What Glue or Epoxy to use?

tjdreams Jan 21, 2014

  1. tjdreams

    tjdreams TrainBoard Member

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    What types of glue or epoxy do you use?
    What works well with what? and what has bin a total disaster?.
    And most importantly what holds up and doesn't turn yellow over time?


    I pulled a few kits and some locomotives out that have bin stored for a few years and
    well I guess I must have used the wrong glue on some of them.
    The # boards had come loose and the windows had turned yellow where the glue was on a (MTL F7)
    And some of the bldg kits that looked grate when packed away now have yellow spots and/or are deformed or have come apart..
    I don't know what glue I used but I don't want to destroy anything else by using the wrong stuff again.


    So What is a good Glue or Epoxy to use for
    Wood ?
    Plastic ?
    Styre ?
    Brass ?
    foam ?
    Resin ?
    other ?
     
  2. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    Superglue works for lots of stuff buy is fragile like glass.

    If you want to glue foam to anything then use great stuff minimal expanding foam. For plastic use a chloroform solvent glue like plastruct plastic weld, it even bonds dissimilar plastics. Use white glue for wood kits because it has a few seconds of flexibility to allow you to straighten up the joint. Use clear parts cement for windows. And tacky glue for cars and people on your layout.

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
     
  3. BurlingtonRoute

    BurlingtonRoute TrainBoard Member

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    I am discovering the joys of UV activated glue. It is not for everything, but for a lot of things when I need to hold something instantly. As soon as I zap it with the UV light, it is hardened. I can shape it, sand it and paint over it too.
     
  4. David K. Smith

    David K. Smith TrainBoard Supporter

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    There is considerable crossover between materials and the glues that work on them, but in general here are the best recommendations:

    Wood: Elmer's Glue-All (white glue); carpenter's glue; thick cyanoacrylate ("super glue")

    Plastic: depends on the plastic; there are different types (ABS, PVC, acrylic, etc.), and different adhesives work best with each type. The most common plastic used in modeling is styrene.

    Styrene: any solvent-based plastic adhesive, such as Ambro Pro Weld; MEK (methyl ethyl keytone, or equivalent); acetone, in a pinch; avoid any tube-type glue

    Brass: soldering is always best; two-part 5-minute epoxy is recommended for gluing; cyanoacrylate is adequate

    Foam: latex caulk; Liquid Nails (or equivalent) for foam

    Resin: cyanoacrylate

    Then, of course, you'll encounter combinations of the above. If it's two porous materials, such as wood and paper or cardstock, white glue will work best. If it's two non-porous materials, such as plastic and brass, two-part epoxy will do well, followed by cyanoacrylate. There are other glues that perform on a variety of materials, such as Pliobond or Weldwood contact cement, but if you experiment with scraps, you will learn first-hand what works best.
     
  5. Cleantex

    Cleantex TrainBoard Member

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    For the people that have access, there is a new glue that I use now for most application, "Uhu Strong&Safe" It is the best glue that I have tested this last years and you can somewhere compare it to ZAP a Gap with some advantages. So, it let you curing time about 30-40 seconds, has some cyanoacrylate component and it is very strong. It also dry with no glossy surface and stay transparent, no white shadow. It is less fluid as pure superglue, but still enough. And it dont pull strings. Also it is more economical as it comes in 1gr tubes. White glue or some variations of it, I still use on lasercut wood, but not on cardboard anymore. Because even good cardboard has some tendency to expand on water based glue, also here Uhu Strong&Safe is much better and as it has longer curing time you can also use it for surfaces. It works on metal, ceramic, glas, leather, styropor, rubber, paper, and so on. Apart from PE/PP, mostly everything. For me the best new glue.
     
  6. David K. Smith

    David K. Smith TrainBoard Supporter

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    It sounds as though Uhu Strong & Safe may be similar to Gorilla Super Glue (not to be confused with normal Gorilla glue, which is a polyurethane adhesive that's not recommended for modeling because it expands while curing). Gorilla Super Glue has a longer open time than regular cyanoacrylates, and because it's thick, it's useful on porous materials such as wood and paper. It is one of the four glues I use the most (in the order of most used):

    Brush-on Krazy Glue
    Gorilla Super Glue
    Elmer's Glue-All
    Loctite Power Grab

    I use other adhesives, such as 5-minute epoxy, but only rarely. For styrene and most plastics, I use MEK, which is a solvent, not an adhesive.
     

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