Oak & Teak Epoxy

When I have need of epoxy I reach for either Mercury Adhesives or Smith’s Oak and Teak Epoxy™. If I am joining something other than wood, filling a gap, making a molded piece, or working with domestic, non-oily woods (Poplar, Cherry, Hickory, Ash, etc.) I generally reach for one of the Mercury epoxies. If, however I am working with an oily domestic, particularly White Oak, or with any of the various exotics that are quite oily (Teak, Bubinga, any of the Rosewoods, Ebony, etc.) I reach for the Smith’s Oak & Teak™.

I also stock Smith & Co. Epoxy Clean-Up Solvent, This solvent cleans up and thins any uncured epoxy products. Approved thinner for High Build Epoxy Paint. Unlike Acetone, this thinner does not weaken the epoxy bond by attacking the chemical reaction.

Below is the information directly from Steve Smith, the “Smith” of Smith & Co. See:https://www.glueoakandteak.com/

OVERVIEW

This easy-to-use glue is designed for a production environment as well as the craftsman or hobbyist, with a long working time to reduce waste and a simple fifty-fifty mixing ratio.

Smith's Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue™ will glue all oily hardwoods. It will also (with proper chemical surface preparation) glue a wide variety of metals, glass, rubber and plastic materials. The cured adhesive is completely waterproof and weatherproof.

Our expertise in molecular engineering has allowed us to make Smith's Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue largely from the natural resins of wood itself. That is why it can dissolve the natural oils of oily hardwoods, and why it bonds all oily hardwoods. Epoxy glues made from petrochemicals cannot do this.

Smith's Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue is unaffected by the natural acids common to many woods, which is why it bonds oak so readily. This is why it is the All Wood Glue.

Smith's Oak & Teak Epoxy Glue is the 2004 upgraded version of All Wood Glue, whose technology is based on our Tropical Hardwood Epoxy, a product famous for thirty years of gluing any wood known to man or beast.

Smith's Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue is the newest generation of products from Smith & Co., embodying the new Smith's Dual Synergistic Catalyst™, a breakthrough in the control of epoxy resin curing. This new technology not only gives a long working time, but a cure twice as fast as older-technology products. In addition, it will bring about an absolutely dependable full chemical cure at temperatures down to 28°F (-2°C). This is done while maintaining the flexibility and toughness which has been a hallmark of Smith & Co. epoxy adhesives from the beginning.

MIXING RATIO

Smith's Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue is intended to be mixed one-to-one by volume, and is forgiving of minor mix ratio errors. Mixing by weight may be done at 10 parts A to 12 parts B by weight.

POT LIFE

The pot life [working time] is three hours at 50°F, ninety minutes at 68° F, and 45 minutes at 86°F. The corresponding times to reach full cure are 60 hours at 50°F, 30 hours at 68°F and 15 hours at 86°F. The underlying principle is that chemical reaction rates double about every 18 Fahrenheit degrees.

For best results mix in one container, transfer to a second container and mix again. Allow to sit 10 to 20 minutes before use, and allow to sit on wood joints with exposed end grain or exceptional roughness for at least ten minutes before assembly. Soft rubber pads under clamp faces will maintain an even pressure on the joint as excess glue is squeezed out. High clamping pressure will crush wood fibers directly under the clamps, leading to glue-starved joints in those spots, as well as wood-under-stress, and glued assemblies of highly stressed wood will readily fail. The reason for that is that the shear strength of wood [cleavage or splitting] parallel to the grain is very low. Gentle clamping, steam-bent or thin wood laminations and cross-grain fasteners or tenons, all these contribute to a long-lasting glued wood structure.

