Glues
 

Back on OldRockets we had a discussion about which glues were used more than others, and I think most of us tended to use a yellow glue for general assembly. My favorite for a long time has been Franklin's Titebond II formulation, which has a great tack and dries relatively fast for a resin-based glue.

Recently, though, I picked up a bottle of their newest formulation, called Titebond III, and I think I'm liking it a little better. It does not tack up quite as well, and takes a little longer to cure, but it smooths out well with a wet finger and has a dusty-brown color instead of the orange-yellow of the TB2. When it has cured, the color of the glue is a translucent dark brown which tends to blend in better with the balsa wood and those brown-skin tubes from Estes.

It also doesn't seem to shrink up as much, but I haven't used it enough to judge fully. If true, this may be due to the slower cure rate.


Craig McGraw

Back in the day I used Elmer's Glue All exclusivly. But took to the Titebond II this go 'round as a BAR. I found I still prefer Elmer's for tight-fitting parts such as couplers and engine mount assemblies (into the BT) because the Titebond tacks so quickly it can be hard to adjust these parts to their proper depth. After the white glue dries, I use the yellow to form the finishing fillets.

I've also been using the titebond III for the past year, it has a much longer open time so it does not grab as bad as titebond II, it is very strong glue(4000 psi) thats as strong or stronger than the gorilla type glues! I am sold on it.

I've been using Ambroid for my latest "E" powered rockets. I like using it from my model airplane days.

Of course, judicious use of epoxy now and then is cool. I recently picked up a PML "Io," which, of course, requires the use of epoxy. Been using the hbby-shop 30 min stuff, need to spring for the West System or Mr. Fiberglass 24-hour stuff. One of these days.