Your Favorite Adhesives

[Thumbs Up]

The first time I used G5, I didn't know what it was. My first day on the job, finishing out a large custom cat, I needed to bond a trim strip to a wall. I asked for some fast epoxy, they handed me G5 and sat back to watch. They laughed as I started to curse. It was a hot day. I managed to position it and get the tape off in my 2 minutes of working time. Later in the job I was epoxying large curved overhead valences in the heads. My technique was to (after masking both sides of the bond line) first place a strips of tape over the few places that I want my G5 to tack. Then butter the bonding area with thickened slow epoxy. Remove those strips of tape (exposing some unbutterred patches), mix up a blob of G5 and place it on these unbuttered patches then quickly position the piece, hold it for a few minutes then let go. Now you can tool the joint and peel the tape with no worries about jarring the piece loose. These were large complicated pieces installed overhead and was able to do them singlehanded with virtually no mess!
Another use for G5 is a temporary rigging wire splice for the purpose of installing a new forestay into a furling by bonding the new wire to the tail of the old wire and pulling it through. You cut the core strands a few inches offset to the outer strands, give it a quick rough up, gloop some G5 on, mate the pieces, wait 5 minutes and pull it through. G5 as far as I can tell is identical to the hardware store double syringe 5 minute stuff.

My favorite adhesive for wood (besides epoxy) is good old yellow wood glue (titebond II) . With a proper joint and good clamping pressure the stuff is amazing (non toxic, cleans up with water).

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

The first time I used G5, I didn't know what it was. My first day on the job, finishing out a large custom cat, I needed to bond a trim strip to a wall. I asked for some fast epoxy, they handed me G5 and sat back to watch. They laughed as I started to curse. It was a hot day. I managed to position it and get the tape off in my 2 minutes of working time. Later in the job I was epoxying large curved overhead valences in the heads. My technique was to (after masking both sides of the bond line) first place a strips of tape over the few places that I want my G5 to tack. Then butter the bonding area with thickened slow epoxy. Remove those strips of tape (exposing some unbutterred patches), mix up a blob of G5 and place it on these unbuttered patches then quickly position the piece, hold it for a few minutes then let go. Now you can tool the joint and peel the tape with no worries about jarring the piece loose. These were large complicated pieces installed overhead and was able to do them singlehanded with virtually no mess!
Another use for G5 is a temporary rigging wire splice for the purpose of installing a new forestay into a furling by bonding the new wire to the tail of the old wire and pulling it through. You cut the core strands a few inches offset to the outer strands, give it a quick rough up, gloop some G5 on, mate the pieces, wait 5 minutes and pull it through. G5 as far as I can tell is identical to the hardware store double syringe 5 minute stuff.

My favorite adhesive for wood (besides epoxy) is good old yellow wood glue (titebond II) . With a proper joint and good clamping pressure the stuff is amazing (non toxic, cleans up with water).

I recently switched to Titebond III because I needed more working time. It’s stronger and fully waterproof as well. I think I still like the “feel” of working with Titebond II better… hard to say why, but no complaints about Titebond III so I’ll stick with it (haha) for now.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by thinwater

a. Epoxy has been done to death on a lot of threads. We all know about it.

b. Is West Systems that much different from System 3 etc, or is it just superior marketing? I believe the latter.

I use WEST Systems. Here is what I believe I get for my money:

• Predictable contents. WEST has built their business on epoxy and are not going to screw up their brand. The budget brands are usually very good, but I don't trust them to have the same product with the same strength, same flexibility, same stability, same safety, etc etc etc every time.
• Safer hardener. There are various amine hardeners. WEST uses one that is less hazardous (less prone to producing sensitization reactions) at the expense of strength and cost. I like the tradeoff.
• Consistent availability. Run out halfway through? Buy it at any chandlery.
• Full product line. Tropical hardener, clear hardener, fillers, etc.

I think the biggest drawback is that it is prone to amine blush but I find that I care less about that now that I've started using peel ply extensively.


The discount brands are still expensive and I'm not willing to give up WEST products for a 20% discount.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I use WEST Systems. Here is what I believe I get for my money:

• Predictable contents. WEST has built their business on epoxy and are not going to screw up their brand. The budget brands are usually very good, but I don't trust them to have the same product with the same strength, same flexibility, same stability, same safety, etc etc etc every time.
• Safer hardener. There are various amine hardeners. WEST uses one that is less hazardous (less prone to producing sensitization reactions) at the expense of strength and cost. I like the tradeoff.
• Consistent availability. Run out halfway through? Buy it at any chandlery.
• Full product line. Tropical hardener, clear hardener, fillers, etc.

I think the biggest drawback is that it is prone to amine blush but I find that I care less about that now that I've started using peel ply extensively.


The discount brands are still expensive and I'm not willing to give up WEST products for a 20% discount.

Generally I buy West or System 3 for most things. I tend to go for West because of the dispensing pumps. For my current water tank project, however, I bought a bunch of the US Composites stuff. If it were a little cheaper than West, I wouldn't have bothered. But it's about 50% of the cost in any decent quantity, so I figured I'd try it. So far, it seems to work just as well, is pretty similar to work with, etc. It's slightly lighter in color when mixed. And in cold conditions, the hardener is a bit thicker than West, but the resin is thinner. Functionally, the only difference I can tell between the pieces I used West on (had some sitting around) and the stuff I did after opening up the new epoxy is that the US Composites stuff seems to blush a little worse than West (using fast hardener with both).

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by thinwater

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• Other methacrylates. Devcon Plastic Welder seems VERY similar to MA310, and they are both ITW brands. I've used it for a few household things, but never researched it. It seemed very good. I need to learn more about this.

for Devcon. I tried some JBWeld to reattach a stud for my water pump">raw water pump into my gear cover. Didn't hold.


