submarine, but good.

TB-I, shortest open time of these four.  Good stuff, cheap and cheerful.  More rigid glue line than type III, less than hide glue.  OK with incidental moisture contact.

tl;dr
In short, of the four most common TB products, it really doesn't matter.  Use the one you would feel most comfortable using.

[Stwood_]

Not sure about *better*, but titebond is a excellent glue. I've used it for years. Titebond Original

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Titebond II is my wood glue. If you are stretched for time, do the glue-up in stages.

[fredhargis]

There is in my opinion. On table tops using PVA can give you "clue creep", this gives you a slight ridge across the seams over time. I started using the "slow setting plastic resin glue" (as David Marks would say) because it has no creep at all. It's also a sandable glue once it dries, so any squeeze out is not hard to deal with. he best known one is the Dap Weldwood, though there are some other brands available. (note, the last time I bought this it was $11/lb.) It has it's drawbacks, you have to mix it up and whatever is left over is tossed...and you want to make sure the stock you buy is fresh, that's why I started buying it from Amazon. The stuff at our local hardware had a 1/2" of dust on the lid.

[SIS]

I have used Titebond products with good results.
However, my favorite wood glue is Elmer's Carpenters Wood Glue Max.

[Admiral]

TB Original has never failed me, and for me has enough open time for large panels.  Key to glue ups is preparation and dry runs, and with large panels, cauls to keep things flat.  They have pretty much figured out glue chemistry, the wood will fail before the glue line fails.  Glues with more open time are good for complicated, multi-dimensional glue ups, like a shaker inspired slant front desk I once made; a choreograph of wood, glue and clamps, I must have used over 20 clamps of all different types, and practiced it 2 or 3 times.

[pmaczik]

My table top is going to be 48” wide.  I am thinking of making it ~45”.  My planer is a 15 inch Jet.  I intend to make 3 glued up pieces so I can run them each through the planer within 1/16”or less of finish then glue them all together.

[Rob Young]

There is in my opinion. On table tops using PVA can give you "clue creep", this gives you a slight ridge across the seams over time. I started using the "slow setting plastic resin glue" (as David Marks would say) because it has no creep at all. It's also a sandable glue once it dries, so any squeeze out is not hard to deal with. he best known one is the Dap Weldwood, though there are some other brands available. (note, the last time I bought this it was $11/lb.) It has it's drawbacks, you have to mix it up and whatever is left over is tossed...and you want to make sure the stock you buy is fresh, that's why I started buying it from Amazon. The stuff at our local hardware had a 1/2" of dust on the lid.

Some of these are urea-formaldehyde and so have a few extra precautions when messing about with the powder.  And many of them have a minimum use temperature higher than those of the PVAs and hide glues.  Read the instructions and the MSDS/SDS.

But they definitely have a rigid glue line, are water resistant once cured and have a glass hard glue line that sands rather than melts and gums up sand paper.

[AHill]

Open Time:

Titebond Original:  4-6 min
Titebond II:  3-5 min
Titebond III: 10 min
Titebond Extend: 15 min 

Titebond III has the additional advantage of being waterproof.