Glue bot. Thoughts?

[AJB Temple]

Following advice from (I think) Rob, I bought 5 litres of Everbuild 502 liquid (they say) wood glue. I get through quite a lot of glue for a DIYer. Not used for anything fancy - just MDF to softwood and itself mainly. As a 5 litre bottle is too big to handle and Fairy Liquid as we know lasts forever, I bought a glu bot which mostly gets good reviews on river shop. £13.

Is it just me? Can't say I am impressed. You have to squeeze it mighty hard to get the glue to come out up the little side tube from the reservoir so if you are running up and down a 2400mm MDF strip or panel it takes much longer than I expected. The rubber top is quite good. The flat nozzle only works for me if snipped to a quite wide opening, and the pointy nozzle does not really work at all. Nozzles block easily (which never happens with the Titebond bottles).

502 is fairly thick and gloopy - certainly flows less easily than Tightbond.

Re-reading river shop reviews today, several people say that fakes abound. Looks genuine to me though.

 

[Mike G]

I've given up on any sort of bottle. They're all just too much of a faff. I use a paint brush to apply glue these days, either a small artists brush for small areas, or a 1/2" or even 1" brush for bigger areas. Obviously that's for PVA. I don't use PU unless I can help it. I buy PVA by the (small) bucketful (2-1/2 litres or 5 litres), and no longer have to content with blocked nozzles.

 

[Raymedullary]

I cannot imagine that not getting blocked and being a pain. I use Titebond that comes in as good as any other dispensing bottle IMHO. And no extra cost.

 

[AJB Temple]

Yes. Fair point. I sometimes use a paintbrush too and buy very cheap 1/2" ones for this purpose and put the glue in ex Charlie Bingham pie pots that the local charity shop struggles to give away (also good for paint and thinners). But don't you find it a bit wasteful and then you have to wash the brush and the pot. I'm lazy.

I've just done a glue up of a Butler's sink stand. Made out of C24 so we are not talking high art here, but it will be inside a cupboard and needs to be cheap and strong. Will post a pic later when I can get over the embarrassment of putting dominos in the wrong place.

 

[9fingers]

Glue bot fan here!
Much easier to squeeze.
Generally quite bit cheaper via woodworkers workshop - ebay very expensive last time I looked.

It pretty resistant to blockages as when you let go the glue is sucked back out of the narrow part of the nozzle.
There is a cap to stop it drying out at the tip too.

Bob

 

[Dr.Al]

Glue bot fan here!
Much easier to squeeze.
Generally quite bit cheaper via woodworkers workshop - ebay very expensive last time I looked.

It pretty resistant to blockages as when you let go the glue is sucked back out of the narrow part of the nozzle.
There is a cap to stop it drying out at the tip too.

Bob

:text-+1:

 

[Woodbloke]

I use them as well and have been quite impressed, but the wide screw top needs de-gunking quite regularly as the threads get rapidly coated with dried glue. Easy enough to clean as well with really hot water and a small nylon bottle brush. I'm currently using a bottle of TB3 which has quite a good dispenser so I may stick to that - Rob

 

[Malc2098]

Glue bot fan here!
Much easier to squeeze.
Generally quite bit cheaper via woodworkers workshop - ebay very expensive last time I looked.

It pretty resistant to blockages as when you let go the glue is sucked back out of the narrow part of the nozzle.
There is a cap to stop it drying out at the tip too.

Bob

:text-+1:

:text-+1:

The large screw top and washer need to be firmly closed and airtight, otherwise the effort to push the fluid up the side tube is used to escape the screw top.

I mainly use the smallest of the sizes on my instruments.

 

[Mike G]

Yes. Fair point. I sometimes use a paintbrush too and buy very cheap 1/2" ones for this purpose and put the glue in ex Charlie Bingham pie pots that the local charity shop struggles to give away (also good for paint and thinners). But don't you find it a bit wasteful and then you have to wash the brush and the pot. I'm lazy......

