Gluing Teak
More suggestions on joint prep and adhesive selection for this oily wood. December 20, 2005
Question
We are currently working on a job that involves a lot of gluing of solid teak. It is all for indoor use, mouldings, cabinet parts and etc. What type of glue should we be using to glue this oily wood with?
Forum Responses
(Adhesive Forum)
From contributor P:
The 2-part Weldwood Resorcinol works well (waterproof to boot), as do the better epoxies such as West System. Gorilla glue may work, but I don't have personal experience with the urethanes of that type. The key is to prepare the surface a few minutes before gluing. Start with the sanded lumber - no glazing from jointer or planer blades. Wipe the surface with acetone to pull off the oils from near the surface. Then glue normally a few minutes later. I have been doing that for boat projects for years with excellent results.
From contributor C:
You may want to review the Knowledge Base article with Jeff Pitcher's comments about gluing teak - the link is below.
Teak Tips
From contributor D:
I'm getting good results by wiping the joint to be glued with denatured alcohol, applying Gorilla glue and clamping overnight. I am fabricating large bent laminations for custom curved exterior decks and porches in the Rocky Mountains and haven’t seen a de-lamination in the four years I've been using this procedure. I did a test a while ago with the new Titebond III with poor results. Gorilla glue is somewhat messy until you get your application tuned up. I wear disposable gloves to minimize skin staining. The squeeze out machines easily and the finished joint is nearly invisible.
From contributor A:
Clean joining surface with acetone and use Kleibrate 501, 2 pack foaming glue. It works excellent on teak and the dry time is only 2 hours.
From contributor K:
Titebond III works very well on teak. The wood failed before the bond when we busted our test pieces apart. Also there wasn’t the mess of gorilla glue.
From contributor R:
The only difference with gluing teak is that it has a natural oil content to it. To glue it, simply clean all surfaces to be glued with a solvent like lacquer thinner and remove the oil from the surface prior to gluing. It's important to know that the oil will eventually leach out again so you must glue as soon as the solvent evaporates out of the wood. Once cleaned, you can glue with any wood glue. I have always used yellow glue and have furniture 25 years old made of teak still in great shape.
