I would think that the wood glue would provide a considerable savings for those who do a lot of segmented work.
I started making pens over 2 years ago.My third pen was a segmented spiral.Though I had a some flat work experience, to me glue was the "insurance", not an integral part of the project.In gluing up blanks for pens,the choice of adhesive becomes more of a factor in the finished piece.At first I used CA because it was quick after a while I discovered there were times when diffrent adhesives had their advantages.
My first "complicated lamination was the "sexy pen"
<br />There are 29 pieces of wood in the blank ,eight glue up sessions, 4 cutting sessions and if I stay on schedule 3 days to make.(Just for the blank turning /finishing not included) to get the effect I wanted.Because of the method I used to make this blank I chose to use yellow glue, I have made it with CA and there are no adverse effects, but if the ca set before it gets clamped up the blank is toast.
1. Would this work on segmented pens, or will the wood glue fail during turning?
The only draw back I have found using yellow gue is shrinkage in the glue joint, but that might just be my own bad habit of wanting to "finish" and turn the blank.Also there is a slight color difference depending on the choice of PVA glue.
2. Do we just use CA for glue ups because it is quick?
For myself that is one reason but there is another benifit I haven't seen mentioned. I have a theory that CA also"stabilizes" the pieces I am gluing.This is especially true when I am using a lot of thin strips and end grain.
"Stirred Not shaken" was glued up using a bad piece of flaming box elder as a base(try and find it) with veneers of bloodwood, puple heaqrt and yellow heart.As I turned it ther was a feeling I was turning a stabilized blank. Had I used yellow glue for this one I would still be gluing it.
In One for Giving(my first Pentarsia pen) because of the size of the pieces, the number of pieces and the intricacy of the design I don't think yellow glue would have worked.
<br />
3. Would the wood glue cause any adverse reactions with the CA or Poly when glueing in the tubes?
I have never noticed any.One thing I have noticed, If I want to soak a bad glue up in acetone to salvage the tubes, If the acetone has any effect on the glued up joints so I can salvage the tube, it takes much longer if it debonds at all.
In closing, there are other adhesives that I have used.Gorilla glue(messy). That is my main complaint, the fact it has a long open time is a plus but I don't like to wait the prescribed time for the cure.
Resorcinol.I have used it and the bond was good but the stuff I had was old and I did not get the color I was after.Water based dark glues have a tendancy to get a color bleed it lighter woods.there are methods to over come this but I chooses not to use it,.
Epoxy for my is my last choice.If I mix too much it's wasted if I don't mix enough it can ruin a glue up session.Also I have experienced more joint failures with epoxy than any other adhesive.I realize the this is the choice of adhesive with many who make glued up blanks but I have bad luck with it.
That's my take on different adhesives and my experience with them.I am by no means a master of "gluery"[
], I have more than my share of failures,this I attribute to a lot of trial and error.Remember it tool me over 2 years to make all the mistakes I have in glueing up blanks, but if you believe you learn from your mistakes the I guess I have a lot to learn from.I guess that is called experience.[
]