I just brush it straight from the bucket it comes in (like a paint "tin", made of plastic). No cleaning up, and no wastage. The brush doesn't even get cleaned: I just leave it permanently standing in a pot of water.

 

[Malc2098]

I also use a small wallpaper roller to distribute the glue evenly over a surface, just like printers ink is distributed with a roller over a printing plate to get as even a distribution as possible.

 

[spb]

But don't you find it a bit wasteful and then you have to wash the brush and the pot. I'm lazy.

I'm a big fan of my silicone glue brush - let it dry, then the glue just pulls off the bristles in (usually) one piece. For small quantities you can also just put a few overlapping pieces of masking tape on the bench top and have a puddle of glue to dip the brush in, avoiding a pot. Again just let it dry then peel off and discard.

 

[thetyreman]

I like my glubot but it does need regular maintenance and checks to make sure it's not blocked up, still worth it for me even with the extra hassle.

 

[Woodbloke]

I also use a small wallpaper roller to distribute the glue evenly over a surface, just like printers ink is distributed with a roller over a printing plate to get as even a distribution as possible.

I've got a small silicone roller; very handy!

I'm a big fan of my silicone glue brush - let it dry, then the glue just pulls off the bristles in (usually) one piece.

Got a couple of those bad badgers as well; also highly recommended - Rob

 

[Cabinetman]

I use the blue bottles of Evostick, the large bottles suffer from having to be squeezed too hard a Adrian said, so I have a couple of small ones and refill them, don’t use a brush as the nozzle is perfect at putting the glue where it’s needed. I find Titebond way too messy/runny.
Ian

 

[Doug]

I’ve got to admit I got fed up with glue bots a good few years ago, gave away the spares I had for them on here.
These days I use a short bristled flux brush to apply glue I find these excellent for general glue ups https://www.tradecounterdirect.com/roth ... vFEALw_wcB
Or a large paint brush for large areas.

 

[PAC1]

Yes. Fair point. I sometimes use a paintbrush too and buy very cheap 1/2" ones for this purpose and put the glue in ex Charlie Bingham pie pots that the local charity shop struggles to give away (also good for paint and thinners). But don't you find it a bit wasteful and then you have to wash the brush and the pot. I'm lazy......

I just brush it straight from the bucket it comes in (like a paint "tin", made of plastic). No cleaning up, and no wastage. The brush doesn't even get cleaned: I just leave it permanently standing in a pot of water.

I moved on to silicone brushes. They are good at applying the glue and easy to clean. And if you forget to clean the brush- no problem just let the glue set fully then take hold of the set glue on the brush and pull. The glue has not bound to the silicone and just pulls away and you are good to start gluing again.

 

[Weekend_Woodworker]

Yes. Fair point. I sometimes use a paintbrush too and buy very cheap 1/2" ones for this purpose and put the glue in ex Charlie Bingham pie pots that the local charity shop struggles to give away (also good for paint and thinners). But don't you find it a bit wasteful and then you have to wash the brush and the pot. I'm lazy......

I just brush it straight from the bucket it comes in (like a paint "tin", made of plastic). No cleaning up, and no wastage. The brush doesn't even get cleaned: I just leave it permanently standing in a pot of water.

I moved on to silicone brushes. They are good at applying the glue and easy to clean. And if you forget to clean the brush- no problem just let the glue set fully then take hold of the set glue on the brush and pull. The glue has not bound to the silicone and just pulls away and you are good to start gluing again.

I’m with you. I have a set of three silicone brushes and a silicone glue tray which work really well and very easy to clean once the glue has dried.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AJB Temple]

Cool. I shall have a look for silicone brushes and pot.

Refilled the glu bot today. Seals seem OK

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

I shall have a look for silicone brushes

IKEA!!

 

[AJB Temple]

River Shop!

