That would be interesting Tony. I haven't heard anything about that yet. The only reason I not using resorcinol on the nodeless I'm working on is due to the glue lines. I could live with the lines on the edges as long as they were frpm glue penetration and not because of poor fit(gaps) but the thought of diagonal lines from all the splices would tend to make the rod look like a patchwork quilt.  (Will Price)

I used URAC for many years, had the system down to a science with no problems, then one day out of the blue I had a glued up section come apart right out of the oven! So I thought I would once again try Titebond only this time Titebond III which is waterproof as opposed to weather resistant. I thin it down 5% with water when I get it and then use it as such. I think any glue that will hold enough so that the wood on either edge gives before the glue does is just fine.

Last but not least it is good enough for the Joe E. Arguello rod company lifetime warranty.

Which is: "If you break my rod I'll kill You" !!!!!!!!!! :>) Oh s!@*# I'm sure I'll pay for this. :>)  (Joe Arguello)

I like your warranty policy, do you mind if I use it, too?  (John Channer)

Kind of goes hand in hand with the knife making then huh Joe?  (Will Price)

Guys, the stuff you're talking about is Titanium Dioxide (a pigment made by DuPont), a white paste that changes the color. However, Tom Smithwick has said in the past that the color eventually goes back to a pinkish in appearance, so its a less than perfect solution, I'm afraid.  (Bill Walters)

I think he recommended titanium white. . .but it doesn't matter what it was, since it doesn't work (Hoagy and I have discussed this eventual failure, as has anyone who has tried to color it.  Eventually, the purple creeps back).  (Chris Obuchowski)

Resorcinol can be made colorless by the addition of the paint pigment 'Tioxide'. The Tioxide factory happens to be here in Teesside and about 12 miles from our house. This observation was originally made by Hoagy B. (I think it was him?)  (Paul Blakley)

I use Titebond III. I like it due to the low toxicity, water clean up, no smell. I haven't had a delamination using any of the Titebond products in the 13 years I have been making bamboo rods. I used Titebond II on the third rod I made.

I would continue to use Titebond III even if resorcinol was bamboo colored.  (Darryl Hayashida)

I have to agree with Darryl. I switched to Titebond lll a couple of years ago and swear by it. I've discussed my past glue problems on this site last year so I won't rehash them. Till something better comes along I feel Titebond is the best glue for the rodbuilder.  (Mark Heskett)

What do you see as advantages of Titebond III over Titebond II. Does Titebond III have a longer working time?  I agree, with whoever said resorcinol was the perfect glue you can order it browner toned, less purple, but resorcinol and me are severing our relationship, forever, I think.  (Timothy Troester)

Its waterproof not water resistant as was Titebond II.  (Gary Nicholson)

That's what varnish is for.  (Mark Heskett)

Talking to the Titbond people, I understood them to say that Titbond III has a longer working time than Titbond II extended.  They also said you could extend the working time by adding no more than 10% water by volume.  

I decided to just  "fitz" my section before binding.  So far no problems.   (Terry Kirkpatrick)

Does adding water make the TBlll foam like the gorilla glue or does it still act like it does normally. I've only used the Titebond lll on the PMQ I built and on the splice joints of the nodeless I'm currently building. All of the hex rods I've built were glued with Epon.  (Will Price)

Adding moisture is supposed to extend the set time.  I said 10% but I'd better check, it might be 5%!   They say don't go over that amount or you might weaken the bond.

Anyhow I'm not sure about TBIII having a longer working time than TBII extend.  I was using that, and liked it, even though working time can be a problem.

