Can you name this glue?

A little off topic, but I figured a boat building forum would be the best place to get this question answered (2 part question)...

I am looking to identify a wood glue that will be used for building waterskis so being strong, waterproof and flexible is a must. The skis will be made of oak, walnut, ash, pine cedar, etc. so we're dealing with hardwood and softwood.

Question 1:

Someone I was talking to who builds waterskis mentoined a glue that he uses but he wouldn't tell me what it was. All he would say is that it only comes in 5 gallon buckets, costs between $350 and $450 for the 5 gallons and finally it has a shelf life of one year. My first thought was resorcinol, but the glue isn't purple (it was light "wood color" and he said it wasn't resorcinol).
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT GLUE THIS COULD BE???

Question 2:

In your opinion, what would be the best glue for this purpose (in and out of the water all year long, waterproof, strong, flexible, working time of 30 minutes or more)??? Anyone have any ideas???

Thanks!

--Jeremy

 

Not sure what your friend used but epoxy is good..

 

rescorcinal is good

 

Don't use eipoxy with oak. It will fail. Gorilla glue is waterproof, clear and has a limited shelf life.

 

You could use polyurethane construction glue. It hardens by absorbing moisture and foams a bit if the gap allows it to. That means the parts must be firmly held together for a few hours, otherwise your skis will look funny.

 

That is what Gorilla glue is. Great stuff. but messy.

 

Could the wood be damp (throughout) or only surface moisture works, with the Gorilla?

 

White oak, live oak, etc., glues poorly with epoxy, but I believe that other species of oak, in particular (American) red oak, glues well with epoxy. I could be wrong, however.

 

Just the surface. It might be that wet wood would also glue okay, but I wouldn't chance it. The last thing you want to do is to glue wet wood, for reasons of dimensional stability at the very least.
I have wondered, however, how PU glue would work as pieces came right out of the steambox. When the wood is limber it is more likely to clamp right tight. If anyone knows the answer to that question, lemme know.

 

I think too much water will interfere with the bonding surfaces. A little atmospheric ambient humidity or latent moisture content is ok but to actually be "wet" would cause failure at contact point.

 

Resorcinol is good.

 

The white oaks (white, live, etc.) can be glued with epoxy, but you have to remove the tannins. This can be done chemically.

To glue together laminates of these various species, you can use one of several adhesives, but the ultimate goal will be a water ski. Since this is the case, you'll want to encapsulate the wood, to stabilize it's moisture content. The only real choice here is epoxy. Your buddy with the expensive buckets of goo likely has epoxy, possibly with a filler or pigment added. At $400 bucket a bucket, it's about 80 bucks a gallon, which is high, but about right for epoxy if it's a custom mix. I'm paying $60 a gallon for a custom mix.

Any other adhesive choice will eventually have to contend with epoxy encapsulation, so why use different goo, just use epoxy. Thickened epoxy for the laminations and straight epoxy for the encapsulation.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I don't think it's epoxy he's using, and I know it's not encapsulated in epoxy (it's just varnish/polyU). I have been building waterskis myself for a couple years now with Gorilla Glue and it's worked perfect. They guy I was talking to was saying that they're all going to fall appart in a couple years, but i'm pretty sure he was just being a jerk.

Is there such thing as a Resorcinol that isn't purple? I would like to use it, but the seams and joints would really stand out.

 

If they aren't encapsulated in epoxy, the guy that said they'll fall apart in a few years is right. The wood will expand and contract with moisture content. This will eventually cause the joints to fail. Depending on how much use it sees and how much moisture gain/lose it must tolerate will determine how long it'll last. The wood fibers will eventually have to fail along the glue lines, unless moisture content is stabilized.

 

Could'nt you buy some water skis that will work better. Believe me water skis are a bit more than wood stuck together.