Does not require driving to Lakeside. And eating meatballs and chips. Already have (and don't like) silicone pastry brushes. Will repurpose. Normally used for egg wash, similar to glue, and can return as needed.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Does anyone have a link to one of these silicone brushes please?
I have a GlueBot (and don't use it).
Ta
S

 

[9fingers]

Something like this? https://titebond.co.uk/products/16330-w ... -titebrush

Bob

 

[PAC1]

Or this https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/sili-glue-kit/

 

[AJB Temple]

I was not familiar with wood workers workshop so had a look. Thought it was something to do with Classic Hand Tools (no idea why).

It sells some stuff by "Woodpeckers". For instance an offset base plate for a Festool Domino. Apparently adds precision and is £560 :shock: I couldn't believe it. It's a glorified metal plate. I find my Domino (which I paid less than £560 for) perfectly easy to use accurately without any gadgets. Tool prices seem to have gone bonkers.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Thank you for the links, gentlemen.

Adrian - on that particular product I concur wholeheartedly. But Peter is a good bloke and does not take the mickey. If it is that price, it is that price for a reason. Work backwards (VAT, import duty, sensible profit etc, etc and you can see how it becomes what it is. I'm not justifying it, just trying to explain.
I doubt he sells many...
S

 

[AJB Temple]

Thanks Steve. I was not having a pop at Peter - in fact I didn't mention his name. I was just astonished at the price of this "Woodpeckers" kit. For example there is an aluminium 600mm T square that is £200. This is pure marketing (not by Peter's shop - he just stocks the stuff).

 

[Steve Maskery]

All Woodpeckers stuff is expensive. I have no doubt that it is excellent, but it is definitely for people with woodworking enthusiasm and deep pockets.

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Here you go Steve; one silicone glue brush at circum one fifth the price of woodworking emporium cost:

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/grilltider ... -00444554/

I have three, older magpie colouration, scattered around the bench and two site boxes; with amateur use, thay have lasted five years and are still going. Let me know how many you want. I can pick them up local to me and post them to you if IKEA in France proves to be awkward.

The Big River lot might be digitally convenient, but I've gone right off subsidising Jeff Bezos. His prices are sometimes exorbitant, compared to shopping around for convenional outlets; his so-called 'next day' £8 per month "Prime" is more like "Mundane" and over 40% of what I ordered in the last two months has been several days late. [I live 45 minutes drive - straight up the A1 - from one major "Hub"].
Then, they foist 'outside suppliers' - or some such moniker - and duck responsibility when the secondary provider fails (one had the termerity to say - after taking my money - that they had a "three week lead time"). On "Prime"????? Jeff? You are a shyster.

 

[Doug]

I bought one of those ikea brushes a few years ago when this subject came up before & I'm not impressed at all, I found them awkward to spread the glue with in part because the bristles are long, thick & quite wide apart they also left way too much glue on the surfaces to be glued.
Looking at the Sefton brushes at least the the bristles look shorter, thinner & closer together so might work better but the few seconds it takes to wash out the brushes I now use is easily saved by the speed & accuracy of application they give me.
If you want one of those ikea brushes Steve & you’re back this way again you’re welcome to the one that’s still sitting in my brush pot.

 

[Doug]

Thanks Steve. I was not having a pop at Peter - in fact I didn't mention his name. I was just astonished at the price of this "Woodpeckers" kit. For example there is an aluminium 600mm T square that is £200. This is pure marketing (not by Peter's shop - he just stocks the stuff).

But that square is nearly half that price if you bought it in the USA, they are supposedly made from aircraft grade anodised aluminium & are manufactured in the USA.
Now I’m not interested in their gear but I can see why they are way more expensive than cheap Chinese knock off imports but then again I’m not interested in cheap Chinese tat.

 

[Dr.Al]

they are supposedly made from aircraft grade anodised aluminium...

... which is a completely meaningless term that is popular with marketing bods. "Aircraft grade aluminium" is a generic term for certain alloys that have been used at some point by the aerospace industry. That doesn't convey any particularly special properties on them or mean that they are the best choice for a woodworking square.

