The Glue Wars thread I think started here and ended on KnifeNetwork because two of us were working on it didn't communicate very well. The thread is called Testing for the Ultimate Adhesive over there and is more than a bit long but is still a spanking good read. We had some interesting learnings from the process.
Cheers to Chuck at Alpha for helping to sponsor those tests.
Several glues performed fairly well but good or "bad" surface prep had a huge impact on the adhesives. I'd rather have a great surface prep and an average adhesive than a great adhesive with a poor prep.
Sandblasting is what glue makers do to test coupons when measuring their strength because they feel it is gives the best performance. My crude and unscientific testing using several methods proved that out.
Avoid Acetone, WD40, brake cleaners and soap when prepping. They all leave a film. Wipe some on a pane of glass and let it dry to see it. Alcohol or Windex worked best.
If you can't sandblast a surface, scratch it heavily with 40 or 60 grit.
(I'll put a disclaimer in now. I sell some of these so take this for what it's worth. I am not trying to shill any sales of glue here. I did the Glue Wars testing before I got in the trade.)
Gflex from the West Systems people is probably turning into many makers favorite for good reason. It's very good stuff. We use it our shop routinely when we make knives and we have more choices than most shops for something like that.
Acraglas and Speedbonder are proven, high performance adhesives. The short fixture time of Speedbonder makes it really handy to use. We use it in the shop when time is money and need a batch of something bonded quickly we can trust. Speedbonder 324,325, 326 is stunning stuff. It really works well when applied properly. It's expensive and goes out of date in a year or two. Don't use it past the expiration date. I've seen some failures from outdated Speedbonder. Acraglas is also awesome. I think it smells horrible but I know it works very well.
Bladebond is brand new, like just few weeks new. There are two formulations. The testing data looks very good and it was developed specifically for the knife industry by a guy that came from the adhesives/sealants trade in the fishing rod industry. He developed it to beat Gflex and has testing data to back that up. He has plans to get it into all the knife supply houses if they'll have him. I've used it and I think it's the real deal and I will continue using it going forward. It is expensive like the other high performance adhesives.
