Fast-Setting Glue for Door Glue-Ups
Advice on locating and using quick-setting PVA adhesives for woodworking applications. April 20, 2008
Question
Anyone know how to get Dorus Express glue? I heard about it on WOODWEB but my local Dorus distributor needs a product number. The thread said that this stuff could be planed after a few minutes in a clamp if the temperature was above 70 degrees. Is this a goose chase or the real thing?
Forum Responses
(Adhesive Forum)
From contributor R:
Thanks for the tip. Located it on www.doellken-woodtape.com in 30 seconds. Appears to be real.
From contributor C:
We use Jowat fast setting glue. You have to be fast and good with your clamps. We have never tried any faster than 30 minutes in clamps and then to the widebelt sander.
From the original questioner:
Even thirty minutes would be great. I'll look into the Jowat glue as well. Thanks for the help!
From contributor V:
When I looked at the Dorus site it seemed as if it was mostly hotmelt glues, and the one spoken about indicated a special high pressure clamping system was needed. Are any of these glues usable in normal situations with normal bar clamps?
From contributor R:
You didn't look closely enough. The PVA Dorus Express has a 7 minute clamp time. There is no product number for your vendor to look for.
From contributor J:
I have used Dorus Express glue for years and for the most part it is all that we use. The claims of 7 minutes are true - faster if it is hot outside. Just ask your supplier for Dorus express - I don't think that there is a product number. It is really good stuff.
From the original questioner:
I finally got to test the Dorus glue yesterday. Twenty minutes in the clamps, then through the planer, cut to size, and then through the raised panel shaper. Perfect, glue held through it all. Has anyone tested it for cabinet doors, cope and stick?
From contributor L:
I'd like to know the same. I am going into kitchen cabinet and entry door production on a large scale. A lot of money is going to be spent on automatic panel raising machines like the Lobo or Unique 250 that will produce the stiles, rails, and panels in 2-5 minutes. The problem is what you now do with all these parts. Need to be able to sand and glue them up as fast as they are produced.
From contributor T:
That Dorus Express is good stuff. I have used it a lot. You can machine in about 15-20 minutes. Henkel is the company that makes it.
From the original questioner:
We did some cope and stick doors last week with the Dorus glue. Left them in our JTL clamp for half an hour just in case. Will try shortening the clamp time to see what happens on some sample doors. Time will tell...
From contributor J:
You can take Dorus doors out of the clamps in 5-7 minutes and do the same with panels if you have 70+ degrees in your shop.
From the original questioner:
We were afraid of the consequences doing that, but something happened today that makes me think you are right. I had eight small filler panels, five part, 5" x 34.5" long, so got the bright idea to glue all eight at once. Got an employee gluing the stiles while I slapped them together and put them in the clamp. Must have taken too long, because when I hit the clamp valve, the last four panels in the end section pulled up tight, but the first four in the first section wouldn't pull up tight. Took a bar clamp and tried, but they weren't budging. Will do some testing this Saturday, see what happens after ten minutes.
We make doors two at a time, chop the prepared stile and rail stock, shaper and sand the raised panel, cope and stick the stiles and rails. That takes thirty minutes for my slow poke door guy, so the doors get thirty minutes clamp time.
I don't pin the joints; use that in sales - tell people that if you see pins, they pinned it and yanked it out of the press. I figure if you clamp up a joint, it forces the glue into the pores. A couple of pins won't hold it completely tight, especially with space balls, so it has to relax a bit. A small thing, but it shows attention to detail that people like.