 

[AndyP]

Off topic a bit but this is what I spread most of my glue with



I have the added bonus of eating the ice cream first

I also find that white PVA glue washes off an ordinary brush quite easily.

 

[PAC1]

I also find that white PVA glue washes off an ordinary brush quite easily.

I agree subject to one proviso. That you remember to wash it immediately after glue up. The reason I changed to silicone brushes was because I was getting through ordinary brushes at least one a week because I forgot to wash them up immediately. That is now a none issue. Wash them, don't wash them it matters not. Some might even enjoy peeling the set glue off the brush.

 

[Dr.Al]

I also find that white PVA glue washes off an ordinary brush quite easily.

I agree subject to one proviso. That you remember to wash it immediately after glue up. The reason I changed to silicone brushes was because I was getting through ordinary brushes at least one a week because I forgot to wash them up immediately. That is now a none issue. Wash them, don't wash them it matters not. Some might even enjoy peeling the set glue off the brush.

I use a silicone tray for this reason (dump some glue out onto the tray, apply with brush, leave the excess to dry in the silicone tray, peel it off with ease). I prefer ordinary brushes to the silicone ones I've got.

 

[AJB Temple]

When I was young and even more stupid than I am now, I used to get peeling skin in the sun (constantly out on boats) and it was a weird pleasure to pull the peeling skin off I imagine glue peeling is similar. :lol:

 

[Malc2098]

Does anyone else use a roller to evenly spread water based glue?

 

[PAC1]

Does anyone else use a roller to evenly spread water based glue?

Occasionally when making laminates or stringing. The roller I have is rubber not silicone. I find that titebond sticks to it which causes two problems. First semi set glue stopping the joints closing and creating a clear glue line which is not desirable. I noticed this on the last set of stringing I made. Second the glue is difficult to get off the roller even if I do so immediately after finishing the glue up. In less than 20 minutes it had created a thin set layer of glue on the roller. I noticed you can now get silicone rollers so I may change to a silicone roller.
The roller I have is 15+ years old so may just be past its useful life.

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

When I was young and even more stupid than I am now, I used to get peeling skin in the sun (constantly out on boats) and it was a weird pleasure to pull the peeling skin off I imagine glue peeling is similar. :lol:

Gross comment. Did you have to?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Here you go Steve; one silicone glue brush at circum one fifth the price of woodworking emporium cost:

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/grilltider ... -00444554/

Do you know, I think I have one of those somewhere. Probably in one of the many as-yet-still-not-unpacked boxes.

I have three, older magpie colouration, scattered around the bench and two site boxes; with amateur use, thay have lasted five years and are still going. Let me know how many you want. I can pick them up local to me and post them to you if IKEA in France proves to be awkward.

That is very kind of you Sam, thank you.

The Big River lot might be digitally convenient, but I've gone right off subsidising Jeff Bezos. His prices are sometimes exorbitant, compared to shopping around for convenional outlets; his so-called 'next day' £8 per month "Prime" is more like "Mundane" and over 40% of what I ordered in the last two months has been several days late. [I live 45 minutes drive - straight up the A1 - from one major "Hub"].
Then, they foist 'outside suppliers' - or some such moniker - and duck responsibility when the secondary provider fails (one had the termerity to say - after taking my money - that they had a "three week lead time"). On "Prime"????? Jeff? You are a shyster.

Prime here is 3 days if you are lucky...

 

[Doug]

they are supposedly made from aircraft grade anodised aluminium...

... which is a completely meaningless term that is popular with marketing bods. "Aircraft grade aluminium" is a generic term for certain alloys that have been used at some point by the aerospace industry. That doesn't convey any particularly special properties on them or mean that they are the best choice for a woodworking square.

I just thought they were referring to the hardness of the aluminium they use :eusa-think: aircraft grade is series 7 & more expensive than other grades, perhaps they are using the to term to justify their manufacturing costs.