Jim Yanik wrote:
"Robert11" wrote in
:

Hello,

I posted this a few days ago, but it apparently never made it to the
group ? Funny, this has never happened before.
If this ends up being aduplicate post, I apologize.
---------------------------
Hello,

Have a real old wooden bed frame that is in pieces, that I would like
to put back together.

It was originally held together by very large Biscuits, and a few
Dowells, it appears.

Re the biscuits:

a. Should I use an epoxy glue, or perhaps that Gorilla Glue which I
think they call an acrylic adhesive ?
Which would be better ? Why ? (anything even better these days ?)

b. Some of the biuscuits have old, very hard, dried glue on them.

Would either the epoxy or Gorilla glue work (well) if I don't go to
the trouble of sanding them clean ? Or, must I really get rid of the
old stuff before either would grab ?
(looks like a lot of work to try and sand them clean)

Thanks,
Bob




here's a repeat of my answer;

Polyurethane glues are not meant for gap-filling applications.
Biscuits(new ones) are meant to swell from moisture in the glue,to be very
tight mechanically in addition to the glue bond.
Glue Epoxies do not get absorbed into the wood,and have a weaker bond than
a glue like Titebond.Clamping can also squeeze out too much epoxy,weakening
the joint.They do fill gaps nicely,and would work better with the old used
biscuits,as the old biscuits have a glue coating that would prevent
absorbtion of a polyurethane or Titebond-type glue.

it would be better to use NEW biscuits(or make a spline) and Titebond.
(biscuits are cheap,and worth it.)

Wood Magazine recently did a test on biscuit/dowel joints,tested their
relative strengths and ease of use. They also have done glue tests.

you also need to remove the old glue from the biscuit slots or dowel
holes,as the old glue will prevent the new glue from soaking into the wood.

new glue is not going to bond well to old glue.

I responded too and your post confirmed my suspicions that Gorilla glue
is a polyurethane since it foams on curing. Titebond sounds like the
standard type polyvinyl acetate as is Elmer's glue. I would use them
but epoxies should also work and there are probably grades made for wood.