Gorilla Clear

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sorcerertd

sorcerertd

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I've been using Gorilla clear glue exclusively for a while now (5-6 months?) and will definitely continue doing so. It's different, but works great for tubes and even finials. The glue mixes well with acrylic paint (like the cheap stuff in the hobby aisle of your favorite craft store) and still adheres great. It stays pretty flexible so it doesn't just break free randomly (not that I've ever had a problem with epoxy on plastics or original Gorilla on wood). This has a much better shelf life than the other two. I never use CA for tubes. The only thing I have not tried this for is segmenting, which I have not done since I started using this many months (and quite a few pens) ago. I recommend giving it a try.
 
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I've seen several people say Gorilla Glue and it's clones are what they use for tubes now. I've not tried it.

Would you mind walking me through how you apply it?

Thanks
Kent
 
I also have been using gorilla clear, since the beginning of 2025. My wife was not liking the smell of epoxy or CA. The Gorilla clear has no smell that I can detect. The one drawback I find with Gorilla clear is that it takes at least overnight to cure enough that I can proceed to square the ends of the blanks. It's a minor drawback.

Another interesting aspect of Gorilla clear is that it is activated by water. The instructions say to get your materials wet and then apply the glue. I have used it without the water step, and it still sets up/cures, but it seems to take longer.

Todd, I like the idea of mixing acrylic paint with the glue to cover the tube brass. I'll bet the acrylic paint has water in it, which would help activate the glue.
 
KMCloonan said:
I also have been using gorilla clear, since the beginning of 2025. My wife was not liking the smell of epoxy or CA. The Gorilla clear has no smell that I can detect. The one drawback I find with Gorilla clear is that it takes at least overnight to cure enough that I can proceed to square the ends of the blanks. It's a minor drawback.

Another interesting aspect of Gorilla clear is that it is activated by water. The instructions say to get your materials wet and then apply the glue. I have used it without the water step, and it still sets up/cures, but it seems to take longer.

Todd, I like the idea of mixing acrylic paint with the glue to cover the tube brass. I'll bet the acrylic paint has water in it, which would help activate the glue.
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Epoxy did not win me any points from my wife either, I switched to the Gorilla Glue 5 minute epoxy a year or two ago and now she would never know I'm using it. It's very low odor, similar or less than the CA I use. I was using JB Weld 5 minute before that it was extremely noxious, terrible even.

The idea of mixing the paint in with the glue is really cool.

I'm pretty spoiled using CA glue for most of my tubes so that I can start turning within a few minutes. Epoxy goes on really long single piece tubes so I have a little more open time. The clear Gorilla Glue is attractive because it seems to sit between CA and epoxy in a lot of categories.
 
KMCloonan said:
I also have been using gorilla clear, since the beginning of 2025. My wife was not liking the smell of epoxy or CA. The Gorilla clear has no smell that I can detect. The one drawback I find with Gorilla clear is that it takes at least overnight to cure enough that I can proceed to square the ends of the blanks. It's a minor drawback.

Another interesting aspect of Gorilla clear is that it is activated by water. The instructions say to get your materials wet and then apply the glue. I have used it without the water step, and it still sets up/cures, but it seems to take longer.

Todd, I like the idea of mixing acrylic paint with the glue to cover the tube brass. I'll bet the acrylic paint has water in it, which would help activate the glue.
Click to expand...
i don"t ada the water either because i had a couple wood blanks swell enough that the tube would not go in.
 
KMCloonan said:
Another interesting aspect of Gorilla clear is that it is activated by water. The instructions say to get your materials wet and then apply the glue. I have used it without the water step, and it still sets up/cures, but it seems to take longer
Click to expand...
I've found that just breathing through the blank leaves enough moisture to activate it. I've never added water.
 
Todd mentioned which GG glue he was referring to and that is helpful. Thank you Todd for specifying which GG glue you were using.

Not everyone is familiar with the different GG glues or even the different differences in the polyurethane glues. In the outside world, there may be a recommendation to wet some items before applying polyurethane glues but not in the wood pen world. and there is a huge difference in the chemical action of the original GG brown poly and the GG clear poly.

IF using Gorilla glue, it helps to identify WHICH Gorilla Glue you are using if posting about it. Merely saying Gorilla glue is like saying you drive a Chevy. Which Chevy - truck?, SUV?, car? Gas? hybrid? electric? They are not the same.

GG glue original polyurethane brown and EXPANDING foam.
GG Clear and NON expanding
GG Epoxy
GG CA
 
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