# gluing down talus



## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

Im working on my river bed, and im trying to glue down my talus and everything else before i pour and its not working like it should.

I used 50/50 mix of water and glue and i put a nice coat of the mix down then attached talus to the river banks, walked away for a couple hours then i came back and it wasnt even secure. Its like it didnt work... so i put a second coat of glue down.

Should i be using something different for glui7uung my talus


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

joed2323 said:


> Im working on my river bed, and im trying to glue down my talus and everything else before i pour and its not working like it should.
> 
> I used 50/50 mix of water and glue and i put a nice coat of the mix down then attached talus to the river banks, walked away for a couple hours then i came back and it wasnt even secure. Its like it didnt work... so i put a second coat of glue down.
> 
> Should i be using something different for glui7uung my talus



White glue? Elmer's?

Let it sit over night and it should be set.
It takes longer then a couple of hours to set.

When I use that concoction I let it sit for 24hrs and don't touch it.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

What's talus/ Anything like tallywhacker? Maybe the glue is tooooo diluted. pete


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

Woodland Scenic makes the talus. 
http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/Talus

I would let the glue dry over night then touch up loose spots. I found straight elmers thinned down just a little works better for me. Just enough to spread it with a brush. After you lay the talus on the glue, soak it with alcohol, this will help to pull the glue up. If all the talus is not fully glued, when you pour the water mix two things will happen, loose pieces will float up or just break free and cause an air bubble hwell:


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

why would you use glue on the tallywhacker?


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

i found to go over the talus with a stronger mix of glue/elmers like what xnats suggested worked for me... thanks guys


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

joed2323 said:


> i found to go over the talus with a stronger mix of glue/elmers like what xnats suggested worked for me... thanks guys


I think even if you use full strength Elmer's glue it is best to let it sit over night before you fool with it.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I think Ed is right. Talus is rock and the thinned glue doesn't stick to it like it does the regular ballast. Must be not as pourous. So letting it sit for overnight would be good but even then you will probably still have some loose pieces. Pete


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

crosstie said:


> why would you use glue on the tallywhacker?


So it doesn't get away of course. Pete


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)




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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Yeah, not sure how Dennis managed that one. The post he quoted isn't even in this thread!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That's because he was quoting spam, I remove the spam and his post quoting it.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Two points:
1) It can take more than two days for a water/glue mixture to dry and harden in the worst case. Just give it time. 
2) you didn't mention a step I was taught and have always used: before pouring the watered down glue mixture, I always sprayed iso-alcohol over the entire roadbed talus to wet it down so surface tension does not limit the glue-mixture's penetration into the talus. I use a small finder pump spray bottle, I think originally it was full of eyeglass cleaner of something, and just cleaned it out and fill it up with alcohol as needed. 

BTW I actually used ellow glue and water. Worked as well, maybe better.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> That's because he was quoting spam, I remove the spam and his post quoting it.


Interesting. I didn't know that was a thing.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Depending on the river bed, I would use Aleene's Tacky Glue and put a dab on each piece of talus. Invert, stick into place and forget. However, before I did that, I would wash the talus and tumble it to remove any dusty surfaces. I would let it dry overnight.


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