ACC or Epoxy Glue?

I want to glue fine diameter music wire [steel] to form a lattice type of structure as in a boom for a crane. Which glue would be best for the job? Time for the glue to set up is not critical and a longer work time may be beneficial. I am more concerned with holding strength.

 

Are you creating the boom structure or are you addin the wires that hold/operate the boom?

The ACC bond will be brittle whereas the epoxy bond will be more flexible than ACC. Epoxy is an "exotic" to me and I rarely use it. I always think of epoxy as having two parts to mix, but that may be wrong. I use ACC for many applications where there is no motion between the parts that are bonded.

This can be a very informative thread! I am looking forward to it.

 

ACC would do the job. The epoxy would take much longer to set.

Does the wiring have to remain taunt during the setting process?

They could be a factor in your choice of adhesives.

Stay cool and run steam......

 

5 minute two-part epoxy... less than $5 at any auto-parts store...

Apply with a toothpick...

It has a large drawback... it's pretty thick.

 

The project is to build a lattice type boom for a crane. I am building this from scratch and expect to spend a considerable amount of time to do so. My question is basically which glue, ACC or Epoxy is best for purposes of strength when gluing steel music wire to steel music wire. Set up time for the glue is not important as the entire boom side will be assembled in a jig. Once all the parts are in the jig I just apply the glue. What I don't want is having to go back and make repairs because the glue bond failed.

 

If what I have pictured of what you are building is correct, something like this:
my first choice would be to use brass wire and solder it. Second choice would be epoxy if you are set on using steel wire. ACC glues do not work as well on round wire to round wire joints because there is not enough contact area between the two for a good bond, especially since it is hard to get a good N scale miter joint on a piece of steel wire. The epoxy will create a small fillet that will greatly strengthen the joint and will actually look like a "weld bead". Unless I am in a real hurry, I prefer 1 hour epoxies over the 5 minute types. With a longer working time you have much less wasted material setting up on you before you can use it, and they are usually much thinner so they are easier to make a small joint with without having way too much glue on the joint.

 

That is exactly what I am referring to as a lattice boom. I chose to use steel music wire over brass because in the small diameter I will be working with steel has more resilience to bending [and kinking] than brass. I agree on the longer set times for the epoxy as a plus and the small area for the glue to adhere to which is why I made the strength of the glue joint the main criteria.

 

I'd use epoxy. Most of my bridges were ACC and the parts were longer. I'm continually making repairs--with epoxy. As others have mentioned, it really depends on the surface-to-surface area. If I have a relatively large area, I'm confident with ACC. If I don't, then epoxy. Epoxy is also a bit gooey, which helps hold parts in place.

Where possible, I now drill holes for the wire and insert the ends. That's not feasible with steeel wire to steel wire joints. Bending wire at the precise length is a whole lot harder than just nipping it. I discard a lot of pieces! But these newer models are much sturdier.

Also, I used ACC to quickly position a part, then went back with tiny gussets on both sides, held in place with epoxy. It's a little tedious, but goes pretty fast.

 

I agree with using epoxy for this purpose.

The other option worth reconsidering would be doing it in brass wire and soldering since you'll be setting the parts up in a jig. With the physical size of the components, and the fact it won't be load bearing, the possibility of it twisting or distorting is miniscule and the lattice design will make it structurally stable and strong.
Also, trimming brass wire to length is a bit easier than piano wire.

 

I recently built a truss for a building canopy using brass wire and glued it together with gap-filling ACC (Zap-a-Gap).

I first printed out a full size diagram of the truss and taped it down to a board. Then I taped a piece of clear throw-away plastic from some packaging over it. I taped the main runner with small pieces of blue painters masking tape to the plastic. I applied a little ACC with a toothpick sized applicator at the tees. I placed the crosstie on top with another small piece of blue tape. Once everything dried, I carefully peeled off the blue tape and released it from the protected background. I reglued any loose joints before completely releasing the truss. I repeated this until I had enough trusses.
The worse part was cutting the wires and keeping them from flying across the room.
Barry

 

You _can_ easily solder steel wire (not SS).

Tin the wire using an active or acid flux. After tinning, clean the flux off (soap and water, add bicarb if paranoid about the acid). Then use a std rosin core solder to make the joints.

Personally, I'd use phosphor-bronze wire. Much stiffer than brass and straightforward to solder.

Bob in IDaho

 

Please don't forget to post pictures of this project, anyone who is doing or has done it!!!