I was going to try laminating a stock blank and wanting to know what glue is usually used between laminate layers.

Is it polyurathane glue like the "Gorilla Glue"?

quote:

Originally posted by Riodot:
I was going to try laminating a stock blank and wanting to know what glue is usually used between laminate layers.

Is it polyurathane glue like the "Gorilla Glue"?

Unless you have an extremely elaborate wood shop, complete with a very good press of some type, I’m not sure you could ever come close to matching what can be purchased...and Gorilla Glue is probably not the best choice for this type of project. Just my opinion.

I'm certainly not going to try to do the 1/16" layers.

I was going to try a 5 layer from the same blant to strengthen the stock.

As far as my wood shop, yes I definitely have the tools to do this.

Furniture building is my winter hobby.

I'm just lost on the glue.

If you make furniture I’m sure you get all the Woodworking catalogs in the mail. Just about all of them have a section that has the different laminating adhesives. You could also call one of the companies making laminated stocks and ask what they use.

Riodot,

http://www.serengetistockworks.com/

I'm of the opinion if a guy as a good band saw and a thick enought blank he can laminate one himself. I'd use west marine expoxy.

The above link is the most I've seen on this subject, I think they get about 250 to laminate your blank.

At one time I wanted to laminate one myself, but got busy with other things. Someday I may try it just for grins

Marine epoxy - I'll experiment with that.

I have some left over from a wooden boat project.

Any other suggestions??

Thanks in advance

Try Weldwood plastic resin glue, weldwood resorcinol glue, or most any of the laminating epoxies.

I'm thinking of doing this same thing, and I'll probably use resorcinol glue, mainly because I have a bunch of it.

Riodot, just to confirm what a couple of others said, stay away from the polyurathene glues. While they are great in some cases they expand as they cure, by a good bit, and this can cause problems when trying to make up a laminate. Any of the good epoxy types should work.

I did a couple of 3 laminates (maple/walnut/maple) one time and used resorcinal. It worked well.

When I was in gunsmith school in 1952 at Trinidad they were making walnut/maple laminates similar to the ones on the Remingtons today. At that time they were using Fosco from M.L.Foss lumber in Denver. It looked smelled and felt like Elmers glue from Borden. They had glued small sections and put on roof of building and left exposed for a year and the joints were good 0ne year later. That's rain,snow,sun, the whole range. I built one stock that I used for almost 20 years and had NO seperations. We just planed the boards and held together with "C" clamps. Really no big deal then. If I remember correctly the center piece was walnut the thickness of the width of front of bottom metal,1/2" or so and the next 2 contrasting colors (usually the maple)were 3/8"and finished with outer 3/4"-1" walnut. Made a very attractive stock and for a student was CHEAP which was a very deciding factor when I think a NEW FN action was $65. Those WERE pretty good times.

I have done it once, for decorative reasons. I was building an ultralight rifle for my daughter on a MiniMkX action. I had some extremely figured and also extremely light 1" curly maple in my woodshop. I planed two lengths of this and sandwiched it with two sheets of 1/16" walnut veneer and one layer of 1/16" maple veneer. I then had Fajen mill a stock with the line centered. The result was a tiger maple stock which looked like it had a walnut/maple/walnut purfling strip inlet from one end to the other, both top and bottom. Used a straight grip to cut weight and accent the look. Also used a crotch grained piece of claro for a fore end tip. I used thickened epoxy to laminate, since it doesn't depend on pressure to bond. The clamping pressure to properly bond something which is 8" by 36" is enormous.

Art beat me to the thing about carpenter's glue (the stuff like Elmer's). You need to figure out a damn good clamp or press for the whole length of the blank or you'll get a weak bond. Done right, however, the seam will be stronger than the wood around it.

Even with epoxy you'll want some serious weight so you don't get a thick glue line.

Thanks for the input

I have lots of clamps so I think I'll use your suggestions and give the epoxy a shot.

My plan is 1" walnut on the out side with a sandwich of 2 3/8" pieces of purpleheart and 3/8" walnut in the center.

If I ever get it done I'll post a photo.

quote:

damn good clamp or press for the whole length of the blank or you'll get a weak bond

You would want a vaccum press for this job.

I don't think that clamps are the best thing to use. I can e-mail you pics. of my redwood stock and walnut stock. I laminated carbonfiber cloth between laminations and vacuum bagged it. Much better clamping that way. Butch

Butch beat me to vacuum bagging. Look it up, it is not difficult at all to make up a DIY setup. Otherwise clamps will work fine, just use a bunch of them. You can also do this on a concrete floor and put bricks or concrete blocks on the wood, use a few layers of blocks

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
I don't think that clamps are the best thing to use. I can e-mail you pics. of my redwood stock and walnut stock. I laminated carbonfiber cloth between laminations and vacuum bagged it. Much better clamping that way. Butch

Butch,
What did you use for the glue when assembling the wood/c'fiber stock blank?

thanks,

Jay

Jay, I used West Systems epoxy. Butch

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
Jay, I used West Systems epoxy. Butch

Thanks for the info. I have their manual, it is very good for learing how to use their products. Aircraft Specialies has a good selection of c'fiber.

Jay