Wood Glue

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accooper

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Hey guys, does wood glue have enough hold for a level one rocket? I am trying to help a young man get his level one at my wife's school and he is short on funds since people are not using him to cut yards like they where.

Andrew
 
Yes. I have built much bigger rockets with yellow glue, all the way up to M motors. Epoxy has its place, especially if you like it. Yellow glue is plenty strong enough for most paper/cardboard/wood joints though.

Ari.
 
On the right materials, it's fine. Cardboard and wood, it's perfect. Just make sure to sand or peel the glassine on the tube where you need to bond.

The glue's bond will likely be stronger than the materials you're glueing.

I built this rocket with all wood glue, except for the motor retainers which are on with JB weld. The motor mount is built with wood glue, and the fins are surface mounted with it as well. It's flown on a variety of motors, including two I200W's, and H250G's


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Wood glue, especially if the joints are tight and clamps are used, will hold longer than the material you're bonding if you're talking paper & cardboard.

We flew a rocket that used only wood glue on a Q motor...

-Kevin
 
Titebond is starting to show in the UK. Found a good price on Titebond II so thinking of trying it over normal PVA
 
Yellow glue is much stringer than white.

Ari.
 
Thanks Folks. Tryin' to save this young man some money. He flies out at Randolph AFB and his dad has been deployed so since he is an ex-student of my wife I am tryin' to help where I can, and I have loads of yellow wood glue but no epoxy.

Andrew
 
Deployed deployed as in his old man is within the forces?? What else does the lad need?
 
To expand a little and reinforce what troj said; the best wood glue joints are made when there is a tight fit along the entire surface area to be glued and some amount of pressure is applied while the glue cures. At least that's what I learned from Norm Abrams.
 
Yup. As others have said a well bonded wood glue joint will be stronger than the materials themselves.
 
While wood glue works, the issue I have with it is how it drys (it shrinks, as the water goes away). The nice thing about epoxy, is when you get a good looking fillet, it will be the exact same when it hardens... Epoxy also flows more into cracks and imperfections, so with things like TTW fins, you have it flow more between the fin that the BT...
 
I am building my new 4" with wood glue only with exception of the fillets. Wood glue is not only strong, it is there perfect glue for paper and wood rockets. From here on out, all of my paper rockets will be build with wood glue. Wood glue is easy to use, easy clean up, easy sanding, no smell, and substantial lighter than epoxy and stronger than it needs to be. It blows my mind why you wouldn't use wood glue.
 
I have a loc hi tec that's made from only tightbond even the retainer is held on with it.woody 1.JPGwoody 2.JPG
 
As mentioned before, wood glue provides a joint that's stronger than what you're joining together most of the time. I'm flying a 12-foot tall rocket on K and L motors right now that I built using mostly wood glue. The fins are fiberglassed and I used epoxy for the fin fillets, but all the rest of the joints were done with wood glue.

I even used wood glue on the couplers ... which is something you must be careful when doing. Wood glue tends to "grab" quicker than white glue or epoxy when used inside pieces that slide together such as a body tube and coupler. For smaller rockets, I'd recommend using white glue for couplers while wood glue is fine for most everything else.

-- Roger
 
Just to add confusion... elmer's glue-all is white and binds, the school glue is nice and slippery.
 
For the fillets, Elmer's Molding and Trim Glue works perfect and doesn't shrink (very much...). I used it on NCR Big Brute for fin fillets and couldn't be happier with the results.

Adrian
 
+1 on carpenter's glue, I use it wherever possible. Plus it's non-toxic which I don't think has been mentioned yet. You will probably need a little epoxy though for metal things like the motor retainer and shock cord anchoring hardware. A $5 tube from the hardware store should be plenty.
 
Deployed deployed as in his old man is within the forces?? What else does the lad need?

Yep, in the forces. Air Force to be exact. We have everything else we need, and the group that flies out at Randolph has the motors and launch equipment. Just no epoxy.

Andrew
 
Hey guys, does wood glue have enough hold for a level one rocket? I am trying to help a young man get his level one at my wife's school and he is short on funds since people are not using him to cut yards like they where.

Andrew

I've flown wood glue rockets up to L, some have done M's. Yeah, it will handle an H. :)
 
One word of caution: do not think you will push several inches of coupler into a tube with glue smeared inside. You can go in some, but the moment movement stops, the coupler will lock into place.

Yes, this is a voice of learning the hard way.


Kirk
 
One word of caution: do not think you will push several inches of coupler into a tube with glue smeared inside. You can go in some, but the moment movement stops, the coupler will lock into place.

Yes, this is a voice of learning the hard way.

Kirk

What's your solution too this. I know a random question but don't ask don't get
 
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All wood glue LOC IV on a H238

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All wood glue 4" LOC Bruiser on a I285

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ALl wood glue LOC Big Cletus on a J350

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All wood glue LOC HyperLOC 1600 on a K550

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All wood glue LOC 5.5 IQSY Tomahawk on a L1420

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All wood glue LOC Big Nuke 3E on a M1500

All rockets above flown/recovered successfully multiple times.

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What I use for external fillets.
 
Thanks. One last question. After installing the rail buttons, do you glue them in? We are using Tee nuts from Dog House rail buttons.

Andrew
 
I never use T-Nuts, always 2 buttons, one in the top centering ring and one in the bottom centering ring usually with drywall screws.
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Nice job on the "Big Cletus". Great photo, too. Every time I see one I think what a great Big Red Max it would make.

Thanks for the tip on using the Titebond construction adhesive for the fillets. I plan to give that a try. Obviously you smoothed them...did you use a tool, finger, soaked in alcohol?
 
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