What Glue

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Celt40

Celt40

Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
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119
Location
Scotland UK
I have been making segmented blanks using Pickguard. The problem I have is that some of the blanks come apart where the Plastic Pickguard and the wood join. This i always at the sanding stage. I do not over sand and keep the blanks from getting too hot. I have been using Titebond II on the wood to wood joints and Med CA when gluing the Pickguard. I also have been scoring both sides of the Pickguard with a knife before I glue it to the wood, to give the glue something to grip. When using old Coke cans I have even more joints coming apart.
I sand the paint and shinny surface before gluing. Is there a better glue to use and what am I doing wrong.

Dermot.
 
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What brand CA are you using? It may be beyond it's shelf life. I also use CA and the only reason mine comes apart is if I overheat. I also SAND the aluminum and pickguard instead of scoring with a knife. YMMV
 
Celt40 said:
I have been making segmented blanks using Pickguard. The problem I have is that some of the blanks come apart where the Plastic Pickguard and the wood join. This i always at the sanding stage. I do not over sand and keep the blanks from getting too hot. I have been using Titebond II on the wood to wood joints and Med CA when gluing the Pickguard. I also have been scoring both sides of the Pickguard with a knife before I glue it to the wood, to give the glue something to grip. When using old Coke cans I have even more joints coming apart.
I sand the paint and shinny surface before gluing. Is there a better glue to use and what am I doing wrong.

Dermot.
Click to expand...

I've done quite a few segmented pens and had several delaminations until I switched from CA and started using epoxy. I haven't had a joint failure since the switch so epoxy is the glue I use when sandwiching dissimilar materials like wood and plastic or metal.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't think CA is the answer to everything. :smile:
 
Celt40 said:
I have been making segmented blanks using Pickguard. The problem I have is that some of the blanks come apart where the Plastic Pickguard and the wood join. This i always at the sanding stage. I do not over sand and keep the blanks from getting too hot. I have been using Titebond II on the wood to wood joints and Med CA when gluing the Pickguard. I also have been scoring both sides of the Pickguard with a knife before I glue it to the wood, to give the glue something to grip. When using old Coke cans I have even more joints coming apart.
I sand the paint and shinny surface before gluing. Is there a better glue to use and what am I doing wrong.

Dermot.
Click to expand...

I have used all three,(C/A,Epoxy,Tite Bond), for that sort of glue up you described with no issues. I wait till the next day to work them though.
 
I use Titebond for wood to wood and CA for everything else. Never had one of those joints fail, but I did have aluminum to wood fail on all of my joints one day when using a 2 part five minute epoxy. Maybe a bad batch, but I never took the chance again.
 
Texatdurango said:
I've done quite a few segmented pens and had several delaminations until I switched from CA and started using epoxy. I haven't had a joint failure since the switch so epoxy is the glue I use when sandwiching dissimilar materials like wood and plastic or metal.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't think CA is the answer to everything. :smile:
Click to expand...

Ditto:
Loctite 5 minute epoxy makes my segments work very well. CA always seems to come apart on brass, aluminum and pickguard.
 
One thing to consider.......

You read it all the time... "I made this pen yesterday for a customer, and I'll mail it out today, I hope they like it"

Comments like that lead me to believe that quite a few pen makers here will only have a pen in their hands a day or two at most. They will make a pen and sell it a few days or week later so they will have no idea how well a joint will remain intact "over time" unless a customer contacts them a few weeks or months later and if the pen was sold at a craft show, they may never hear anything back.

The reason I mention this is that a few years ago I was really into making segmented pens but didn't do shows so I would hold onto them until someone selected them from my website which meant I would hang onto a pen for months in some cases.

During a trip to California, an acquiantance wanted to see my pens and while browsing through them picked up a nice segmented pen and I was so embarrassed, the thing had completely come unglued between two segments. The pen had never been used, it just sat in a display case and the CA came unglued!

A few more incidents similar to that one convinced me to change glues.

Not trying to convince anyone to switch from CA, just sharing an experience. :smile:
 
CA is fast -- and it is also well known to become brittle with age, and is very sensitve to heat and the heat is a low temperature. I suspect that most of the "not too hot" failures during sanding were too hot. Localized heat that softens CA may not feel hot to fingers. CA fails at about boiling and softens below 150 degrees F.

Test your technique by wet sanding using mineral spirits or alcohol and I suspect your failure rate will decrease.

Regardless, CA is not the best long term adhesive in many situations -- though it often is the most convient.

With epoxy glues -- in general the longer the pot life, the better the bond and the more difficult the handling. Many are more focused on how "handy" the product is than how it will perform over time. It depends on your market, your price point, and your expectations for time.
 
Thanks to all for your comments.
I always wait till the next day to turn a glued segmented blank. What I would like to know is do you remove both outside films before glue is spread? What I don't do is remove the front coloured slice, the one with the Pearl cover. Is this the mistake I am making? It is only very thin and does not add any colour to the finished blank.
 
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