Oak and Teak glue, the all wood glue, is a two part epoxy resin made largely from the resins of wood itself. That is why it can dissolve the natural oils of oily hardwoods such as Teak, Cocobolo and Ebony. Epoxy glues made from petrochemicals cannot bond these oily woods properly.
Oak and Teak Epoxy Wood Glue will of course bond all non oily hardwoods and softwoods that lesser epoxies are also capable of gluing. Oak and Teak Epoxy Wood Glue is unaffected by the natural acids common to many woods, which is why it bonds Oak so readily.
It will also (with proper chemical surface preparation) glue a wide variety of metals(instructions here) or glue plastic materials(instructions here).
You can also glue:
- Glass. Clean the surface with an alkaline solution such as caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) or aqueous ammonia. These are nasty so wear rubber gloves. The glue should bond to the clean surface that results.
- Rubbers:
- Silicone (sanitary sealant, fishtank glue, rtv gasket sealant etc – very flexible). It won’t glue this.
- Neoprene and other ‘black’ rubbers. Sand with rough sandpaper and you should get a bond. Moulded rubbers should be assumed to have residual mould release wax on them, and may require more sanding.
The cured adhesive is completely waterproof and weatherproof.
Oak and Teak epoxy glue uses Smith and Co’s Dual Synergistic Catalyst™. This is a breakthrough in the control of epoxy resin curing. This new technology not only gives a long working time but also cures twice as fast as older-technology products. Furthermore it won’t smoke off in your mixing pot like other brands.
The cured adhesive leaves an unobtrusive glue line and sands back easily. It is a translucent orange in colour.
Oak and Teak Epoxy manufacture in the UK
We are (July 2025) in the advanced stages of manufacturing and packaging this product in the UK. Whilst this will not give availability of the product for months, it will offer us good availability, fully EU / REACH compliant packaging and metric sizes (1, 2 and 10 Litre kits) when we have this capability. In the meantime we have also ordered a supply of Oak and teak from America, in Imperial cans. This will land in August 2025 we hope. We should have Oak and Teak in metric sizes available for purchase from late August 2025.
Features Of Oak And Teak Epoxy Wood Glue
- Great for gluing particularly resinous woods which are notoriously hard to bond to reliably
- The resin is as flexible as wood once set
- 1 to 1 mix ratio by volume and is forgiving of minor mix disparities. If mixing by weight use 10 parts A to 12 parts B by weight.
- 2-hour pot life at 21°C / 70°F, full cure in 24 hrs
- Workable and curable below freezing (-2 °C / 28°F, 8 days cure)
- Extremely tough
- Usable over a very wide temperature range
How To Use Oak And Teak Epoxy Wood Glue
Preparation
- Measure the Oak and Teak Epoxy wood glue out. It is a 1:1 mix ratio, so very easy to get right. It is also very forgiving of mix ratio errors. 10 parts A to 12 parts B if measured by weight
- Mix the Oak and Teak epoxy thoroughly, all two part adhesives require very thorough mixing to set properly. Our glue mixing sticks may be of interest to you here. Wait around ten minutes until the mixed glue turns from white to amber before using it
Application
- Never clean the surfaces with solvents even if you are gluing very oily wood such as Cocobolo or Teak. The wood absorbs these solvents which interferes with the penetration of the glue. Ultimately this will weaken the resulting joint. Oils contained naturally in the wood do not affect Oak and Teak Epoxy. This is a major advantage over our competitor products, which require the use of solvents that inevitably reduce joint strength
- Apply the Oak and Teak epoxy to both surfaces of the joint. Now allow the wood to soak up as much as it wants to. End grain and porous woods such as the edges of plywood will soak up more. Scarf and Butt joints are especially prone to soaking up glue because of their end grain surfaces.
- Allow the wood to soak up the adhesive, deep penetration gives strong joints. This stops the joint being starved of glue after assembly as the wood soaks the glue up then. Oak and Teak Epoxy has a long working time, you do not have to rush this stage
- Clamp the joint using moderate pressure. The use of too much pressure will starve the joint of glue and weaken the joint
Finishing
- Clean any excess glue from the joint area with paper towels. Avoid the use of solvents if you can as they can penetrate the wood and weaken the joint. If you must use solvents, use our Epoxy Clean Up Solvent sparingly
- Allow the glue to harden before stressing the joint. All Smiths Epoxy resins use their Dual Synergistic Catalyst™. This ensures a full dependable cure at temperatures as low as -2° C (28° F)
- Oak and teak epoxy dries to a translucent pale orange. It is easy to sand and leaves very inconspicuous glue lines once finished. Oak and Teak Epoxy resin will fill gaps in joints.
