If you’re someone like me who uses a lot of glue for their woodworking projects, you like to buy the big industrial sized bottles and refill a smaller bottle for use around your workshop. Our sponsor totally expanded that idea into the useful, multi-purpose Rockler glue kit, which they sent our way to evaluate to see if it is worthy of our loyal readers’ attention. We think this is a must-have for any glue-lovin’ woodworker. If you’re not a woodworker and you still use enough glue to warrant buying the big bottles of glue, then you may have a substance abuse problem and you should probably quit huffing glue out of a brown paper bag in a van, down by the river.
Threaded Glue Funnel – Invention of the Year
This part of the kit alone pays for itself. It’s a nice plastic funnel that screws onto the threaded opening of the provided 8oz. glue bottle. It stops the mess and spills for good. Simply unscrew the cap, wash it off with the hose or in the sink and put it away on the shelf. No more gluey sticky wasted spills, and especially, no nasty runs down the side of the applicator bottle that you keep accidentally sticking your hand in every five seconds.
I often find myself lacking glue. That’s why I started buying the big bottles that come in the gallon jugs. If they sold glue in 55 gallon drums I might buy it that way instead. It’s cheaper to buy the big jugs overall and I’ve got an old bottle of glue or two lying around that I refill when they need it – just like I do with my ketchup and mustard back in my fridge.
Condiments aside, the problem with pouring glue from a big jug into a small opening are obvious once you start pouring glue over every surface in sight. My glue bottle had been filled up so many times with glue spilled down the sides that it started to look like a glass bottle with melted candles all over it. It’s a pain to deal with the mess, but not anymore.
Rockler has saved the woodworking day once again with a better way to do something we all take for granted – refilling glue bottles. This easy to clean glue bottle applicator kit makes it a simple process with no spills or mess to deal with before or after refilling.
Rockler Glue Kit Accessories
As far as I was concerned, the funnel is the main dish of this eight course woodworking tool meal. Alone it’s a great tool to have, but it’s even better that it’s not alone at all, it’s got all sorts of cool glue buddies to hang out with. In fact, there are plenty of other reasons why I think this glue kit is well worth the $20 bill.
Rockler and Roller
The glue roller is a really cool accessory and it’s probably something I would buy alone, so it makes a great addition to the kit. It worked really well for me when I was applying wood glue to the back of the bathroom cabinets I recently refaced with beadboard. The latex roller washes up with just a little water and stores away out of site.
Condiments Not Included
I also like that the 8oz. applicator bottle is just like a ketchup bottle, so it delivers a consistent and uniform bead when applying glue using the standard spout tip or the biscuit/Domino gluing spout. The flat tip works great for getting deep in those tough to glue crevices. It works well on tongue and groove materials too.
The Blob
When you need to spread out glue on a flat surface, you need the power of a roller. But when the surface of the wood is too small to use the roller you need the smaller and more compact silicone glue brush spout. The soft bristles help to spread the glue out over uneven surfaces consistently in small spaces and work perfectly for the edge of boards. The silicone bristles clean up nicely with soap and water. But if you want to skip that step all together, leave a large blog of glue to dry in the bristles. The next day, it will all pull free in one solid blob you can throw away. Sweet!
Find a Center within You
Rockler even throws in a center guide. This clever device helps to ensure that no matter how thick or thin a board is you can spread a bead of glue perfectly down its center. Pretty slick!
All of these tools are easy to clean, come with snap-close tops where applicable, and there’s even a small stiff bristled cleaning brush that’s perfect for getting any hidden glue out of the cracks or crevices of your glue bottle dispenser or accessories. For it’s value and the great price Rockler is selling it for, this a great ROI tool. You’ll use it often and because it’s built by Rockler, you know you’ll be able to enjoy it for many years to come.
The Rockler glue kit comes with eight pieces and retails for $19.95 here at the Rockler website. That works out to about $2.50 per accessory; a bargain for the peace of mind knowing that every time you’re going to refill your glue bottle you don’t have to prep the area for spills or worry about cleaning up a huge mess after it’s all said and done.
