Cascamite ( really ?)

[Mike Jordan]

I understand that Polyvine are trying to convince us that they now have a Cascamite that is like the real stuff!
I don't believe a word of it, I'm still waiting for a refund on the last 1.5 Kg that refused to set.

 

[AJB Temple]

They destroyed this brand. It has been criticised so often on forums such as this that I am surprised that they still sell any.

 

[Trevanion]

I saw Doug's post on Instagram about this today, it said on top of the lid "Back to the Cascamite you know and trust" with a thumbs-up sign, so now they're acknowledging now that there was a problem despite them swearing blind before to customers that there were no problems at all and they weren't using it correctly when people were complaining about the glue not going off as well as there being contaminants in the glue such as small stones, bits of rope, and other nasties.

They destroyed this brand.

Definitely, Thanks to their lack of customer service and general ignorance I think a majority of the big users of Cascamite have shifted onto alternatives like Aerolite One-Shot and Semforite to avoid the uncertainty of the Polyvine stuff, the damage has been done. I certainly would think twice about buying any Polyvine products.

 

[Woodbloke]

I understand that Polyvine are trying to convince us that they now have a Cascamite that is like the real stuff!
I don't believe a word of it, I'm still waiting for a refund on the last 1.5 Kg that refused to set.

I bought a tub about 18 months ago which has been fine; no curing issues of any sort. I may mix a trial batch in a day or so just to check that it’s OK but the last time I used it for a gluing job, it went off ‘glass hard’ - Rob

 

[Woodster]

They should have offered to replace affected tubs of the stuff straight away, that would have gone a long way in customer care. As it is I won’t buy any more. I’ve still got a tub of the affected stuff somewhere. I bought it from Axminster, I wonder if they will swap it for me?

 

[AJB Temple]

I had a batch that refused to become smooth and would not set. I complained and they accused me of ignorance of it - a brand I had been using for 25 years. I did eventually get a refund after some hassle, but having moved on to alternatives that work, there is no reason for me to return to the brand. It would not surprise me if many woodworkers have dumped it forever.

 

[Robert]

Can't comment on the Cascamite but I will say I've been impressed with the Polyvine extreme varnish I used on my garden table and a bench and a cutting board (as it says it was food safe). It went on easy and all are still looking perfect. OK only one summer of exposure to date so time will tell how it ages but so far so good.

 

[Doug]

I’ve glued up a couple of pieces of pine this afternoon with the new batch whilst making some oak feet so can report back tomorrow as to its improvement or not.
Personally I’ve been using PU since cascamite went down the pan so I’m glad to see it back.

 

[Woodbloke]

Can't comment on the Cascamite but I will say I've been impressed with the Polyvine extreme varnish I used on my garden table and a bench and a cutting board (as it says it was food safe). It went on easy and all are still looking perfect. OK only one summer of exposure to date so time will tell how it ages but so far so good.

I agree, the Polyvine acrylic ‘wax’ varnishes are pretty good. I finished a linen chest in Olive Ash a couple of years ago with it and it was very good indeed - Rob

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Polyvine wood oil is strange. Why they call it wood oil when it's a varnish, I really don't know. I used it on oak and it was sticky two weeks later, five weeks later it was still soft to the touch and easily scratched off. Never again.

 

[AJB Temple]

The Polyvine pro varnish for use over painted surfaces is very good in my experience though. I painted a lot of panelling and it tended to show fingermarks. Now banished with a careful coat of Polyvine lacquer for that purpose. Expensive but very good.

 

[HappyHacker]

I repaired a teak garden table with Cascamite a couple of years ago, wind had blown central parasol over causing damage to the table. I bought a new tub as my unopened tub had gone off. Did everything properly clean joint with acetone etc. This year the large heavy teak framed parasol got blown over the bungalow damaging that and breaking all the tables repaired joints and breaking even more of the table. The cascamite glued joints had come apart without pulling any wood off as well. I could clean any remaining cascamite off the joints relatively easily even though it was rock hard, very little appeared to be well stuck to the wood.

Made new repair with West Epoxy, very expensive but it appears to work well and cheap compared with the time and effort I put in, time will tell. When making one joint a little leaked out onto the bench. Removing the glued item from the bench was hard and took some wood off the bench as well.

