I am getting ready to contrust a Timber Trestle Bridge from Blair Bridge Co. on my N-scale layout I am building. I am wondering if just white Elmer’s type glue is approprite to be able to use in gluing the parts of the bridge together or is there another type of glue that would work better and easier?
Almost anything will work, BUT, I like the yellow wood workers glue. For my walnut trestle I used the brown version. Both worked really well, and once dried, they were very solid.
I used wallpaper seam adhesive when I did mine. It comes in a tube from a Home Depot / Lowes type of place.
My thoughs:
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It is on the thicker side like Elmers and does not soak in/around the wood like super glue does (which makes the surrounding area darker and hinders future coloring by sealing the wood).
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When dry, its not water soluble - Over the course of building a layout, one sprays a lot of water. If you have an item that would get wet as a result of other scenery work, then you want something that is not going to fall apart when it does get wet. I learned this lesson when I build my plaster culverts with Elmers and then later used water-based liquid pigments to color it - the thing just fell apart because the water in the pigments caused the Elmers to liquefy. I reassembled with the seam adhesive and have had no problems.
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It seems to dry a bit faster then Elmers.
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It can squeeze out of the joint like Elmers would. If I don’t wipe if off at the time, I’ll let it dry and then flake off the dried glob.
I used a product called Weld Bond, a super white glue…and it did a super job.
However, and this applies to all wood glues, it doesn’t paint well. If you take pictures, you will see the gobs, painted, but not having taken the tints or full colours well at all. So, to get it looking good, use any of those mentioned so far, but use them lightly so that you minimize the oozing and running. Anywhere it is visible, even as a very thin layer, it will shine like a beacon when light is directed upon it.
If you can flake off an already dried blob, I don’t think you’re getting the strong bond like you would with carpenter’s glue. Have you tried bonding some scraps and tried to force them apart.
In place of alphetic resin(carpenter’s glue), Ambroid, Aleen’s Tacky, testors fuel proof, and clear tube liquid nail produce a very stong bond with wood.
When I say ‘flake off the bried glob’, what I mean is the glue that squeezes out from between the two pieces of wood. When it squeezes out, instead of wiping it off and, as a result, spearing it across the wood (and somewhat into the wood which results in somewhat sealing the wood), I let it dry in the ball shape it is already in. Then, after it dries, pop it off with a sharp blade.
And the bond is very good. I’ve had no problems.