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Jim Willemin

Frogwatch wrote in news:92b2f88e-4166-47af-981e-
:

I am building a truck slide-in camper (Glen-L "Importer" design) and
am using epoxy for most things thickened with fibers and balloons.
However, in places where I think there will be less stress on the
camper inside, I am using the cheaper and easier to use "Tightbond"
waterproof glue with all joints screwed together. For example, I am
using the Tightbond on the cabinets. How does this compare to epoxy?

In both cases, in a properly assembled joint, the wood will fail before the
adhesive (assuming you aren't boiling the joint in water or something). As
I understand it, Titebond requires good joinery (tight mating surfaces) and
good clamping pressure - the thinner the glue film, the better. On the
other hand, again as I understand it, epoxy likes a little gap, and needs a
thicker film for optimum joint strength. I suspect epoxy is a little
better for gluing ply to ply; if I make a T or L joint in ply using
Titebond, I also use a 1x1 cleat so the glue has a good long-grain surface
area to adhere to (Titebond basically sucks for gluing end grain, and since
any butt joint in ply is half end grain, you're working against the
material). Titebond is great for cabinets, assuming you're using lumber
for the frames - just spread the glue kinda thin, and clamp hard enough to
get a little squeeze-out, and leave it clamped for a few hours. Do that,
and the joint is not gonna fail.

Also understand that 'waterproof' is relative. I wouldn't use Titebond in
a joint that would be continually immersed without a good paint covering,
for instance. If you keep the joint from being soaked, though, you should
be fine.

Those are my two cents, of course - your mileage may vary