Having successfully used cascamite many years ago I am not going to again.

 

[Trevanion]

I repaired a teak garden table with Cascamite

The problem with that sentence is “teak” :lol:

It’s very difficult to glue, degreasing can help but Cascamite still struggles to stick it. Epoxy, polyurethane or Resorcinol are the preferred choices for oily timbers.

 

[Mike Jordan]

Not a company that will see any more of my money for any product.

 

[droogs]

ditto

 

[Woodster]

Do we know how this came about. Was it difficulty in obtaining the correct raw materials or was it a money saving exercise?

 

[AJB Temple]

The factory that produced one of the cascamite components stopped producing (I have a vague recollection it was in Israel), they changed the formulation and the problems all began. Peter Sefton did an article on it I think (he abandoned Cascamite). Polyvine was in denial about the problems for ages, as if all users had suddenly become incompetent idiots. Hence brand damaging news went round the wood trade like wildfire.

 

[RogerS]

.....Polyvine was in denial about the problems for ages, as if all users had suddenly become incompetent idiots. ....

Do I detect a whiff of Polyvine lawyers fearing compensation claims ?

 

[AndyT]

I'm pretty sure that the factory was in Iraq, possibly a place even more problematical than Israel to trade with over the last few years, (veering swiftly away from politics...but the reasons are obvious).

 

[Doug]

A little later than intended I finally got round to breaking the joints this evening, not exactly scientific but I’d glue up one with cascamite & one with D4 PVA,I placed the glued up two joints in the vice like this




& then hit them with a hammer,



Both took about the same force to break & as you can see there was break out of timber on both, the PVA breaking closer to the glue line than the cascamite

PVA



Cascamite



I’m not saying one was better than the other they both seem good to me, but for glue ups that I need to avoid any creap that can be associated with PVA it’s good to know Cascamite is back to normal.

 

[Woodbloke]

Thanks for that Doug; re-assuring to know that Cascamite is behaving now as it should do - Rob

 

[Mike Jordan]

So the glue appears to be back to what it was in 1959 when I was shown how to mix it. That only leaves the question of lousy customer service to sort out ! And the shelf life question as well. It works today but what about six months time. Personally I'm staying with One Shot.

 

[Doug]

So the glue appears to be back to what it was in 1959 when I was shown how to mix it. That only leaves the question of lousy customer service to sort out ! And the shelf life question as well. It works today but what about six months time. Personally I'm staying with One Shot.

& I can't fault you Mike, nothing worse that poor customer service to leave a sour taste in the mouth.
I bought this pot to make up an order of oil from Wood Finishes Direct to get free P&P so in effect it cost me nothing.
I like Cascamite as it's available in small quantities, I don't use it often but for some jobs it's the most suitable type of glue & being in small quantities there's very little chance of it going off before it gets used up so it's handy for me.

 

[droogs]

If you have a food vacuum sealer machine, you can decant the glue powder into smaller portions and seal them. This extends the shelf life by about 6 months for me. I also use the machine for small veneering jobs as well. Works a treat.

 

[Woodster]

If you have a food vacuum sealer machine, you can decant the glue powder into smaller portions and seal them. This extends the shelf life by about 6 months for me. I also use the machine for small veneering jobs as well. Works a treat.

My original tub of Cascamite sat on the shelf for several years before I got round to using it all and it has worked fine.

I’ve just ordered some Aerolite UP4145 so I’ll see how well that works soon.

 

[Woodbloke]

If you have a food vacuum sealer machine, you can decant the glue powder into smaller portions and seal them. This extends the shelf life by about 6 months for me. I also use the machine for small veneering jobs as well. Works a treat.

I use a few sachets of silicon granules in my tub to absorb any moisture. Seems to work quite well - Rob

 

[AJE78]

Hi Woodster,

Bit of a bump on an old thread. I just wondered whether you had any feedback on your experience of using the aerolite glue? Did a search on the forum and saw this and thought this might be a good alternative to cascamite. Price wise it seems good, similar properties and a good choice for exterior and end grain gluing which is what I'm looking to do.

