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Do you glue your boxes?

  • Yes, I glue my boxes.

    Votes: 104 88.1%
  • No, I don't bother.

    Votes: 14 11.9%

Do you glue your boxes

7K views 24 replies 23 participants last post by  spunky 
#1 ·
Curious to find out what the proportion of beeks who glue their box-corner boxes is
 
#4 ·
I glue mine

I use Gorilla Glue for the boxes. It is waterproof, quite strong, and expands to fill any cracks. Of course, the bees will propolize any cracks as well, but I figured I would save them the trouble. You need to keep after Gorilla Glue, however, as it keeps expanding for up to 15 minutes after it is placed.

BTW, I use Titebond III for frames.

Bding an old structural engineer, I like assembling bee woodenwar, and doing it right:)
 
#6 ·
I once used glue (polyurethane), and then nailed them with hot dip galvanized or ring-shank nails. But, since I started assembling and using 8-frame supers I've been using only coated deck screws for assembly. My main motivation for switching is because in my climate all nails begin to creep out of the wood (in a year or so) and then the glue begins to fail, once the nails have begun to creep out, getting them back in to stay seems impossible and is lots of extra work.
 
#9 ·
Yes & no

I'm a first year beek. Since we started with poly hives, and they fit together 'like glue' we didn't glue them. I was actually surprised at how well they fit together! One coat of primer and three coats of paint later and they don't even budge when you try to take them apart.

I will be making my own boxes out of wood over the next year. I WILL be gluing and nailing them.

Who knows how it will go? I will let people know if I find that the unglued poly does not work out.

Keith
 
#11 ·
Fine Woodworking did a glue test in their August 2007 issue. Titebond III was the strongest with Gorilla glue the weakest of the the six glue types they tested on three types of wood including tropical. Regular yellow (PVA) glue was almost 3 times stronger than polyurethane glue in their loose joint test in ipe' (a tropical hardwood).
 
#14 ·
Never had a need to glue frames or boxes. Boxes are rabbet joints with 7 (4+3) 60 mm staples in each corner. Frames get 6 staples-- top, bottom, keeper. Have Something like 25K deep frames out there and I might pull 7-8 frames apart in a year.

Are beeks that build boxes by the 100s and frames by the 1000s gluing on that scale? It seems like a lot of extra cost, labor, and mess for very little gain in performance/lifespan of woodware.
 
#17 ·
I guess I'm another vote for Titebond III. :) I glue my boxes and don't bother with the frames.... yet. I tried the Gorilla glue and found it tooooo messsy. :p It's almost like the Expandable Urethane that's used to winterize your home's crack's with. The Titebond III was better for me. Then I use a 7 penny galvanized ring nail to hold them together. I use the old hand-held pound stick to drive them, not my air gun.

Larry
 
#18 ·
That's interesting John D

I did not realize that titebond III was stronger than gorrilla glue. Since it is also less messy, I will use that on future projects. Do you remember if they noted by how much titebond was stronger than gorilla glue? Clearly, there may be times when you have poorly fitting box joints that you may want to use gorrilla glue on a particular joint.

Regards,

Wade
 
#21 ·
Wade,

They tested three joint fits (tight, snug & loose). The force it took to break the joint in ipe' wood were as follows: Titebond III (2554, 2733, 2525) & the polyurethane glue (1875,1455,716). The editors were even surprised at the poor showing since it's suppose to be the superior adhesive for oily tropical woods. I would think the manufacturers would reformulate their product after those results but I don't know anything about that.

John
 
#23 ·
Clean the wood . . .

Ref: "The editors were even surprised at the poor showing since it's suppose to be the superior adhesive for oily tropical woods."

I seem to remember that for oily woods, it's recommended to apply a little thinner (?) or was it alcohol (?) to remove the surface oils to improve bonding.

I also seem to remember the gorilla (polyurethane) is MORE waterproof than Titebond III. However, the reviews I read made me decide to use Titebond III for the boxes & Titebond II for the frames. The only use for the Gorilla in my opinion is for the poly hives.

Please note -- empahsis on "I seem to remember . . ." perhaps someone has a more recent recollection of the reviews . .

Scott
 
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