Cleaning Up
Our Epoxy Cleanup Solvent will dissolve and clean up excess Oak and Teak Epoxy Glue before it has gelled. Once cured, there is no clean-up solvent.
Shelf Life of Oak and Teak Wood Glue
In the original sealed containers shelf life of Smiths Oak and Teak Epoxy Gluewill exceed five years. Ideal conditions are stable temperatures and a dry environment.
If stored in cold conditions the B part will age by crystallisation. This is reversible by gentle heating to melt the crystals and allowing the glue to cool slowly. There are details of how to do this in this article on decrystallising epoxy resins.
We have performed accelerated-aging of the plastic bottles containing the chemical ingredients. The manufacturer is confident they will be mechanically stable for three to five years, stored under ambient conditions.
Absorption of the natural atmospheric moisture causes lumps to form in Part A.
Plastic bottles allow moisture diffusion through the walls which eventually allows this to happen. The bottles themselves can buckle or crack after 5 to 10 years. The syringes are rather more durable, because of the thicker walls and the different kind of plastic.
The seal becomes uncertain once any container has been opened. For that reason we recommend the product be used within twelve months from opening the container.
If the glue does degrade it will still glue any common wood. However it’s ability to glue at full strength challenging oily or acidic woods will be compromised.
We use metal cans with metal inner-seals to package the larger sizes to maximize shelf and storage lives.
Authors Notes
I have spent the last 40+ years working with a large variety of adhesives on a large variety of materials. This is truly the most remarkably versatile adhesive that I think I have ever used. ‘Hyper Glue’ or some other such adjective would be a better name for it.
Do please try this adhesive if you ever make or repair stuff. You will find it an invaluable asset in your toolbox. It sets slowly and requires mixing, but offers permanent waterproof bonds to so many materials.
Please read the comprehensive instructions that are between the two cans or within the outer packaging before use.
If you are buying a pack of 950ml or above, supplied in tins, please give serious consideration to also purchasing a squeezy bottle pack. It is easy to refill squeezy bottles from the tins, and is far easier to dispense small quantities from them.
When dispensing larger quantities mixing by weight is easiest and only requires a modern cheap set of digital kitchen scales. Mix by proportion 10 parts A : 12 parts B.
More Information
Gluing wood with Epoxy Resins?
Oily hardwoods – How to glue them?
Product Review – Guitar Maker March 2015
How much glue do I need? Calculator page
What woods can I glue with Oak and teak Epoxy Resin?
Safety Precautions
All epoxy resins can cause skin sensitisation. Wear suitable protective equipment.
The safety data sheets are available under the MSDS tab on this page.
Ian Hunt –
Good glue. Just started using it but so far seems ideal for Accoya – which is a hard timber to glue.
Paul –
Great glue for guitar fretboard gluing.. Works perfect with any fretboard wood . It does not induce any unwanted moisture in the neck . Easy mixing .
Peter Shield –
Oak & Teak Epoxy Adhesive. Nice and easy to dispense equal amounts ready for mixing from the 380mL bottles. Mixed lifetime long enough to allow plenty of assembly and clamping time. Finished joint being incredibly strong after a couple of days curing. Wish I had found this glue many years ago for all my boat repair work.
Jim Moss –
Oak & Teak. I am new to this adhesive and purchased primarily for bonding cocobolo,but after speaking to Steve at makewoodgood he assured me it was good for filling voids, shakes and other natural defects in wood which it does, but I found it a bit too viscous for some of the smaller cracks, however I had about 1/2 an ounce left over so I thought I would experiment with some cellulose thinner and it does work obviously the curing time is extended but after 3 days it was solid so I can’t praise this enough.
Wayne Dove –
epoxy glue. About a year ago I purchased some epoxy glue for a job using oak.
I wanted to be sure the joints held, especially the edge to edge ones. I was pleased with the results, and the fact that I was able to purchase a convenient volume of glue… not having to buy so much that it would be wasted or having to worry that I might be short. I still have a tiny bit left , but know when the need arises I’ll be back!