I was intending to use cascamite but having read feedback from other user it leaves me a bit concerned about it's reliability.

Any thoughts and advice appreciated

Cheers

Andy

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

 

[Mike Jordan]

I’m using “one shot powdered resin glue” from Adkwik. So far without problems.
I won’t be making any purchases of any product from Polyvine from now until hellfreezes over.
A disgraceful episode.

 

[Woodster]

Hi Woodster,

Bit of a bump on an old thread. I just wondered whether you had any feedback on your experience of using the aerolite glue? Did a search on the forum and saw this and thought this might be a good alternative to cascamite. Price wise it seems good, similar properties and a good choice for exterior and end grain gluing which is what I'm looking to do.

I was intending to use cascamite but having read feedback from other user it leaves me a bit concerned about it's reliability.

Any thoughts and advice appreciated

Cheers

Andy

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

Sorry Andy, I’ve not had a chance to use it yet.

I bought it specifically for turned stuff but I haven’t needed it so far. The last tub of Cascamite I bought was completely useless.

 

[MJ80]

Plus one for Adkwik, I've been using their stuff for a while, not had any issues with it.

 

[AJE78]

Cheers Folks, I'll buy some aerolite in that case and see how it goes. The reviews I saw were principally on Axminster tools website and there was an awful lot of people expressing how badly it had performed. Recent ones too so I am not sure how well the issues have been resolved. To be honest I'd rather just not take the chance if there's an alternative.

Mike and MJ80 is the one shot pretty much like for like compared to cascamite in terms of preparation, application and clean up?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

 

[Mike Jordan]

I can’t detect any difference between One Shot and the original cascamite I’ve used for decades.
I was very fortunate to spot a complaint on one of the woodworking sites, this prompted me to make a test batch of the Polyvine rubbish which only went rubbery and never set hard. If I had used it on my next glue up I would have lost a lot of money! I got no help from Axi or Polyvine when I complained.

 

[droogs]

Although they (Polyvine) refused to admit there was a problem of any kind with Cascamite (probably due to liability in case of failures and getting sued) they are now Boasting that it is back to the same old formula "we know and trust". They are a complete bunch of gits making themselves go blind. I and most of those I know who used to swear by it only now swear at it and will never buy any of their products again. They did themselves no favours and have probably lost the massive dominance they had in the market and will never get it back.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Stick with
http://www.maragon.co.uk/glue.html#Init

 

[MJ80]

It's the same, mixes really well.
I remember having a conversation with the chap at Adkwik about Cascamite and the changed formula. Apparently it was due to one of the ingredients coming from Iraq or somewhere else, and it obviously became difficult leading to a reformulation.

 

[AJE78]

Cheers all, I ordered some Aerolite from Issac Lord. They did 1Kg tubs which is more than enough for me. Seems a genuine shame that a product like cascamite that has been so well regarded for so long seems to no longer be reliable or usable.

Phil - thanks for the link to that option for Semfort, showing my lack of knowledge but I'd never heard of it before now. I'd already ordered by the time you sent it but have noted it for future reference. Seems a very good price and another option for me to consider. Always good to have options.

Andy

 

[Loghead]

Not sure if I was just unlucky with my Cascamite, but a few years ago I had a failure when I tried to glue Red Cedar 4x2s into 4x4s. The glue just didn't cure. I thought it might be something to do with the cedar itself; maybe the resin in the wood was the problem. I soused the surfaces with Meths, and that worked. Haven't used Cascamite with cedar since.

Now I stick with Evostick Resin W. A poor pun, but that's me! :mrgreen:

John bscene-drinkingcheers:

 

[Woodster]

I finally got round to using the Aerolite 4145 I bought a while ago. It was far easier to mix than the last tub of Cascamite I had and it seems to have produced a very solid glue up of three different timbers with side/end grain glue joins. Time will tell.

 

[Doug]

Agree the Aerolite mixes easier, I’ve been using it for the last 6 months & have had no problems with it.
It would be nice if they did a mix by volume ratio but it’s not a biggie having to whip the kitchen scales when I’m using it.

 

[Mike Jordan]

I think the main message remains the same, the company involved failed miserably on customer care and will get no more of my money for any product with their name on it.