Last year a friend was using part of my space to build a small boat. I was also building a boat at the time and we had spent some time on one of the boat forums where there was a fairly indepth discussion about the different types of glues. We participated in them for a few days and then we decided to try and do a few test on some of the different ones. I won't go into a lot of detail, but we did pick one to do a bit more testing on. It was a polyurethane product. We used Douglas Fir to make a small section of 3 frames or ribs tied together with 9 stringers. The frames were 30" across and 18" deep and were 2' apart making it overall 2-1/2' x 4' x 1-1/2" high. The stringers were 3/4" x 1". The frames were 1" stock half-lapped at the joint and then notched for the stringers. This made each glue joint have a surface area of 2-1/2 sq in. The stringers were fitted and pilot holes drilled for the fastners. Then the notches had a layer of glue applied to them, the stringers were replaced and brass screws were inserted to hold them in place while the glue was curing out. This was in June and we placed the frame on a shed roof on the back side of the shop where it stayed till just recently (approx. 9 mo.). This included being in sunshine, rain, snow and temps down to -26 on one ocassion and -20 on several others. I know it is a bit unscientific, but when we took the frame down to inspect it, we first used a small hammer to tap it all over to see if it rang true, or if it had dead spots. It not only rang true then, but even after we removed all the brass scews, there was no change in tone. Next we cut apart all the stringers at mid point and tried to separte them from the frames. Every joint separated due to a failure of the wood itself and not the glue line. We took 2 of the joints and put them into boiling water for an hour with equal results. We also took scraps of Marine plywood (Meranti BS 1088) and glued 2 pieces together. These were 3" x 12" and were over lapped 6". They were held together by a couple of ratchet clamps for 3 days. When we tried to separate them the glue lines held and the outer plies of wood separated. I for one prefer a good glue line to a lot of fasteners. In the pic below is the product that we used. It was ordered in the 28 oz sizes but also comes in the 10 oz size. I bought a case (12 ea) of the larger tubes delivered to my home (UPS) for $78. That figures out to $6.50 per tube delivered. The average builder would probably want to purchase the smaller 10 oz tubes. Below is a link to the site of the manufacturer and a picture of the description.
http://www.stickwithpl.com/products/pan ... uction.asp
