Can I use Gorilla glue on profile fuse sides?

[steven yampolsky]

Can I use something like Gorilla glue to glue plywood sides on a profile? Will glow fuel dissolve it? What about diesel fuel?

[Tim Wescott]

Yes, I dunno: why don't you try, and I dunno: why don't you try.

I have a much-abused, hollow-fuselage 1/2-A model that was last repaired by injecting Gorilla Glue into one of the bays of the crunched fuselage and just letting the excess burble out into a huge wart on the side of the model.  While I haven't flown it much since, the glue shows absolutely no sign of degrading; it's on the same side of the fuse as the engine and would have gotten splashed with at least a bit of raw fuel since the repair.

Personally I'd use yellow carpenters glue for this job, but a thin layer of Gorilla glue, and enough weights so that it oozes out to the sides when foaming instead of lifting things off and letting them slide around.  You should get a good joint, at the risk of the thing creeping out of line while the glue is busy foaming up.

[Wynn Robins]

yeah you can use it and it is pretty much fuel proof - watch the expansion - HEAPS of weight is required

[peabody]

Yup....expansion is a big issue with the stuff.....lots of weight, plus you might stick a dowel or two through to index the pieces.

[Bill Little]

Hi Steven,

As Tim alluded to, keeping things in place while drying will be the key.

I don't especially like the various wood glues since I de-laminated a profile nose and found the glue had still not "cured" in the center of the ply doublers.  It had been over 20 years since it was glued.  I like epoxy for doing that now.  Just squeegee it "dry" to cut down excess weight.

Gorilla Glue and epoxy are anaerobic.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

[Russell Shaffer]

Doweling the pieces together is a great ideal.  The Gorilla glue foams when it starts to set and the doubler will float around and get out of alignment.  If you just weight it down it will move for quite a while, maybe 1/2 hour or so.  So if you can't stand there and watch it you will have a problem.  Just be sure to follow the directions exactly - moisten the parts just like it says.  Like Tim says, it may be the ultimate gap filling glue. 

[Chris Wilson]

Will glow fuel dissolve it? What about diesel fuel?

Straight from the Gorilla Glue website -

"Can I disassemble a glue joint?
Once cured, it is virtually impossible to disassemble a Gorilla Wood Glue joint without damaging the surfaces.

Is there anyway to remove Gorilla Wood Glue from carpet and/or fabric?
Once dried, it is very difficult to remove Gorilla Wood Glue. If the glue is still wet, adhesive can be removed with water."

So it would seem that, once dried, it is proof against all methods of turning it back to a liquid state.

[Garf]

I built a profile fuselage using Gorilla Glue and 3ea. 1/8" sheets of balsa. I used 2 2X4's and huge C clamps to clamp it together. It's still flying after several crashes.

[John Fitzgerald]

I have used it to glue doublers on a profile, and to glue a wing to the profile fuselage.  On doublers, first mist the wood lightly with water, as the glue needs moisture to cure, then spread the glue on thick enough so a little will ooze, then clamp tightly, making sure nothing moves.  When it foams out around the edges and partially hardens, I take the clamps off and trim it with a sharp blade.  After that, I put the clamps back on for a few hours to make sure the glue doesn't push the parts apart.  Some of my planes glued with it are over 10 years old and no delaminating.  I have used screws to index the parts so they don't slide.  They can be removed in a few hours.

[john e. holliday]

I used it on the short kit Primary Force Mike Pratt used to sell.   Use lots of clamps while eyeballing it.   Let it hang over night if not longer.  Then remove clamps and start removing the excess glue.   Makes for a very rigid profile fuselage.  If you have a curve in it,  the only way to remove the curve after cure is a new fuselage.   Finally also I see someone found out the Elmer's and Titebound glues I learned a long time ago.  The center of the area may not be dry on large laminated surfaces.   

[Greg L Bahrman]

<I don't especially like the various wood glues since I de-laminated a profile nose and found the glue had still not "cured" in the center of the ply doublers.  It had been over 20 years since it was glued.  I like epoxy for doing that now.  Just squeegee it "dry" to cut down excess weight.>

Hi Big Bear,
I had the same issue with Titebond on a profile. It was about 7 years old when I took it apart and a large area of the glue still was not dry towards the center. I use epoxy now. I wonder if I had used epoxy in the first place if it would have been it would have made the nose a little stiffer?

[Michael Massey]

I just came up with another "issue" with Titebond glue.  I glued 1/16 ply to 1/16 balsa for nose stiffeners on a Shark 45 I am building.  I glued and clamped between 2x4's for 24 hours.  Took off the clamps and set aside.  When I picked them up several hours later, both assemblies were warped in a "curling" fashion, lengthwise in the assemblies.  That is the second instance where I have had Titebond "warp" the glued pieces.  In the prior incident, it was the attaching the planking to the horizontal stabilizer on the same plane.  That straightened back out after sitting for several days.

In the latest case, I re-clamped the nose assemblies for another 30 some odd hours and they better. 

[Howard Rush]

Thanks, guys, for the Gorilla and Titebond tips.  I especially appreciate the idea of pinning the Gorilla glue joints. 

[Bill Little]

<I don't especially like the various wood glues since I de-laminated a profile nose and found the glue had still not "cured" in the center of the ply doublers.  It had been over 20 years since it was glued.  I like epoxy for doing that now.  Just squeegee it "dry" to cut down excess weight.>

Hi Big Bear,
I had the same issue with Titebond on a profile. It was about 7 years old when I took it apart and a large area of the glue still was not dry towards the center. I use epoxy now. I wonder if I had used epoxy in the first place if it would have been it would have made the nose a little stiffer?

Hi Greg,

Don't know exactly how much stiffer it would have been, but I'm sure there would be SOME effect, regardless how small.

Bill