Gorilla Glue

Jewelry Discussion
1

Has anyone tried Gorilla Glue http://www.gorillaglue.com It’s a 100%
waterproof, polyurethane adhesive that claims to be “The Toughest
Glue on Planet Earth.”

Beth

2

Yep, I bought a sealskin fur coat at Goodwill (lifelong vegetarian
but I needed something warm to wear to a company meeting in Monmouth,
New Jersey) and I used Gorilla Glue to put together the pieces (hey,
the coat cost $32). The stuff worked so well, the seams were
invisible and a flight attendant begged me to sell her the coat. Ha,
I gave it to her on the return flight.

Now, how the glue functions with\ jewelry, I have no idea.

Marly

3 
Has anyone tried Gorilla Glue http://www.gorillaglue.com It's a
100% waterproof, polyurethane adhesive that claims to be "The
Toughest Glue on Planet Earth."

Yes, and they aren’t kidding! Unfortunately, it turns into a foam
when air gets to it, and starts expanding…but then doesn’t stop
expanding for some time. It drips in the mean time, and then the
drips start to expand. Quite the little mess. I tried it on a
cabinet, and it took a good long time to sand the stuff off. I
couldn’t pry it off of my hands for a week. Ai yi yi…but
yeah…once bonded, its not going anywhere. I have never risked it
on jewelry. I find it terrifying.

Lisa, (Now the glue nightmares will start again…shudder…lol)
Topanga, CA USA

4 
Has anyone tried Gorilla Glue

I have, Beth. I tried it with a broken cane, a favorite of mine that
is a dragon carved from mahogany. I don’t have the bottle in front of
me, but I seem to remember the instructions saying something about
both surfaces needing to be wet. Also, it does expand a lot, just as
they say on the label. After drying, the glue did swell quite a bit
all the way around the joint and looked…well, frothy, for lack of a
better term.

After trying two-part epoxy and carpenter’s glue, the cane has held
together better with Gorilla Glue so far, but it really was a pain
trying to clean up the join where the glue swelled around the entire
edge. Also, Gorilla Glue dries with a distinct yellow color.

So far, I’ve only found it useful in one jewelry application; A
woman came to me with a sterling silver ring that was basically a
disc that had been curved with a forming block and drilled to accept
around 30 round mother-of-pearl inlays. This top was soldered onto a
square wire undergallery attached to a shank. After rolling the
sheet, scribing the lines and circles, centerpunching and drilling
the holes for the inlay, forming the curve, making the undergallery,
etc., etc. (she wanted hers in 14k), I used a ball bur to round out
the drill holes, then used the Gorilla Glue to affix some small (3mm)
m-o-p cabochons I got from Rio (they just discontinued them), then
sanded the cabs flush and polished with Zam and a muslin buff. It
worked quite well, and I expect it to last at least her lifetime.

The reason I used the Gorilla Glue on this project was because the
original ring in sterling had a lot of glue dripping underneath, and
she didn’t mind her 14k version having the same. Of course, it would
have been better to avoid it, but that wouldn’t have afforded me the
chance to try this glue in a jewelry situation. I have yet to find
another job where it would suit better than good ol’ 330 epoxy.

James S. Duncan, G.G.
James in SoFL

5

It is good for some things but I can’t thing of any thing, in the
jewelry line that it could be used for. it is the toughest glue on
earth to remove when set or just wet. the reaction that makes it set
is base partly on the moisture in the air makes it foamy so it
expands. The amount depending on the glue to moisture ratio. And
other things in the realm of the black arts.

Here is a story posted on another site about the Gorilla Glue.

http://komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=45238

I blame the dog owners not the glue, we have more warning on every
container and box about the dangers of things.

It is not a good wood working glue, as the mess it creates over the
course of time it drys, it will grow.

It does work on metals, concrete, glass, tile, stone wood ect. but
there are many other better products to use.

A good hardware/marine type glue single part that I have been using
is Multi-Grip http://www.beacon1.com

It is clear and doesn’t expand out of the joint as much as it sets
up. They web site has good info on craft type glues.

Here is another site for most of the sticky problems in
life.http://www.thistothat.com

Glen, been there, glue it and sometimes stuck to it!

All the usual disclaimers and legaleeze apply

6

Hubby LOVES it. I HATE it. It makes a whopping mess! A repair using
it on anything turns it into a garage sale reject. It’s okay for
repairing rubber boots, sneakers that should have been thrown out 10
years ago, etc.

Judy Shaw
Jasco Minerals
North River, NY

7

yes, its awesome. my boyfriend is a carpenter and he uses it all the
time as well.

beth

8

Hi Beth,

I’ve used Gorilla glue when remodeling our house. For some things
it’s wonderful. This glue is an altered version of the polyurethane
(maybe urethane?) expanding foams that are so wonderful in
construction. Those foams come in 3 different expansions–low, medium
and regular. Gorilla glue is very low in expansion, but it DOES
expand and glued items need to be clamped. Any glue that fills voids,
cracks, etc. is quite porous when trimmed, just like the foams, if
you’ve ever trimmed those away.

