Sticking through water, weather, and abstract expressionism

I built a curved wall that I think would have made Peggy Guggenheim proud, and I have Titebond III to thank.

Recently, I made a curved wall out of clear, vertical-grained cedar. My plan was to cut the cedar into 1/8-inch thick planks and laminate six of them together using strong, reliable glue. I then placed them in a curved form, clamped them up, and let them sit for 24 hours. So I chose Titebond III as my glue—I wanted to see if it's truly the "ultimate wood glue," as its makers claim.

Turns out it is.

Titebond is a “waterproof” carpenter’s glue. I deliberately use quotes around waterproof because it’s my belief that the manufacturer really means weatherproof. I like Titebond III because it’s strong, fume-free, and it's unaffected by finishes. It has a flexible 10-minute working time, and if I over-apply it I can easily sand it down. Plus, you get the water-resistance and strength of a polyurethane glue, but with the easy soap-and-water cleanup of a PVA adhesive.

Using a 4-inch paint roller, I applied Titebond III to all but the exposed surfaces of the cedar. While the instructions say to leave a glue joint clamped for an hour, it also says not to stress the glue joint for at least 24 hours. Because a bent lamination is under considerable stress, like I was during this project, I waited until the glue had ample time to dry.

The result, exhibited above, is holding steady.

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