Ambroid glue in quarts

[Ty Marcucci]

 

[Paul Taylor]

Ty other then the great smell, is there a good reason to use the stuff?

[Steve Helmick]

Ambroid is good...but I prefer "Tarzan's Grip" from Australia. THAT's strong stuff! Cheetah agrees...  Steve

[Mike Keville]

I, too, love Ambroid . . . been using it since 1950.  But there's an alternative: good ol' Duco Cement.  Same drill: pre-gluing required; dries crystal clear; seems just as strong.  Built an OTS "Boxcar Chief" with Duco in 1990...flew it dozens of times, then in '91 hung it in the garage for nearly eight years worth of Arizona summers.  Took it off the wall in '99, flew it some more without a problem.  Also built 2008's profile scale A-26 Half-A twin with Duco (and a bit of Weldbond, which looks like white glue but is much stronger).

I'll take Ambroid whenever I can find it.  Yeah...nostalgia.

[Brett Buck]

After 20 years it can pull up out of the wood if put on too thick, but I have never had a plane last more that 5 years.  It loses weight as it dries, the solvents evaporate, not like super glues.  You also have time to adjust any part that gets out of alignment, not so with super glues.  So it has its advantages, especially it smells nice. 

   I like Ambroid for some applications, but it definitely gets brittle after a while. Sigment is a lot more durable, but much harder to sand (because it *is* stronger) and for anything I would use model cement for Ambroid is better. But that's not many things. I use tremendous amounts of Hot Stuff, etc, some epoxy, some Titebond, and a very small amount of Ambroid.

    Brett

[George]

Yeah, right, but Janes grip helped to create Tarzans yell. 

THE VINE! THE VINE!    

[George]

Lessons learned:

Back when model cements were common, we had quite a selection. I remember even using "Comet" brand. Some of us (ahem!!) learned the hard way, even though it was written in the instructions, that you should double cement (or per-cement) joints, because the first layer would penetrate and disappear... .

You also should never use cement for fillets because it would just make a big bubble with very little strength.

You could use "fast drying" cements for repair but they would dry too fast for initial build...no penetration.

I only bought Ambroid in a can (pint) one time. It dried before I had used half of it. Others have had success so it must have been the way I was using it. How many are old enough to remember when Ambroid sold that LARGE (4 oz.) tube for 49˘?

George

[Robert McHam]

I guess I'm a little younger. I remember it being $ .79!

Robert

[Charlie Pate]

Aero Gloss had an advertisement showing a broken wing asembly (obviously on purpose)
the picture showed the wood broken , but the glue joints still intact.
The atatement went somthing like, stronger than the wood itself !
Bet the farm it was all pre glued with tight fitting joints ( as any glue job should be.
 A yankee (from up north )was building a Warrior . I looked on the bench and he had
three small comet tubes of glue. i asked why he didn,t buy the BIG 25 cent tube
His answer was " This is all i need. " I couldn,t believe it!. After all , everyboby knows moree is better.
You could hardly see any evidence of glue around the joints. That plane flew for Quite a while;
was sold and when it did hit the ground; the glue held. The wood didn,t .

FYI I was told Duco requires 30 days to dry fully! Can be used , but max strength is 30 days off.
Course I also heard it takes concrete 20 years to max out.

[George]

I liked the fillet cement that Aerogloss used to sell in tubes. You would put in on like glue, then smooth it out with your finger.

George

[Ironbomb]

There may be better glues around, but nothing chews off the fingers like Ambroid 

Greg

[George]

Back in the mid/late fifties, someone published (in MAN, I think) the results of joint tests using various cements of the day. Ambroid won. (This did not include a taste test    )

George

[john e. holliday]

Of all the glues I have used in my model plane endeavers, it was "Ambroid" number one for taste test.  DOC Holliday

[Brett Buck]

I liked the fillet cement that Aerogloss used to sell in tubes. You would put in on like glue, then smooth it out with your finger.

   Plastic Balsa.

    Brett

[Brett Buck]

There may be better glues around, but nothing chews off the fingers like Ambroid 

     I used a bunch on my catapult glider on Saturday, and am chewing off the last of it now! I can't say it's particularly tasty. BTW, the glider was long gone on the second test flight, about 10 minutes OOS - unofficial, of course.

   Brett

[Brett Buck]

Earlier in the year I mentioned on here that Ambroid glue in pints and quarts was no longer available. Well, it is still available. I just received a quart can yesterday. 
On the left side in the sections column, under building supplies, near the bottom, click on glue. Apparently Ambroid has moved from Mass to VT.

   Oh, good, I can finally start that canoe kit I have had my eye on!