I’m not sure that this would have good jewelry applications. On the
other hand, I know of sculptors who can produce relatively thin
walled hollow objects that can be filled with foam to produce light
but strong pieces…

Andy Cooperman

9 
Has anyone tried Gorilla Glue http://www.gorillaglue.com It's a
100% waterproof, polyurethane adhesive that claims to be "The
Toughest Glue on Planet Earth."

Yup, good stuff. I haven’t tried it on non-porous stuff, but wood
and the like, that has some texture. The one caveat is that you don’t
want to use it for anything you may wish to take apart later, because
within 20 min. it is pretty much set. The only way you’re going to
get it apart is by breaking the components glued together, such as
chair rungs. Gorilla tape is equally tough.

Now, Beth, were you intending to use it with some type of jewelry
application in mind? If you do, be sure to let us know what kinds of
projects you use if for, and the results!

10

Hi, Beth

I have a bottle sitting on my bench that I haven’t cracked open yet.
I’m going to try it this week when to mount some opaque cabochons in
unusual pendant setting where traditional setting materials won’t
work. I’ll let you know how it works out. My father-in-law swears by
it, so we’ll see. I’m also going to try out 3M VHB tape as soon as it
arrives. BTW, I looked at your gallery and I think your work is very
impressive.

Brian Corll

11

Beth,

Yes I have and boy can it ever foam up. I have been working on small
round turquoise cabs, and felt I wanted the extra security when I
set the bezels.

There was such a clean up mess with the Gorilla Glue, I went back to
E6000. Have clean up there too, but not as much.

I may give it another try, hard to get just a single drop with its
current delivery system.

Terrie

12

I have used Gorilla Glue for wood working projects for years. It is
wonderful wood glue. Not sure what I would use it for in jewelry.

Mark

13

Yes on wood, plastic and even metal but not jewelry. It foams as it
comes in contact with the moisture in the wood and air and if you
are not careful it will leave you with bit of cleanup to remove the
excess that has foamed out of the joint. But it is quite strong.

James Binnion
@James_Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

360-756-6550

14

gorilla glue expands, so be aware of that…kind of like great stuff
that foam in a can…just a warning…otherwise it also lifts things
as it expands, so in attaching a cabachon to a bezel with a
backing…i suppose with the right removal in x spots one could use it
to level a completely opaqque stone…other than that, perhaps some
kinds of found object pieces would benefit from its application but
it isn’t clear when dried either…so, i stick to gs hypo cement if i
ever need anything glued…or super-glue to attach things very
temporarily while working on a piece…

15

Beth,

I have tried it, it is best for things like wood. It has a slight
expansion to it while drying, so you have to use it sparingly.

Jerry

16

Gorilla glue foams- I glued a wood work table that was very wobbly
with it recently, glued in cross braces, a loose joint, and put the
top back on. Very strong stuff…

Rick Hamilton

17

I haven’t used it on any jewelry applications, but my carpenter
swears by it!

Leslie

18

Yes, I have tried Gorilla Glue. I used it for something in watch or
jewelry repair, now I don’t remember what, but I do remember that it
was much better at glueing the toe end of my shoe sole than it was
suited for most watch or jewelry situations… Oh, now I remember
what I used it for now, it was doing some dial and case work on an
antique clock.

Ed in Kokomo

19

OK…I wasn’t completely open about my Gorilla Glue
"experience". Here’s the rest of the story…

A friend had recommended it for wood repair and I had this cabinet
that needed fixing. So I bought some Gorilla Glue and took the
cabinet out on my deck to do the job. My pal had mentioned the
expansion and that it needed to be clamped. Soooooo…with some
anticipation, I applied the glue frugally and clamped it, following
the instructions on the bottle.

Then it started dripping, then I started wiping, then it started
expanding, and I wiped some more, then it dripped some more, and
expanded some more. So there I was, the deck covered in glue,
because it didn’t wipe off, it just smeared around and continued to
expand… I was covered in glue, my clothes were covered in glue
and the cabinet was covered in glue. I was shrieking and laughing,
wiping and smearing at the same time as this ever dripping,
expanding morass grew. It was like the blob that ate my deck, my
cabinet and me.

In the end, I had to chisel it off of the deck, chisel and sand the
hard, yellow, foamy muck off of my cabinet, and spend about a week
picking a nasty film of it off of myself. It never did come out of
the cloth I used to wipe it…I mean smear it up with…Or my
clothes.

Oh yeah…that “film” that I picked off of myself, of course was
crusted in dirt, because anything I touched stuck to this gunk, so I
had grimy deformed looking hands, encrusted with crud and schmutz
for the whole time, until I was able to scrape it off. I looked like
a leper in the mean time. Let me tell you what a charming and
appealing public display that was…lol…“Here madam…let me show
you some expensive jewelry…aaargh.” …Plus, I had the added
"benefit" of not being able to feel the tips of my fingers for a
week.

Oh…but the cabinet won’t come apart again, unless I stick a grenade
in it.

Go ahead and laugh…God knows I did.

Lisa, (Gorilla joke glue is more like it…give the stuff to someone
you hate), Topanga, CA USA

20

I have used the glue with water and copper as a binder for
granulation. It is good for that. It burns out in the firing process.