I'm in the process of making some wine glasses. I purchased the wine glasses from Craft Supplies and I'm about to turn the stem parts out of wood. Craft Supply recommends using silicone for an adhesive to bond the wood to the glass. I've read that the silicone will not cure properly unless it is exposed to the air and turners that have used silicone have had bonding failures. I've thought about using flexible ca but I don't know if that would do the job either. I would appreciate if anyone could give me advice on how to bond the glass to the wood.
As usual, it really depends on more factors than just gluing wood to glass. Here's a couple of generic things I've used in different situations when doing my (glass/wood) goblets...
Thin section joint
- Such as joining it at the stem section and not coming up around the glass "bowl" section a little bit.
- Must have a really strong and non-brittle glue.
Wide section joint
- Have to be concerned about wood movement *maybe* depending on the wood used; thickness of the wood at the wood/glass joint; whether it's going to travel (made in the desert but shipped to Miami for example); assuming the wood is dry to start with.
- Don't have to have as strong of glue as there is some mechanical joining with this type of joint.
- Must be concerned, especially with clear glass, with what the glue will look like when viewed through the glass.
Polyurethane
- Works well bonding glass to wood.
- Plenty strong enough.
- Foams easily so it's tough to control it from coming out the sides.
- Looks bad when viewed through the glass into the wood/glass joint even if it doesn't foam.
CA
- Strong enough for all but the most thin of joint
- Even the "flexible" CA's get too brittle for thin joints used like this.
- Fairly clear in the better brands so it can be used for viewing under glass
- May have problems with bonding to oily woods. This can be overcome though.
Silicone
- Not strong enough for thin section joint.
- Clear
- Works well for wide section joint types.
Epoxy
- Certainly strong enough (the long set time ones at least) for about anything
- Clear but you can get air pockets when mixing. Spread it thin to help correct this.
Thank you for responding to my question. It sounds like epoxy might be the way to go. The glass calls for a fairly deep pocket, about 1/2 an inch. I'm going to use ash for the wood type. Thank you again for your input, it's most appreciated.
I have used epoxy with good results. I haven't gotten the glass from Craft Supplies. I just get wine glasses from Pier 1 or a similar place - I think mine cost a couple of dollars each. Then I score the stem a little below the bowl and break it off there. Then I grind the exposed end on my wet grinder to smooth the break and epoxy the stub of a stem in a hole I bore in the top of my stem. So far that's worked for me. I have not done much sending my wine glasses from Nebraska to any tropical rain forest or desert, so I don't know how the change in humidity would affect the joint. I have used exotic woods mostly - Ebony, Purple Heart, Red Heart, etc., but I have done a few in Pin Oak - all with good results with epoxy.
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