    Brett

[Lyle Spiegel]

Another use I found for Ambroid was as an additive to clear dope when attaching covering- back when I was using silk on my VooDoo, Quicker, Sneeker.  Then I brushed the first clear coat with some Ambroid mixed in- kept the dope from puddling through, and the the silk came out really taut.
Lyle

[Mike Lauerman]

Aha!  Olde tyme mystery solved! Those undercambered wings gave me fits. I knew you guys did something 'trick', but nobody was talkin'...

[Larry Fernandez]

Hi Lyle. Great reminder. I too used it as such on the undercamber on my A1 and A2 tow line gliders. Now F1H (A1) & F1A (A2) as well as on the reflex part of the "polywog" ribs on my 49 Chief.

I wish that I had known this trick when I covered my Hi Johnson Stuka wing.

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[Mike Griffin]

I have been glued to this thread.....

[Mike Griffin]

I buy Elmers white glue by the gallon and put it in needle tip applicators to apply it.  Doesn't cost much, non toxic, doesn't burn your eyes or skin and water soluble. 

Mike

[Dan McEntee]

  Yeah, Mike, but Elmer's doesn't near the bouquet and flavor of Ambroid when it comes to cleaning it off your fingers! Just washing it off instead of chewing it off your fingers just sounds so boring!
 
   Long Live Ambroid!
   Dan McEntee

[Jim Kraft]

I mix Duco or Sigment about 50-50 with dope for undercambered wing ribs. Thin it lightly and brush on two or three coats. Then cover from the middle or main spar out towards the trailing edge and leading edge sticking the covering down with very thin dope. I learned this from the Old Time Free Flight guys when I covered my Playboy. It works extremely well.

[Ward Van Duzer]

Back in the 50's I smeared the ambroid with fingers, wiped off on jeans, chewed fingers. Those jeans would eventully stand up in the corner by themselves.
Mom had fits!

NOW I learn how to silk wings with no center sheeting! RATS!

Ward-O

[Joseph Lijoi]

Apparently there is a "flexible" CA from Bob Smith industries that is supposed to be used for those EZ hinges. I read in MA that this was sandable CA.  I picked some up but haven't tried it yet.

Anybody out there who is luthier (builds acoustic guitars) can probably direct you to a scource for Duco cement.  I think they still use it to glue on purfling.

My local hobby shop still sells a lot of Ambroid.

[Dave_Trible]

Glad to hear Ambroid is back but I hope it's a little thicker as it once was.  The local shop carried it but the last I got was so water-like I went back to the Sigment.  The hobby shop will run out of that a little too often so when that happens I buy Bond 527 cement at Walmart or Michaels craft store.  It's identical to Sigment, can't tell the difference.   Maybe that's who makes Sigment?  Anyway an option.

Dave

[Rafael Gonzalez]

Glad to hear Ambroid is back but I hope it's a little thicker as it once was.  The local shop carried it but the last I got was so water-like I went back to the Sigment.  The hobby shop will run out of that a little too often so when that happens I buy Bond 527 cement at Walmart or Michaels craft store.  It's identical to Sigment, can't tell the difference.   Maybe that's who makes Sigment?  Anyway an option.

Dave

Have used the new Ambroid and is not the same. Seems more fluid (thinner) and the fillet get sucked by the wood    I used to apply (before epoxy) to ply doublers on the fuse sides and it only took one coat to let it dry and add a fresh film to glue the sides. The "new" Ambroid got sucked by the ply and it took a second coat    I use Sigment now and substitute with Duco cement when it is not available.

 

[Brett Buck]

Apparently there is a "flexible" CA from Bob Smith industries that is supposed to be used for those EZ hinges. I read in MA that this was sandable CA.  I picked some up but haven't tried it yet.

Anybody out there who is luthier (builds acoustic guitars) can probably direct you to a scource for Duco cement.  I think they still use it to glue on purfling.

My local hobby shop still sells a lot of Ambroid.

   I haven't found Duco cement to be at all difficult to find. Unfortunately it comes in a plastic squeeze bottle sort of like a really small Elmer's glue bottle, and after you open it once, it dries out. I usually have to fill it back up with acetone, shake it, and let it sit for a while before it is usable.

    I am not sure what they have done to it from pre-mid-60's, but current Ambroid smells pretty much like I recall from the good old days (first exposure in 1966), and in my admittedly short 47 years of exposure it doesn't seem grossly thinner than it used to be. It always soaked in more than SIG-Ment, which is why you need to double-glue it. SIG-Ment works better with a single coat than Ambroid but it also tends to just sit on the surface. Ambroid has always been easier to sand than SIG-Ment, too.

    Importantly, SIG-Ment and Ambroid are both quite satisfactory for sticking to your fingers to be chewed off for the next few days, which is it's real beauty. Duco is definitely second-rate in this aspect, and CA can be peeled clean away in a few minutes, definitely second-rate. 

   Brett

[david beazley]

I like Ambroid for joining balsa sheeting, sands much better than CA and won't swell or warp light balsa like alphetic resin glue will.