I was jealous at how beautiful all the HWS and Compsands were turning out here, so I started to glue up some balsa for a 9’ compsand. What an experience!
Elmers PU glue worked a treat for the first layer, but the craft glue was a whole other story. Turns out the stuff has acetone in it. It went off really fast, but it might be at the cost of my health. For now, I’m back to epoxy for the rest of it.
I’ll have pics soon as the rails are built out.
Sounds like you were gluing up rails?
What brand was the craft glue (so I can stay away too) ?
Super 77 works pretty well too if your balsa is flexible enough. Spray the wood, not the EPS, because the propellant eats foam…wait about 2 minutes & press it on. Your glassing will hold it all together later anyway. Can’t get much easier than that. 
Yep, I was gluing up rails. I was pretty high from using that glue the night I posted. I’ll get you the brand so you can stay away from it (stole it from my wife). I feel like the stuff ate a hole in my brain.
Beacon’s Craft Glue. Dried really fast. Was able to lay a strip down without taping. Too bad about the fumes.
Have you tried fabric glue ? It’s light and pours out white,dries clear like Elmer’s type glue.No fumes there and it dries perm.You can get it almost anywhere that fabrics are sold. Herb
was it worse than the smell of CA (Super glue)?
most of us use 5 min epoxy for the first layer
and then CA or 30 sec epoxy for the subsequent layers
you do waste alot of tape, taping each layer at a time as you work your self around the board
I’ve been looking at some of these industrial adhesives construction guys use to put up panels
they come in those big caulking bottles and you apply it using a caulking gun.
they also have some 30 sec 60 sec and 90 sec hot glues you can get from wood crafting stores I been looking at but the guns run $100-$200 each not including the cost of the glue… Hot hide glue is what luthiers and furniture makers all use but the set time is way too long. First layer needs to be PU or epoxy to prevent EPS meltdown though.
I think a custom jig to do all the bands at the same time with some slow curing water proof glue is the right way to do it just like how alot of guys use a vac bag or big bar clamps to do it. I’ve always envisioned an adjustable rocker table whose base platform has a bunch of hole drilled in it like pegboard that you could lay your blank on and insert pegs around the outline to press on the wood rails while the glue drys… Thin acrylic, masonite, or even stainless sheets would work.
Be neat for someone here to design a quick one hand setting wood rail band clamp using inner tubes and flexible calls to temporarily hold everything in place until the quick set glue sets. versus holding it in place with your hands for the shorter pieces or wasting green tape for the longer pieces.
It was a lot worse the CA glue. When it was used in very small amounts, it was not bad. When I used it to do my glueup, it was pretty heavy.
I used GG for the first, and did one band using the Beacon’s craft glue. Everything else has been whats left in the bucket epoxy from each board I lam. This is working the best. I have at the very least enough epoxy for one or two strips when I am laminating a board. Probably more when I start hotcoating them. At $67.00 a gallon, I’m gonna get creative on using every last drop.
This is the best for joining up sheets of balsa:
http://www.colehardware.com/hotline/99/08/beacon.htm
I think there’s an eBay seller with lots of 3 for even cheaper. Go on there & search “Beacon Multi-Grip”.
Its very low odor, good flexibility, dries clear, epoxy compatible. Sets up almost as quick as CA glue but without the odor or brittleness. Well, about as fast as hot glue from an electric gun, but in a much smaller bead. One bottle has so far given me the skins on a 10’ noserider and a 4’ kiteboard and is still more than half full. Give it a try…
Ben