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I have been using Gorilla Glue to bond ferrules to bamboo for a couple of years without any trouble. But just last week I assembled an old Montague that I had restored and upgraded. When I pulled it apart after waving it around for a couple of minutes the female ferrule pulled right off of the butt section.

This is the only time that this has happened to me and I reset the ferrule with Gorilla Glue again. However this is one of the first of these for which I used Gorilla Glue and the rod has been in it's tube for a couple of years. It makes me nervous.

Has anyone else had this experience with G.G? I hope that I'm not going to get a lot of ferrule failures.  (Don Sargent)

I have used gorilla glue a fair bit but now restrict it to attaching handles that have been turned off the rod.  The reason I stopped using it for other purposes was that I found that its bond could sometimes be unpredictable.

When reviewing glues used for nodeless splicing I tested several glues and GG failed suddenly and early in the test.  Another sample was made and this performed better but was still not impressive.  The failure made me nervous and I have since used other materials in which I have more faith.

In a (probably hopeless) bid to avoid a stream of criticism from avid GG users please note that my testing was very limited and not highly scientific so my decision not to use this product should not be taken as outright condemnation as it clearly works very well on many occasions for many people.  The failure I observed could quite well have happened with some other product but the fact is it didn't.  (Gary Marshall)

I think your observation are correct I have used GG and other PU glues for many things over the years not just rods.

My impressions are there are no advantages using this glue. It's very unpredictable some times its OK the next it does not hold up. Which its not what you want for rod making. The only good point is its gap filling with is fine on a cork handle. All this together with the fact it makes a hell of a mess. And if you get this on your hands well that's another story. Anything with so many disadvantages in my work is a NO NO. For rod making I don't think there is anything better than Titebond III.  (Gary Nicholson)

Except for maybe, Epon?  (Mark Wendt)

Quite a few of us use PU for gluing up strips and other uses. I've made over 30 rods with the Elmer’s Probond / Ultimate Glue product, and have never had a delamination or any other issues.

It's possible that your erratic results are due to moisture levels of the components. My experience is that PU glues need water to activate, and work poorly if the components don't have at least ambient moisture content. I always liberally moisten my strips before applying the glue.  (Tom Bowden)

I use PU glue quite a bit for general woodworking (e.g. for edge joining boards that will be later run through a planer) because it doesn't dry hard enough to chip carbide cutters.  I have some router bits with chips out of the edges from raising panels glued with Titebond, and my planer knives are likewise chipped.  PU's gap filling qualities, IMHO, are questionable.  It will fill a gap, but it seems to have a lot of air in it, so I question its strength.  (Neil Savage)

I only had one failure with Gorilla glue when splicing - that was when I read on the label to cover only one side with glue - and did.  Went back and coated both sides - no problem.  Maybe that's why no delaminations in gluing strips.  Doesn't always pay to read the instructions.  Also, have had good luck controlling the foaming by not wetting surfaces in some instances, e.g. grips, where it gets yukky.  But, otherwise I'll stick with Epon for the major stuff.  I like to take a wee nap and a smoke during glue up, or pause for a minute.  (Darrol Groth)

I have been using PU glues now for about 25 rods and never had a problem. But as I have started to get reactions from the fumes I tried Titebond III on my latest rod. The result was that I had one tip delaminate when straightening. So back to PU glue for me. Just have to be more careful with ventilation.  (Tor Skarpodde)