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.
I had an experience like that with a refrigerator. We had a fridge in
a long skinny pantry, it was all the way down at the end, in front of
a window. We wanted to take it out and put a new one in a better
location. We measured, and the dang fridge wouldn’t come out of the
door. We measured again, it should have fit, but it didn’t. Weird.
My husband ended up having to remove all the trim from the doorway,
even sawing through some nails with a Sawsall. All to get this extra
quarter inch.
Finally, we found out why. Apparently at the time this old fridge was
made they used a foam that kept expanding, so up in the freezer area,
it was bulging out – just enough to keep the fridge from getting out
the door!
It is not a good wood working glue, as the mess it creates over the
course of time it drys, it will grow.
I volunteer with a Science Olympiad team here in Michigan, USA. The
volunteer who built the bridge used Gorilla glue as the connector.
The winning bridge is the one that is Lightest but holds the Most
Weight. For three years running our bridge was the Heaviest and held
the Least weight!! Sad but true.
Thanks to all for the Gorilla Glue feedback. It tells me exactly
what I needed to know, which is that I can probably live just fine
without it :-). I had no idea that so many people would have tried it
out!
Katherine asked:
Now, Beth, were you intending to use it with some type of jewelry
application in mind?
I was thinking about gluing pearls to posts since it’s a pain to mix
epoxy for such a tiny application. But if it’s going to leak
yellowish stuff all over, that won’t work. Also, it would be tricky
to secure the pearl so that the expansion of the glue didn’t push it
right off the post.
And to Brian: Let us know how it works for gluing the cabochons and
thanks for the nice words about my jewelry. I recently sent Hanuman
images of my current work for a second gallery and I imagine they’ll
get posted as soon as he has the time.
Reminds me of the time back in the '70’s when I had just graduated
from college and I was working as a cook in a bar. The guys who owned
the place decided to build a new bar, so on weekends I traded my
carpentry skills for free beer. (Seemed like the thing to do then).
The guys couldn’t figure out how to put some piece or other together
so I went to the hardware store next door, bought some Elmer’s glue,
and glued the wood together. They wouldn’t believe that Elmer’s glue
could hold wood together. So I cut a couple of blocks of 2 X 4,
smeared them with Elmer’s, stuck them together, and told the guys I
was taking a 30-minute beer break. After 30 minutes they were
laughing hysterically as they used every hammer and screwdriver they
could find to try to pry the wood blocks apart. They couldn’t do it !
Brian Corll
Brian Corll, Inc.
1002 East Simpson Street
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
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.
If you value your health do not do this. Polyurethane which is the
resin system in Gorilla glue breaks down when heated into an
isocyanate vapor. Breathing isocyanates is deadly, do you remember
the Union Carbide plant in Bophal India that killed so many people?
That was an overheated isocyanate reaction that produced that
poisonous gas cloud. Use hide glue for granulation not synthetics.
Jim
James Binnion @James_Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
I use “Zap a Gap” glue allot. Glues pearls secure, costume jewelry,
and much more. It’s the best I have found so far. Buy it at Ace
Hardware. Always looking to learn about a new glue. I feel like
everyone else, Gorilla glue isn’t good for most jewelry
applications.
Thanks so much James, I have only used it in a pinch, when I was out
of hide glue. I will pass the info on to the individual who told me
it was a suitable substitute.