Titebond 3 Problem

[Dean Marlow]

I am have been trying to glue some silk down on the back of a couple of bows of mine and have been using Titebond 3.After it dries I can pull it right off with a couple of my fingers. I haven't used Titebond before but I am sure disappointed so far. I clean the back of these Osage bows with Denatured Alcohol and I still can't get the silk to stick very good. I am wondering if I haven't got a bad bottle of Titebond.What other glue could I use to get this silk to stick to the osage.I am going to put a snake skin over it also. Dean

[Paul/KS]

I had the same problem when I tried to glue some rawhide to the back of a redoak kids bow...
The rawhide just pulled right off.

[Dano]

Are you soaking the silk in water before applying the TB? I usually apply a coat of glue to the bows back and let it dry also (sizing they call it).

[Pat B]

Is the glue not sticking to the silk or the wood?
  If it is not sticking to the silk it might be because of a sizing that is used on the silk from the manufacturer. You may need to wash the silk first.  Also, with any cloth backings I like to totally saturate the cloth with water(sometimes with a mild detergent) and ring out the excess. This will allow the cloth to accept the water based glue.
  Any carpenter's type glue will work...TB, TBII, TBIII, Elmer's, etc.

[Dean Marlow]

I have tried it both ways. Dry and wet with no luck. But I was not putting a coat of glue on the bow and letting it dry first or was I washing the silk. I will try that and see what happens. The glue was sticking to the silk but not the Osage. Dean

[Roy Steele]

I've never had this problem.There was a time when I backed bows and used everything with mostly elmers.Sounds like your just not letting it dry enuogh.Other than this I don't know.Pat and Dano covered the rest.

[2treks]

Sounds like Dano and Pat got it. The water(damp silk) will extend your working time also. I have been told that the tblll likes to start setting up sooner than others, just what I was told.
The only thing that I might ad is to sand the bows back with 150-180 grit first, might need something to bite.
Chuck

[Pat B]

If none of this works, get a new bottle of glue. I have never had TB glue that wouldn't stick to wood.