They also said that TB would become pliable if heated, then return to it's dry state as it cooled, so I guess you could heat straighten after glue up?  (Terry Kirkpatrick)

When I checked on Titebond II, I was told no more than 5%.  Someone recently mentioned a great tip.  do your thinning when you first get the glue.  Then no worry at glue up time.  (If you keep the lid on)  (Ralph Moon)

I did speak in error, and I like the idea of adding the 5% at the start -- but -- the bottle's full when I get it.  I don't think there's room for 5%.   I'm sure misting the section with water won't harm anything.  I don't think misting will drive it over 5%.  (Terry Kirkpatrick)

When I get the new bottle of TB III what I do is put about an ounce in the last bottle I was using, (use this for gluing cork handles) then I simply add about this much to the new bottle and shake it up. I think if you do the math 5% of 16 ounces is .8 of an ounce I'll bet one ounce wouldn't hurt. You can use your favorite shot glass to measure this out just don't forget to wash it out or the next drunk might 'stick' with you longer :>) sorry cabin fever you know.  (Joe Arguello)

Plus, the St. Petersburg times just went to a smaller format. (Easier to read, they say?? The amount of copy dropped but the adds stayed the same...)  I've got a roll that I've used for various things. (base for much, to keep the weeds down, etc.) I'll have to try some.  (Terry Kirkpatrick)

Okay, I am not an authority on glues, and I can only verbalize my personal experience with Titebond products. I built cabinets for 17 years, and here are somethings we did in the shop with Titebond I, II, and III. We used to thin it out with water when we worked with mitered joints. The stuff right out of the bottle was way too thick for delicate miter work. This allowed for the glue to nicely squeeze out, and only leave what was necessary. If left thick, it almost always kept joints open even under clamping pressures. In other words, it would be a lot easier to push water through a syringe than molasses. The only failures I ever came upon were never glue related. The wood failed before the bond ever did. Now.........when the glue was thinned, it seemed to me that it tacked up quite a bit faster, but I believe that had to do with the glue layer being thinner in dimension than the thicker stuff. This was the case with all the Titebonds. Also, cold temps make the glue chalk up and not bond, and the warmer temps make it set really fast!!

Another thread mentioned Titebond and heat treating, which had me thinking of another process we used. Before we had a vacuum press, for veneers we would roll a thin layer of glue onto both the substrate and veneer, let it totally dry, then line the pieces up and use an iron to melt the glues and bond the pieces together. Titebond is a resin and when dry is basically a plastic (If I remember correctly). So I think heat treating would be okay although if heated too much, it could break that bond. It seems though that the cane would burn before the glue would melt. But gentle heat could soften it enough to allow for straightening, then it would solidify back to normal.

Another side note.......we built a lot of exterior millwork (Windows doors etc) and although we used Weldwood, Resorcinol, and a couple of urea formaldehyde products, we kept going back to the Titebond products. The others were great products just temperamental for the guys in the shop!!  (Paul McRoberts)

Look if you haven't tried this glue just get some its not going to brake the banks. Once you have used it you can thank all the guys on this site for moving you over to Titebond III. Its the best glue I have used for rodmaking and I started making bamboo rods in 1986. It brushes on like white PVA and washes of your hands with soap and water, It’s waterproof when set and non toxic. Why would anyone use anything else.  (Gary Nicholson)

Reading your post carefully, I think you're using a different glue and for a different purpose than the rest of us! I'd be interested in knowing why you need to glue them babies - doesn't Frederick's of Holywood have something for that??  (Art Port)

Open time for Titebond III is about 10 minutes. I don't know if you seen the  thread last year about Titebond III, but I'll briefly rehash what I stated. With Titebond III I squirt it right out of the bottle onto the splines then take a acid brush and spread the glue, close the splines and go to the binder and bind the sections. Total time less than 10 minutes.  Straighten the section and hang in the cabinet. Then I go to the next section and repeat. The beautiful thing about using Titebond is you close the bottle between gluing sections and no worries about pot time. I think as rodbuilders, we sometimes get mucked up with adhering to traditional methods and get stubborn about accepting something different. I'm not saying we won't try it, but embracing it is another matter.  I think if modern glues such as Titebond were available to the past masters they would be the path they would have taken. Just my 2 cents.  (Mark Heskett)

I've found that the temperature in my shop will make a significant difference in Titebond III open time.  At around 70- degrees I get closer to 12 minutes.  At 80+ degrees I get closer to 8 minutes or less.  I know that doesn't sound like much of a difference compared to slow setting glues, but every minute counts with Titebond III.  Love it anyway.

