Types of Glues

[ashucha]

Hey! I was just wondering which type of glue would be the best all-round and what I should look for in the glues. Thank you for your help in advance!

[cheese]

There are many types of glue. Most builders use cyanoacrylate, which is a super-glue that dries fairly fast. There are different consistencies of it -thin, medium, and thick. The thinner, the less you have to put on, which equals less weight. The problem with it is that it is more difficult to use and sometimes you have to use pipettes. In the end, it is up to the builder.

[melissaseguraa]

Hey! I tend to use Gorilla glue (not the gel) with accelerator to have it dry faster. I am sure you can find lighter glues out there though, good luck!

[Unome]

In almost every scenario, CA glue is the best (though specific thicknesses of CA glue work differently). The only situation I can think of where something else has been used successfully is in Boomilever, where some competitors used gorilla glue to attach the tension piece at the top, since gorilla glue has the requisite strength whereas it's hard to get enough surface area for CA glue to be as effective.

[Snarknado]

In almost every scenario, CA glue is the best (though specific thicknesses of CA glue work differently). The only situation I can think of where something else has been used successfully is in Boomilever, where some competitors used gorilla glue to attach the tension piece at the top, since gorilla glue has the requisite strength whereas it's hard to get enough surface area for CA glue to be as effective.

How much worse is standard wood glue such as Titebond II in comparison to CA?

[DoctaDave]

In almost every scenario, CA glue is the best (though specific thicknesses of CA glue work differently). The only situation I can think of where something else has been used successfully is in Boomilever, where some competitors used gorilla glue to attach the tension piece at the top, since gorilla glue has the requisite strength whereas it's hard to get enough surface area for CA glue to be as effective.

How much worse is standard wood glue such as Titebond II in comparison to CA?

It will be just as strong, but wood glues, unless very watered down, will be heavier than the necessary amount of CA glue required for a typical joint. Also, wood glues are harder to use as they take a long time to dry, where CA will dry almost instantaneously.

Also, gorilla glue is pretty much garbage for almost all applications. It's just hyped a lot through good marketing, but the foaming property of gorilla glue makes for very weak joints in both tension and compression (read this for more info https://woodgears.ca/joint_strength/gorilla_glue.html).

[Snarknado]

In almost every scenario, CA glue is the best (though specific thicknesses of CA glue work differently). The only situation I can think of where something else has been used successfully is in Boomilever, where some competitors used gorilla glue to attach the tension piece at the top, since gorilla glue has the requisite strength whereas it's hard to get enough surface area for CA glue to be as effective.

How much worse is standard wood glue such as Titebond II in comparison to CA?

It will be just as strong, but wood glues, unless very watered down, will be heavier than the necessary amount of CA glue required for a typical joint. Also, wood glues are harder to use as they take a long time to dry, where CA will dry almost instantaneously.

Also, gorilla glue is pretty much garbage for almost all applications. It's just hyped a lot through good marketing, but the foaming property of gorilla glue makes for very weak joints in both tension and compression (read this for more info https://woodgears.ca/joint_strength/gorilla_glue.html).

Yeah, Gorilla Glue is straight-up trash; but in regards to the issue of drying wood glue, can't you dry it out in a oven, or does this create/risk further issues?