Cleaned it up and used Devcon. Success. Been two years, a ok.


It comes in expensive tubs $124 or handy tubes $14 CDN.

[Jammer]

Mentioned upthread:

• Titebond /II/III for wood-to-wood joints. Less expensive and less hassle than epoxy with comparable performance in this application. Short shelf life though especially in high temperatures.

• Hot melt glue. Ideal for affixing small wires in place, for making jigs, and for tacking items in place that will be permanently attached using other means (screws/bolts or fiberglass)
• Epoxy

• 5200 etc.
• Thread locking compounds

Others:

• Plastic cements. These are specific to the plastic being bonded. Model airplane glue (for polystyrene), ABS cement (for many plastic items not just plumbing), PVC cement (same). Better bond than epoxy in most cases
• Contact cement. For attaching leather or rubber to hard surfaces.
• Weatherstripping cement. Specialized version of contact cement
• Superglue-type methylacrylate products. For items that cannot be clamped.

[Thumbs Up]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I .....[*]Safer hardener. There are various amine hardeners. WEST uses one that is less hazardous (less prone to producing sensitization reactions) at the expense of strength and cost. I like the tradeoff.

I would like to see where they claim this. I think it may be true of their special coatings hardener (209). I think each speed of hardener might vary in blush/toxicity characteristics. It would be nice to see a breakdown.
Of the dozens of brands availabe, the fact that WEST literally wrote the book makes us gravitate to it. Surf board makers hate it and don't use it. Check out a company called Resin Research. I mostly used a budget brand (formulated in Florida) on Thumbs called E-Bond. I only paid around $40. A gallon including hardeners for the 40 gallons I used which made some minor inconsisencies more palatable. They list similar engeneering specs and give good product support. The surfboard industry is coming up with some supposed eco based alternative that might be less toxic. It would be nice if there were an affordable acrylic or recorcinol based alternative.

On a different note, has anyone tried super glue (krazy glue) for wound repair (first aid)?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Generally I buy West or System 3 for most things. I tend to go for West because of the dispensing pumps....

I have a stack of spare pumps (free to me), but I have gone to weighing instead.

• Neater. No drippy pumps to store.
• Flexible batch size, from a few mls to big.
• No "was that a full stroke?" worries.
• No confusion regarding what pump goes with what product and can size.
• No extension tube hassles.

Digital kitchen scales have gotten cheaper than the pumps, too. But that is not the reason. The scale just seems simpler to me. I can easily do the 5:1 math in my head (divide by 10 and then double) in seconds.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

for Devcon. I tried some JBWeld to reattach a stud for my raw water pump into my gear cover. Didn't hold.


Cleaned it up and used Devcon. Success. Been two years, a ok.


It comes in expensive tubs $124 or handy tubes $14 CDN.

Which JB Weld? The make many, including a methacrylate very similar to Devcon Plastic Welder.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

I would like to see where they claim this. I think it may be true of their special coatings hardener (209). I think each speed of hardener might vary in blush/toxicity characteristics. It would be nice to see a breakdown.
Of the dozens of brands availabe, the fact that WEST literally wrote the book makes us gravitate to it. Surf board makers hate it and don't use it. Check out a company called Resin Research. I mostly used a budget brand (formulated in Florida) on Thumbs called E-Bond. I only paid around $40. A gallon including hardeners for the 40 gallons I used which made some minor inconsisencies more palatable. They list similar engeneering specs and give good product support. The surfboard industry is coming up with some supposed eco based alternative that might be less toxic. It would be nice if there were an affordable acrylic or recorcinol based alternative.

On a different note, has anyone tried super glue (krazy glue) for wound repair (first aid)?

Standard part of our medkits. It has been used extensively, I believe it began during the Vietnam war. On Amazon you can buy sterile version (I thinks it’s all sterile but okay) when you search for 3M Vetbond, which is what we carry. The one time I used it for a minor cut in my finger, I used regular CA which was at hand and I remember it got hot. Almost glued extra fingers.

[Pauls]

Aerodux 185 Resourcinol - this is a gap filling resourcinol that will cure down to 50 degrees fahrenheit. This is the best wood glue on the market for making high strength structural joints. Amazon is a good source.

Loctite - Loctite makes a wide range of thread lockers/sealers which are very useful, with a range of strengths from easily removable to very strong. 290 is a wicking grade with a very low viscosity which is used to lock assembled threaded fasteners, is assemble, torque, then apply the 290. It wicks fully into the fasteners and then hardens to lock and seal them. This is also very useful for sealing minor leaks in metal parts. GM buys it by the tank car load to seal porosity in castings, for example.

[MicHughV]

it all depends on what you are used too...

I was introduced to WEST in 1979-1980, while I was building my boat and became very acquainted with it, and all the various fillers and additives, etc. I grew to love the stuff and still use it today...

[MicHughV]

here is an interesting video on several different types of wood glue...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-g3efGa3sI

[JPA Cate]

On a different note, has anyone tried super glue (krazy glue) for wound repair (first aid)?

One of the guys who comes for Friday night happy hour at our little sailing club had his knee replacement surgery closed with super glue. No staples at all. Sure makes for a tidy mend. He did have steri-strips over the incision for a while. So, for a first aid sort of situation, I would make butterfly bandaids, to use to support the glue bond, and close the wound as quickly as possible (keeps swelling down).

Ann

Don't try crazy glue for something inside the mouth, like repairing a denture, though, because saliva's enzymes attack it.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Which JB Weld? The make many, including a methacrylate very similar to Devcon Plastic Welder.

tw, don't have a copy or photo of the JBW, but my photo says it was blck and white tubes to mix.


Here's the Devon: