I'm rebuilding my nav table and will use 6" wide tongue and groove teak flooring, but am not sure what kind of glue to use (weldwood, epoxy, titebond, gorilla-type glue, Resorcinal ?). It'll be about 42" athwartship and about 24" fore/aft (forwared facing seat) with a 3/4h by 1 1/4" tall teak trim covering up the end grain along the perimeter, all glued together and stained, then varnished or polyurethaned. When the glue (whatever it is) squeezes out and gets on the top surface, I can't have it disrupt the absorption of stain/sealant.
Has anyone glued teak and stained/varnished without having imperfections caused by squeezed-out glue? When gluing normal stuff together (Oak, pine, paint-grade) for shore-side cabinetry, I just scrape the glue up after it has setup and have no issues glue causing staining issues.
never glued/stained teak, so not sure what i'm in for.
Any advice?
I haven't done much glueing with teak, but our last boat was a wooden Thistle and it had been heavily damaged in a storm, it ripped the mast off. My go to glue was the west system epoxy and it sanded and stained fairly well. Didn't like oil on the surface. If you use the cold temp hardener on a warm day and leave it in a cup on the dock while you take a beer break it can catch fire though. ::)
In my experience, Resorcenol works well, but shows the glue line sort of purple and has a short shelf life, and needs the right temperature and humidity to cure properly. If you can follow the instructions, it works well, but the wood has to be at the right humidity, not too dry and not to wet, above 70 F. Otherwise it's pretty good strength and water resistance. Some people I know use System 3 T88 as well and have good luck with it. Different humidity issues though, but less sensitive than Resorcenol.
I have been building and repairing boats (teak) for 30+ years and here is what I have learned. First, have good mating surfaces. I would never use tongue and groove because there are too many gaps within the joint. I have never had an edge to edge joint fail. The other important point is to have new wood exposed for gluing. When teak sits for a few days the natural oils within the wood rise to the surface and inhibit glueing adhesion. My go-to glue is thickened West epoxy, but I have often used Tite Bond (regular woodworkers yellow waterproof) for things like tables where the joint is non-structural. For finishing, it is important to scrape the glue-line and then plane or sand the surface before finishing so the glue is gone from the surface, and again to expose fresh wood to the finish. I know it is a matter of personal preference, but are you sure you want to stain the teak? I much prefer the natural variations of grain to show, especially when I have paid 20-30 dollars per board foot for the wood. Good luck, and enjoy the woodworking. Jim