Which glue to use in a given context?
The following is by my understanding.
I usually buy glue at the dollar store: three I commonly buy are super glue (Krazy Glue and stuck being two kinds), Fix-All, and Rapid Grip. Each has worked very well in situations where the other two seemingly couldn’t have.
Last night, I needed to salvage a board that seemed two pieces, but was actually milled as one. Yet, an end of it was compromised from water damage. (It had been in place for around 30 years.)
I needed to cut off the rotten part, then glue on a replacement piece. I still needed, afterwards, to work with the finished piece: darkness was approaching in about three hours, and the reconstructed board needed to be installed by then.
My go-to, with wood outside, is Fix-All. However, as I learned last night, it doesn’t necessarily bond strongly in an hour; it likely takes more like 12 to 24 hours. Rapid Grip seemed to turn out similarly: the repair came undone after letting the glue dry for an hour, but then working with the board.
Having tried those two glues, I had less than an hour left to try the repair again; it needed to work this time.
I know super glue works fast; the problem is that the kind I have is runny, so doesn’t work well with grainy surfaces, since it just penetrates the material so it’s not available on the surface. I sanded down the wood parts that needed to be glued together, hoping then they would be smooth enough to keep the super glue on the surface.
I applied the super glue to both sanded sides, then pressed together and left the repair under some weight for about five minutes. I was very happy to discover it held. Moreover, the repair continued to hold as the board was re-installed.
This was a case where, of the glues I had on hand, only super glue could work, because of its rapidity of bonding.