Dap 00203 Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue, 1-Pound

I do a lot of woodworking. When i need waterproof, and or a long work time - this is what i reach for.This mostly repeats other reviews:* You get a good 15-25 min working open time (still able to brush or roll it) Hot days definitely shorten it.* While not advertised as "waterproof", like another reviewer i submerged a test sample but let mine sit for a week (2x3's 2" overlap long grain) and bashed it app art. the wood failed, glue joint held with no signs of incursion.* Reasonably prices* Drys hard and will not soften with heat(like that generated when power sanding). Zero creep and very strong.* Thickness can be adjusted from putty like to runny by varying amount of water (but it does effect strength)* Minimal to zero clamping pressure is required. I have mixed it on the thick side and its like a lower strength epoxy requiring no clamps.* Sands and paints well. Does not stain but i have added water based dyes to the mix and it works great.* Food safe once dry- great for cutting boards!* Easy clean up with water (soap helps) - it does get progressively harder to clean toward the end of working open time.Cautions:> USE IN WELL VENTILATED AREA. Fumes during drying are a serious hazard!> Keep it tightly covered and check the expiration date. "if the texture is gritty and sand like once mixed, and not a smooth liquid, the glue is expired" DO NOT USE - your joint will fail. I have found displacing the air in the container with a gas like argon, Carbon dioxide, or Sulfur Hexafluoride (heaver than air/ nitrogen and available at home depot), extends the shelf life (a trick i use all the time with paint, stains and varnishes).> Mixing can be problematic. If you add too much water too fast it does tend to get lumpy. I start with 1/3 the total amount of water (or less if mixing large batches) in a corner and stir in small amounts of powder till it reaches a toothpaste or peanut butter consistency, add the next 1/3 to thin the paste then cut in more powder slowly. By this time all the powder is incorporated and i add the last 1/3. Mix it well!

I have been using Weldwood Plastic Resin glue for gluing up bamboo fly rods for over forty years. It is an excellent glue, strong and easy to work.There are two major cautions. First is you must assure that the glue you have is within the one-year shelf life for the product. There is a paper tag on the top of the container with a date of manufacture code. The first digit is the year made and the next three digits the day of the year numerically. In over 40 years of using the product, I have never had a glue joint failure when I paid attention to the expiration date. Once, I inadvertently grabbed an old container in the shop and did have delaminations. Now, immediately upon receipt, we mark the container with "use or discard by (the expiration date)" in very large letters. We now order in one-lb containers only and send back any that have fewer than six months til expiration upon receipt.Recently, we have found that the product has not been completely pulverized and contains small chunks that must be removed prior to mixing if you are to produce exacting joints. We filter the powder with a very fine metal strainer to remove before we mix. Also, we find that weighing the powder and the water gives more consistent results than mixing by volume.UPDATE/BEWARE:I'm about ready to change to no stars! Amazon has lowered the price and says the product has no expiration date. The one we got today is rock hard and is over six years old. That's five past the shelf life recommended by Weldwood. I've had bamboo rods delaminate on account of stale Plastic Resin glue. Had to toss some $10,000 worth of rods that time. Wonder what game Amazon is playing here.

Dap Plastic Resin glue is a fine product when you need extra time for complicated glue ups, need waterproof assemblies, are laminating multiple pieces or just want to take your time when putting projects together. Besides being a super strong and waterproof glue it has absolutely no creep when dry, so laminations stay put and in position once they are taken out of the clamps. It has a dark brown color when cured and mixes with ease....when fresh! So here's the rub, they make more of this stuff then they sell and its not uncommon to get an old batch which mixes up in a sandy / grainy consistency which doesn't cure right and then you're in trouble. They state that you should use the batch within one year of manufacturing and thats great but then they use some secret code to label the tubs according to when its been made. Since I usually leave my secret decoder ring someplace other than the job site or the shop I'm never really quite sure if I'm using fresh stuff. ( that's why the 4 stars ) Please Weldwood use something more clear for the date code. I'm getting tired of wasting product time and money. I think I have the code figured out now but I can't seem to get confirmation from Dap so I don't want to steer anybody wrong until I'm sure. Still, all in all its a great product and I hope it stays around for many years to come.