USING OAK & TEAK EPOXY GLUE

Woods such as oak, teak, maple, alder, apetong, araki, pau lope, osage orange, etc., may be glued with our Oak and Teak Epoxy Glueâ„¢. For best results, it should be applied to both surfaces to be glued and allowed to sit long enough for the wood to soak up as much as it wants, so that when the pieces are assembled the wood will not absorb the glue that would otherwise fill the gap between the pieces, leading to a glue-starved joint. Scarf and butt joints are especially prone to soaking glue out of the joint, as it wicks into the end grain of the wood, (endgrain constitutes the open ends of the hollow cellulose tubes of which the wood is made). Edges of plywood are notorious for soaking up liquids.
Most adhesives, even epoxy adhesives, do not bond hardwoods because the saps and resins in the wood interfere with the bonding chemistry of the adhesive. Our Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue is specially formulated (by us - we're chemists) to overcome this difficulty. We designed a chemical system that absorbs and displaces the saps and resins without becoming weakened by the absorbed oils.
Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue is a very flexible adhesive, which is excellent for dissimilar woods and cross-grain joints due to its ability to absorb stress and impact.
Our products have fairly long thin-film set times, and so the user has plenty of time to wipe up drips or shape into the desired form before the epoxy jells.
Do not use solvents to "clean" hardwoods before gluing. The solvents are absorbed by the wood and will cause the epoxy bond to fail. Even solvent cleaning hardwoods after gluing (while the glue is still wet) has in some cases, caused glue-line failures. Wiping up drips with paper towels is safe.
Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue contains the new Dual Synergistic Catalyst, which guarantees a dependable full cure at temperatures as low as 28° F (-2° C).
Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue consists of two clear viscous liquid components. When mixed, it usually turns white and should be allowed to stand for about ten to twenty minutes, until it turns somewhat clear (amber) before using.

USING SMITHS OAK AND TEAK EPOXY GLUE AS A CLEAR FILLER

Fine woodwork may be made from slabs of wood with known or unexpected surface defects that need to be filled. In many cases an opaque filler, colored to match the wood, does not look all-that-good, and a transparent fill would actually look much better. Here is how to do that:

Keep the wood entirely level; clean out any dirt or contaminants in the defects, and use my Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue. It is a self-leveling liquid, will stick to the wood, and will have only a slight amber tint that probably won't be noticeable. Mix per the below instructions, pour it into the defect and overfill a bit. This allows the inevitable small bubbles that will rise, to go to the glue surface that will be slightly proud of the wood surface.

When the glue has cured it may be sanded-back-to-flush with the wood surface. With successive grades of abrasive-sanding, the glue surface may be brought to essentially transparent, and the finishing-process for the entire piece may proceed.

Wet-sand with a hard flat block such as a piece of sandpaper stuck to a piece of plate glass with double-sided masking tape.

Buy abrasives by e.g., Norton, nothing Chinese; a good supplier of such is MSC, on-line (they will also send you a catalog; get one).

Use wet or dry paper, either aluminum oxide or silicon carbide abrasive; garnet wears down too fast.

Start with e.g., 180-240. Sand with progressively finer grits to take out the sanding marks from the previous grit, e.g., perpendicular to the previous strokes with the coarser grit. A series of progressive grits are, e.g., 180, 240, 320, 400, 600, and ultimately 1200 grit or a white Scotchbrite pad.

Always wet-sand with soapy water, e.g., DAWN. The soap suspends the sanding debris in the water so it does not clog the paper and leave gouges in the surface being polished.

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USING OAK & TEAK EPOXY GLUE

Woods such as oak, teak, maple, alder, apetong, araki, pau lope, osage orange, etc., may be glued with our Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue. For best results, it should be applied to both surfaces to be glued and allowed to sit long enough for the wood to soak up as much as it wants, so that when the pieces are assembled the wood will not absorb the glue that would otherwise fill the gap between the pieces, leading to a glue-starved joint. Scarf and butt joints are especially prone to soaking glue out of the joint, as it wicks into the end grain of the wood, (endgrain constitutes the open ends of the hollow cellulose tubes of which the wood is made). Edges of plywood are notorious for soaking up liquids.
Most adhesives, even epoxy adhesives, do not bond hardwoods because the saps and resins in the wood interfere with the bonding chemistry of the adhesive. Our Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue is specially formulated (by us - we're chemists) to overcome this difficulty. We designed a chemical system that absorbs and displaces the saps and resins without becoming weakened by the absorbed oils.
Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue is a very flexible adhesive, which is excellent for dissimilar woods and cross-grain joints due to its ability to absorb stress and impact.
Our products have fairly long thin-film set times, and so the user has plenty of time to wipe up drips or shape into the desired form before the epoxy jells.
Do not use solvents to "clean" hardwoods before gluing. The solvents are absorbed by the wood and will cause the epoxy bond to fail. Even solvent cleaning hardwoods after gluing (while the glue is still wet) has in some cases, caused glue-line failures. Wiping up drips with paper towels is safe.
Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue contains the new Dual Synergistic Catalystâ„¢, which guarantees a dependable full cure at temperatures as low as 28° F (-2° C).
Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue consists of two clear viscous liquid components. When mixed, it usually turns white and should be allowed to stand for about ten to twenty minutes, until it turns somewhat clear (amber) before using.