Adhesives for bonding wood to metal

Abstract

During recent years considerable research and development work have been done on high-strength, durable adhesives for use in bonding metals. Much of this is also applicable for gluing wood to metal. The woodworking adhesives, such as animal, vegetable, casein, urea resin, phenol resin, and resorcinol resin, have not been found entirely suitable for this purpose. They usually are not elastic enough to distribute the stresses encountered in service when two dissimilar materials, such as wood and metal, are bonded together. Also, they generally do not adhere well to the surfaces of metals. Therefore, more elastic materials, such as vinyl resins and natural and synthetic rubbers, have been used in combination with such thermosetting resins as phenol-formaldehyde to produce adhesive formulations that have the proper elasticity and adhere well to both wood and metals. A number of these adhesives are on the market. Many fabricators of wood parts have used them for combining wood and metal to utilize the best properties of both materials. In general, the results obtained have been good. Some fabricators, however, have been cautious about designing parts where wood-tometal bonds are required, believing that the use of wood-metal adhesives is difficult, or that the results obtained with these adhesives are often erratic. This short review describes briefly some of the types of wood-metal adhesive processes that are available.

Citation

Eickner, H. W.; Blomquist, R. F. 1964. Adhesives for bonding wood to metal. Research note FPL no. 082. Madison, WI : USDA, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 4 pages.