Wood glue vs CA

barb first off they are two totally different adhesives ! for any wood project my go to is titebond II ! i only use CA glue for small project things like pens or small items, never for major glue ups.......ever !!!! for wood projects stick with titebond 2 or 3, or whatever brand you like ! CA is not meant for large projects !

I don't (generally) use CA to glue wood to wood. Wood glue is almost always better for that. Except maybe for a small piece which I don't have a good way to clamp - then I'll put CA on one side, accelerator on the other, and push them together and pray I got it right because it's bonded faster than I can think.

I use CA to glue metal to wood (generally medium or thick CA), or to fill cracks in wood (thin CA, possibly with sawdust pushed into the crack if it's separated such that it can't be glued back together), although if a crack happens before I've started working a piece, I'll generally finish cracking the wood, and then decide whether it's worth gluing the two pieces back together with wood glue.

The other glues I'll use are epoxy (sometimes used as a coating / finish, to fill large cracks, or glue wooden scales to a metal knife, and sometimes used as structural material), fish glue (gluing metal to wood where stresses will be low - frets in a fingerboard are a great example), contact cement (veneer sometimes, or wood to leather), and hide glue (wood to wood where I might want to be able to take things apart later, or veneer to wood when hammer-veneering).

Very helpful!  Glad I asked. 
Thank you!

CA is too brittle for a glue joint you want to last.  It does not have much shear strength and you can easily break the joint with simply shear pressure.  I only use CA on wood when regular wood glue will not work well or I cannot clamp something small in place.  My most common use is to fix something small that broke off, especially when it is difficult to clamp in place without it moving around and when I do not have to worry about shear force breaking it off againg.   Even then, I will use hide glue if I can because it works well with rub joints.  

My most common use of CA as an adhesive is for something like a turquoise inlay.   I fill pockets, cracks and knots with ground turquoise (basically sand consistency) and dribble CA over it in layers until all the space around the sand if filled.  Much neater than using epoxy, though staining around the area can cause issues.  

CA is brittle, wood glue is (relatively) flexible. Any wood joint using CA that’s going to see any shear force at all will most likely come very quickly. It’s sticks really well, but it’s not flexible enough to deal with wood movement, etc.  

For gluing your cross in place, CA would be fine. That said, there’s no real reason not to use wood glue for it to guarantee a better bond, IMO. 

Lazyman and Ryan - I appreciate the insights and added information. Interesting on the shear strength aspect. I plan to go with wood glue for the cross urn.  

I'm in agreement with the above comments, but just to add, you could do alternative methods to attach that cross. Something like decorative pins or other fasteners that can be placed (drill a hole, bit of adhesive, then stuff in the fastener)

Beyond that, have some tape layout marks for positioning the cross before applying glue. It's nice to not need to measure and adjust position while the glue is setting 🙄 

I used wood glue.  Put down some tape to guide my placement.  Carefully lowered into place and immediately tried to deal with a little glue squeeze out.  Then blue tape to secure and weights to hold.  Turned out fine (sigh of relief!).

👍

Hi Barb, They each have a separate purpose. Use wood glue for wood and paper and porous material.( Franklin Adhesives  makes Titebond  Thick and Quick glue for end grain - it really penetrates the porous surface for a real strong bond). Use the CA glue for inlays and where you have a very good surface fit and need  instant adhesion-CA sets up with the absence of air. It is brittle glue as opposed to E6000 which is a flexible adhesive...and it can run all over the place when applied. I use Titebond III as a standard in my shop but I have the others for just that different application.

Jim - my go-to has typically been Titebond III.  I had some of that thick version and did like it for situations were drippy glue could be an issue - hadn't thought of it for end grain.  Appreciate the added insights.

I am not crazy about TB3 because it seems more slippery to me than other wood glues and can make clamping require a little more care because things tend to slide around more you as tighten the clamps.  Mostly just an annoyance, since there are ways to mitigate that.  I only use TB3 when I need maximum water resistance which is rare for most of my projects.  

Lazyman- that's interesting about the slipperiness aspect. Perhaps related to the open time?

im the same i prefer tb2. but if im doing a complicated glue up tb3 gives a little more time.

I do like tb3, but I usually choose my clue based on the color when dried. Tb2-dark for walnut, tb3 for browns/cherry, and tb original for pine (yellows).
Tb3 is indeed slippery, but for open time I'll make sacrifices.
Hadn't heard of the Thick and Quick, I'll have to heck it out.
When I do miters, they'll often be splined, but I'll do a regular glue up, let dry, then cut for the splines.
Always a bit apprehensive about it falling apart mid cut, but hasn't happened yet.
An up coming project frame is about 6' tall and 12" wide, that has me trying to decide on a safer approach. 

Interesting that the color differs.  At one point I had some of the dark Titebond.  Not sure which it was I, II, or III.

The only "dark" I've ever seen was the type II. I have used the TransTint dyes to get other colors.

curious why you worry about what color the glue is ? if i see glue lines ive screwed up ! 🤔

Well, woodworking is about screwing up Pottzy! I use both the yellow and dark TBII. It’s super helpful for those of us who can’t cut perfect joints! 🤣

hey buddy i aint perfect myself, i just know how to hide my mistakes ! but i dont want glue lines to show because the finish will !