Q: Is my bottle of glue still good?
A? Looking at that bottle of glue wondering if it's still any good? Picking up one in the store and looking for a fresh one? I suppose it's way too complex to just put MAR 16 2009 on a bottle?
Elmer's glue products.
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The packaging date code system is described as follows:
* The first letter is the year the product was packaged (e.g., I=2003, J=2004, K=2005, etc.).
* The next two numbers represent the day of the month the product was packaged.
* The next letter represents the month the product was packaged (e.g., A=January, B=February, C=March, etc.).
* The next number represents the shift the product was packaged (e.g., 1=first shift, 2=second shift, 3=third shift).
As an example, J08L1 was packaged December 8, 2004, first shift.
If my fingers are working right, look for a first character of O for 2009. The bottle I got yesterday O28A161 -- /> 28 January 2009 first shift. Man, this is harder than Chinese arithmetic.
Titebond
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The first number is the final digit, of the year in which the glue was produced. So 8 would be 2008, 9-2009...
The following letter represents the month in which the glue was produced.
A=January B=February... "I" isn't used, as it can be confused with the number one.
You can ignore the remainder of the code.
Liquid Hide Glue has a non-encoded date as it has a shorter shelf life.
The usual rule of thumb is one to two years for any glue is time to chuck it. White glue seems to have a longer shelf life than yellow. These are conservative measures and glue may well work longer than that. As with finishes, weight the cost of failed glue joints with the cost of a new bottle.
I'm bummed that Lowe's stopped carrying Titebond white. At $1.54 for 8 ounces, it was the bargain.
More about shelf life from Titebond:
http://www.titebond.com/IntroPageTB.ASP?UserType=1&ProdSel=FaqTB.asp What glue is strongest?
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Using most common woodworking glues are so close in tensile strength, it depends more on a well-prepared joint than which glue you choose. All are within about 10% of each other. 5 Minute epoxy will be about 50% stronger than most of these. 30 Minute epoxy will be about twice as strong as most of these. But even the weakest will be stronger than surrounding wood if the glue joint was well done. Contrary to popular opinion, Polyurethane (PU) glue does not fill gaps with any structural strength. That foamy mess won't hold anything.
http://www.titebond.com/download/pdf/ww/GlueGuideTB.pdfHow cold is too cold for your shop?
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Note that most glues won't work below 55 degrees, their "chalk temperature." Epoxies don't work well below 65 degrees, as the chemical reaction slows or stops