Shelf life of GG?

[angboy]

On another thread, GG was discussed and someone mentioned being sure to watch about whether or not your GG was still b/c of concerns about the shelf life of it. Anyone have any rule of thunb as to how often GG should be tossed and replaced?

 

[Dario]

Once you cannot squeeze it out anymore...replace it []

From my experience...they can last more than a year from time opened. Just make sure you close it after use and avoid moisture getting in.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Shelf life can be as little as overnight. I seldom use it because of storage concerns. I wrote to Elmer's about their equivalent poly glue. The guy that responded gave me instructions on how he stores to keep from hardening. After use, he squeezes bottle to eliminate air; caps, turns upside down and places inside a sealed baggie. To me, that indicates storage problems. Up to the individual to decide if it is worth the fuss and bother. Last time I used the stuff I consumed about one drop. Shortly afterwards the rest hardened. About $5.00 worth wasted. Expensive drop. [!] Elmer's sent me another bottle but I'm not a fan.

 

[its_virgil]

I tried it once and had the same result. It is not worth it. I use two part expoxy, both 5 and 15 min and have had no problems with shelf life. I really don't think polyurathane glue has any advantage over epoxy...well maybe one...it does come out easier if you get it inside the tubes. I've had it harden in two days...and as Rifleman mentioned...it gets expensive. And, it takes too long to cure...I don't want to wait until tomorrow to turn the pens. I may not be able to turn them then. Today and now I have time and 5 min epoxy gives me that. Glue up and turn in 10 minutes...never had a problem.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Rifleman
<br />Shelf life can be as little as overnight. I seldom use it because of storage concerns. I wrote to Elmer's about their equivalent poly glue. The guy that responded gave me instructions on how he stores to keep from hardening. After use, he squeezes bottle to eliminate air; caps, turns upside down and places inside a sealed baggie. To me, that indicates storage problems. Up to the individual to decide if it is worth the fuss and bother. Last time I used the stuff I consumed about one drop. Shortly afterwards the rest hardened. About $5.00 worth wasted. Expensive drop. [!] Elmer's sent me another bottle but I'm not a fan.

 

[Mudder]

I have to disagree with you guys here. I use Polyurethane glues more than anything else and I have not had the problems that you speak of. I’m still working on my 16 oz bottle that I bought two years ago in December. Only thing I do is keep moisture away and stand the bottle on the tip just like the old flat workers do with their glue. I have a stand made from PVC pipe that I use to store the bottles in. Have you ever had a finish skin up on you?

Epoxy is very nice and I use hundreds of pounds a year at work but in pen turning I have had it fail on me because of brittleness. And I have also had it fail to cure. I have also found, and this is debated by others, that poly glue bubbles up and gives a “cushion†effect on the wood. I have had some bad catches and poly glue has kept the blank from blowing up.

If I’m in a hurry I’ll use epoxy or CA but I prefer Polyurethane because I usually glue up a bunch of stuff and have it ready so it the mood strikes me I can go out and turn. If you have a preference for epoxy or CA I’m not going to argue with you guys, your work is enough to show me that you both are doing something right.

One thing about epoxies guys…….. After 9 months from the day of manufacture they begin to lose some of their strength and shear properties. It probably would not make any difference to a pen turner but if you rely on those properties for a structural bond you really have to be date conscious.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I also had a bottle of GG for over one year in use and it did not get solid. I felt that the viscosity went up a tad after the bottle was half empty. Make sure to close the bottle right away after you been done with it.

 

[Gary Max]

I am still tring to figure out how you folks get a bottle to last that long.

 

[rtparso]

Dry climate. To get GG to setup right I have to spray the wood, let it sit for a few and then spray it again. Around here we consider 30% high RH and the norm in winter is more like 5-10%. GG lasts forever. If I pour some out in a scrap on a cold dry night it will not foam of not foam much. I thought the first bottle I bought was bad.

 

[dubdrvrkev]

At least I'm not the only one. I've had a bottle for over a year and it still is fine. But I am usually in the 10%-20% RH range. I too have to spray the wood for it to work, when I use it on pen blanks I use a Qtip dipped in water to wet the inside of the blank.

 

[gerryr]

I live in Billings, MT and this is also a relatively dry climate. I don't remember when I bought my GG, but I know it's been more than a year. The only problem I've had with it was that the hole got plugged with hardened GG, but that was a fairly easy fix. I don't even bother with water anymore. The water caused LOTS of foaming and sometimes the foaming even pushed the tube out. It still foams but not as much and the tubes stay where I put them. And I just put the cap back on and set it upright on the workbench. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[TomServo]

Hehe.. GG probably doesn't even last on the shelf here - it's 15F (warm for this time of year) right now and 100% RH. We get fog here frequently (summer and winter). I have some when I lived in kansas, and tried the upside down trick, etc.. didn't like it, it didn't stick well to one of my woods in a project (ipe) and that turned me off. I've got some dregs of epoxy that I've had for 5+ years that still hold up great.. Trick with epoxy is mix on scrap , and don't scrape the very last dregs off when you're using it (there's always some that didn't get mixed).

Mudder: I hadn't heard of epoxies losing strength as they age.. apparently it's not a problem with all epoxies; most companies claim 12 months, which means that it's actually 9 months.. Maybe it's time for me to buy some more WS epoxy (it really is the best stuff going). I'll email them about their 5 minute product..
excerpted from west systems' pages: (granted their epoxy is better than most)
PROBLEM: Hardener has turned red after several years storage.
POSSIBLE CAUSES & SOLUTIONS:
Moisture in contact with hardener and metal container.
Red color is a normal condition. It will not affect epoxy handling or cured strength. Avoid using for clear coating or exposed areas where color is not desired.