Hey all,
I’ve never worked with Cocobolo before but have heard that it doesn’t glue well due to it’s oily nature. What’s the best material to use? I’ve had expoxy recommended by a co-worker. Also, is there any particular cleaning method, such as using a Naptha that will help remove some of the oils and make for a stronger glue seam?
BTW anyone near Portland Oregon looking for exotic wood should check out http://gilmerwood.com. I recently went there for the first time and came away with a nice chunk of Honduran Cocobolo which is why I’m asking about gluing Cocobolo. This place is incredible! An absolutely amazing selection of exotic hardwoods. They’ve got some domestic hardwoods too. Mostly Maple from what I saw. But, they seem to only focus on figured domestic wood. Much of their exotic wood is figured too.
“Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud” – Sophocles.
Replies
Kevin:
Gilmer is a great place...and some knowledgble folks too. My only beef with them is that they were, when I lived in PDX 2yrs ago, really quite expensive. They did however negotiate with me and I got 150bdft of Rosewood for bout $9 a bdft, so if you're buying something in a large enough quantity you might want to check out some other vendors and then go to Gilmer armed with some prices.
I recently made a chair (my first) out of cocobolo...also a first and used veneer glue as it was a bent lamination. Having said that, I found on some other pieces that is treating it like Rosewood - wiping it down with acetone just before gluing, and using the glue that foams in air...dang...what it is...ack geriatric moment..urethane? arrg...I'll remember at 2am, worked well.
Pick your finishes carefully as well....
regards
alison
Thanks all for the glue info.
Now for the finishing... I am planning on just a clear coat. I have a variety of choices at work: Precat lacquer, CAB/Acrylic lacquer, automotive acrylic lacquer, 2k automotive poly, and vinyl conversion varnish. Which of those might work the best and why? I was thinking of just using precat lacquer... But, if that's not advisable I am open to suggestions. I was also thinking of using some Minwax "natural" oil to help bring out the depth in the wood before the clear coat. Would that not be advisable?
Preemptive Karma
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud" - Sophocles.
Kevin,
The glue I think what Alison was struggling to remember is a poly glue, such as Gorilla Glue.
Alan
Edited 8/3/2004 6:13 pm ET by Alan
Kevin;
I agree with the others, wipe down with acetone, tolulene etc.
I have successfully used System Three Epoxy also.
I go with a fresh saw or jointer cut, and the epoxy that takes the longest time to cure.
Gilmer Wood..i was advised he can be a real snot, but i arrived there one New Year's Eve...no customers...Myles and the help just waiting for quitting time. We chatted a bit, i showed him some of my tables i had with me from doing a show in Portmand. Myles ended up traipsing through the rafters pulling down some great stuff like figured imbuya and some curly maple guitar back blanks. If you can use shorts...he also pulled all the zebra shorts i could haul for $5 a foot. Nice!
There was a feature in Fine Woodworking No. 166 (December 2003) that dealt with the mechanical properties of glues. Using rosewood, the author glued different pairs of boards together then measured their breaking points. Yellow glue with and without the use of a preparatory solvent wipe (in this case, lacquer thinner) yielded virtually identical and the lowest performing results. The author theorized that the solvent pulled more oil to the surface to replace the oil that it wiped away. However, sanding the joint before yellow gluing actually improved the strength by about 50%. And using epoxy yielded the best results, almost tripling the strength of yellow glue.
Was Gorilla Glue or something comparable included in the test? If so, how did it perform compared to the epoxy.
I was just in our inventory area here at work and saw some marine epoxy. Would that work?
Preemptive Karma
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud" - Sophocles.
I'm afraid there was no mention of polyurethane glues like Gorilla glue. The feature dealt with mainly yellow glue and its properties, one of which is its unsuitability for oily woods. I don't know which marine epoxy you have, but I have used West System on teak with very good results and that is usually available at marine supply places. Others have mentioned System Three and that is another popular brand.
The only thing I use polyurethane glues for is to glue bricks together in the wife's flower beds! Works great for that.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
LOL cute.
Let's see if I can complicate this a bit... I'm going to be gluing the cocobolo to Maple. Actually there will be a series of pieces of Cocobolo with Maple strips inbetween with the grain going the same direction. Does that change anything? In particular I'm wondering if there is a significant difference in the way each species expands and contracts in relation to ambient condition.
Preemptive Karma
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud" - Sophocles.
If the strips are less than 1/8" thick, then no problem. If more then that, then check the expansion tables for the species used. The expansion/contraction along the grain is the lesser than in the other directions.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
Sounds like I'm in the clear then. The pieces are all 1/8" thick.
Oh, and I've been talked into using Titebond III to glue it up with. So... other than the work of gluing it all up and stuff, I'm left with the choice of what kind of finish to use.
Thanks everyone for the feedback!
Preemptive Karma
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud" - Sophocles.
System 3 epoxy.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
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