Glues?????????

[jttheclockman]

I was wondering what glues you all use to glue your pens together particularly when using segments and using disimilar materials such as plastics, with metals and acrylics????

I have used CA when doing knots and the parts were all wood and have had great success. I always use epoxy ( System 3 T88) for gluing in tubes in anything.

Well I have been playing around with gluing metals together along with gluing plastic sheets and getting nonfavorable results. Have been trying gluing aluminum to brass, have glued aluminum to black plastic strips, have glued brass to black plastic strips, and I have not yet drilled and added tubes which might give them more strength but I found I can break the joint of the metal and plastic fairly easily and am worried that this will be a problem in the future when I spin and shape the pen and assemble. There will be even less material there to bond. I have roughed all parts involved and made sure I did this just prior to glueing so no oxidation takes place before gluing or at least to the best of my ability. I have wiped down the parts with acetone to get any fingerprints off.

So my question is those that glue metals to metal and metals to plastics and acrylics what glue do you use and why??? Is there a prep step I am missing??? Thanks for the replys.

 

[MattDaddy]

Great question - anxious to see the response. I too have had good luck with CA and epoxy on wood and even plastics - but aluminum is giving me a bit of a fit. I think the secret may be in drilling the aluminum before you glue it to the rest of the blank - and assemble the pre-drilled parts together on the tube. This will give more glue points of contact and keep it from falling apart when trying to drill the whole blank. I think the heat from the metal is breaking the glue joints.

Anyway - anxious to see additional responses.

 

[workinforwood]

I always use expanding polyurethane glue for segments and for gluing the tube into segments..ie gorilla glue. This includes most metal work. To just slip a brass rod in a hole, I use epoxy, but for strips or anything else, it's gorilla/sumo whatever. Heat when drilling can still be an issue, but less of one. If you have absolutely any type of wander from wobbling drill bit, or tiny voids from say a void in a burl, the glue expands into it for 100% contact every time. If the tube was a nice tight fit, but the wood is pourous, the glue will penetrate a bit of the wood, which is a good thing. I rarely have blow-outs because of the adhesion strenght and coverage which helps reduce the chances. Any gap any where, is a weekness that needs to be filled. I like how the glue is easily removed if any gets into the tube too. Remember though..with all metals, they must be scratched, tubes or segmented metals, all of them, in order for any type of glue to adhere.

 

[stolicky]

For the little segmenting I have done, I usually follow this rule:

If wood, I typically use yellow glue (i.e. titebond)
If non-wood, 2-part epoxy

I have used gorrilla glue before, but it takes quite a long time and makes a mess! With that said, I do use if for gluing in tubes in wood. Whereas, 2-part for non-wood.

 

[hehndc]

Thought this might help:http://www.thistothat.com/

Steve

 

[ed4copies]

Thought this might help:http://www.thistothat.com/

Steve

Interesting, Thanks!!

 

[leehljp]

Thistothat is great for general recommendations but it doesn't fit perfectly with specialty usages as in pen turning.

The metal to wood recommendation (epoxy) does not take into account that considerable heat is generated when drilling through laminated blanks - which can severely weaken the bond. Heat travels fast on the metal laminates.

That said, I usually use epoxy for metal to wood but I drill the holes before hand in my laminates. For angled laminates that have to be drilled through after laminating, I use thick CA.

 

[hewunch]

Medium or thick CA, very few problems.

 

[PenTurnerfromMaine]

GORILLA !!!! I use it for all parts of the process.

 

[bluenotegrl]

Okay, so let me get this straight... Gluing acrylic to acrylic - CA works best. Gluing metal to metal - epoxy. Gluing wood to wood - epoxy or Gorilla glue.

Does that about sum it up? I too was wondering about gluing segments with acrylic to create a seamless transition.

Thanks.

 

[VisExp]

For the little segmenting I have done, I usually follow this rule:

If wood, I typically use yellow glue (i.e. titebond)
If non-wood, 2-part epoxy

I have used gorrilla glue before, but it takes quite a long time and makes a mess! With that said, I do use if for gluing in tubes in wood. Whereas, 2-part for non-wood.

Ditto

 

[workinforwood]

I bet if you went to an auto parts store, you could find some high heat high strength epoxy that would be more resistant to drilling. There are "gorilla glue's" meaning not just that brand but others of the same kind, that dry clear and there's ones that dry much faster than the original, one's that expand less, there's quite a variety out there on the market now.