Does adding 5% water extend the open time for Titebond III?  I think someone already asked that question but I didn't see an answer.  Sorry if I overlooked it.  (David Bolin)

I have found that if I glue up one section at a time and bind it the short open time isn't an issue. I get everything ready put some newspaper on my bench with some masking tape smear the glue on with a toothbrush, bind the section, then wad the newspaper up clean up my mess and get ready to start over nice and clean on the next section. Works for me. (Should work for a Cave man.) Oh sh#& I suppose they will make a TV commercial out of this with a gecko and all :>)  (Joe Arguello)

I'm not sure exactly what it is, something to do with the glue strength, but Titebond III has a higher PSI rating than Titebond II. According to their web site, Titebond II has a 5 minute tack time, Titebond II Extend has a 15 minute tack time, and Titebond III  has a  10 minute  tack time.  Take a  look  at www.titebond.com.  (Darryl Hayashida)

Has anyone ever put together a table of all the glues commonly used, their working times, drying times, and any heat treatments needed? Seems we keep getting the same questions on this topic asked and it would seem useful to have a ready resource available.  (Larry Puckett)

Could someone please tell me what sort of glue Titebond III is, exactly.

Is  it  an  acid-catalysed  polyvinyl  acetate,  or  a water-catalysed PVA, a urea-formaldehyde, casein based, or a melamine product ?   (Peter McKean)

Their web site says it is  a cross linking polyvinyl acetate.  (Darryl Hayashida)

I copied the last information from Titebond II. Titebond III is an Advanced Proprietary Polymer according to their web site.  (Darryl Hayashida)

John Zimny is the rodmakers authority when it comes to adhesives and finishes.   He has spent countless hours talking directly to the various chemists & PhD's at the companies regarding the properties of said compounds.

Below are the manuscripts he some years ago put up for all on the rodmakers page (under tips, faqs & DIY tools, adhesive updates by John Zimny).  (Chris Obuchowski)

If you are going to make the best rod possible shouldn't you also use the best material in its construction? That includes the adhesive used to bond the strips of the blank.  I think we are pretty much in agreement that resorcinol is the best glue to use to make bamboo rods from a structural standpoint. Glue lines will be minimal if your fit between strips is good.

I personally find some of the cosmetics requirements put on rod makers by customers and collectors is unrealistic. Yes, I can make a rod that is nearly flawless and I am going to charge you for that extra time that is put into these  cosmetic requirements. We need to remember that we are making fishing rods. As a fishing rod it needs to perform without compromise.

My rod making philosophy is to use the best material I can and the best construction techniques available to me. Function first. A glue line that  results from using a purple glue just don't upset me. It is just the consequence of using the best adhesive available. 

I use Nyatex but, a spey rod project I am working on will be glued with resorcinol glue lines be danged.  (Jerry Drake)

I kinda have to agree with that all.  I haven't done any planing yet. But have some blanks that I have built up and they were built with Resorcinol.  I happened to do the ammonia treatment to browntone pretty deeply and the little glue lines are not easy to notice at all.  I have to say my Resorcinol rods seem to be my favorite.  Something interesting.  You know you see a lot of things in production that have see through coverings  (computer towers are clear so you can see inside what makes it work, watches where you can see the mechanism working, the Buell motorcycle was the first to make a see through windscreen and airbox covers, etc, etc...   It's a personal opinion it's all OK by me.  What the rest of the world thinks and whether or not everyone will or needs to adopt the same perspective still remains.  I'm a resorcinol fan.  I've got a rod that's make with URAC - two of them actually - I won't mention any names of the builder but they're my worst rods by far, I'm really not happy with them one bit.   

Glue lines?  No biggie.  It's like I don't mind freckles on a good looking girl either, Other guys just can't handle it.  (John Silveira)