Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with glue

Repairing an ancient plastic item - what's my best bet?

maxwelton — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:13:09 -0800

Can my elderly plastic piece be repaired by myself? What cements and/or techniques should I use? Caveats

* I'm not trying to save time or money
* I'm not interested in sending the item to anyone, I want to do this myself to learn something...even "it's impossible"
* I'd really be most interested in hearing from someone who has successfully repaired an item like mine

Item

I have a large molded plastic piece from a car with numerous cracks and broken off bits, as well as some localized warping. The piece was molded in 1961 in England--the plastic is about 1/8" thick, and it is white in color. I have no idea what particular flavor of plastic it is, but it's not bakelite. (It looks and acts like styrene to me, but I have no way of knowing.) The environment the piece lives in is hot, it probably gets exposed on occasions to temperatures approaching 150F+...I mention this in case a repair material will fail if heated like this (for example, the adhesive on your favorite super-tape will stop working above 100F).

The plastic itself seems to be in decent condition; it might be a bit more brittle than it was new, but it's never been exposed to UV light and aside from being a punching bag for people with no sense of "is that too tight?" and some heat exposure, seems OK. I suspect a lot of the damage I describe happened the day it was originally installed...

This item will not be seen when it's done (it's hidden) but serves an essential role, and is an intricate shape which the relatively crude reproduction made today only approximates, making everything which has to happen after this piece is put on the car harder. I have one of these repros (which they now make out of fiberglass); I'll end up (reluctantly) using it if can't fix this.

Note that because of where the piece fits, I cannot glue backing material to it; it can't end up any thicker than it is, though it could conceivably gain tape or a very thin backer on the order of tape thickness.

Problems

The problems fall into three areas:

Cracks. There are numerous cracks at various stress points. All of them disappear when pressed back together. In the past I have tried putting typical hardware-store superglue in these type of cracks, but with very mixed results, and no confidence in the repair. Is there a cement which will work for this? It would have to be very liquid and able to be drawn in by capillary action alone... I can spread the cracks a bit, but not to the point of applying cement to either face and pressing them back together. I can get to the back of all of them to apply some sort of tape, if that's a potential solution. All of the tapes I have, from masking to Gorilla to duct tape, would fail in a short while in this environment, and my only tape thought was maybe something foil-backed might be strong enough.

Broken off bits. Fortunately these all are in a flat area where the piece is attached with screws to the car. I will be using large washers and a soft material between them and the piece for future preservation, but in the meantime, I need to get the missing chunks back into place. Can I buy sheet styrene, cut pieces to fit, and expect them to stay put if edge-glued (obviously cutting the original piece to match the repair shape as closely as possible? This is definitely an area which cannot have much extra thickness. This seems like an ideal place for a "welding" type glue, which chemically "melts" the pieces to each other and then sets, which is what I think normal plastic model cement does...but I think would be too demanding an application for Testor's or whatever. Plus--I think those type of glues require very specific knowledge of the type of plastic used...they will glue, say, only ABS.

Localized warping. This I am concerned least about, but some long flat edges have a wave in them from years of having screws placed every six inches and no support between. This would be fine to leave as-is, but am curious if there is a way to fix this. I was thinking very careful use of a heat gun and a flat backing piece, or two flat pieces to press the heated material between. I know this is a potential disaster without great care, so may skip it...but am curious.

Thanks for any insight!

Gluing ABS to styrene

aramaic — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:44:50 -0800

I need a "medium-build" adhesive to glue some fairly small (5mm) plastic components to each other, and my usual glues aren't useful here. The components in question are ABS & styrene; they have been tentatively joined using a solvent glue (I believe it's MEK+Chloroform, it's extremely thin and evaporates in the blink of an eye), but due to some tiny misfits between components the solvent glue has not been able to create a full-penetration joint.

Consequently, I'd like to go back over the joints using a glue with more "body" to fill these gaps -- something that, for example, can hold a 0.5mm bead when applied would be ideal. I've considered going back with more solvent glue, but given how thin it is I'm having trouble applying it in suitably small amounts without using a hypodermic needle (plus it's hard for me to get syringes in suitably small sizes without looking like a junkie).

Thoughts?

Curse of the Jade Bangle

bluefly — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 07:42:17 -0800

I've broken my favorite piece of a jewelry -- a solid jade bangle. It dropped on the bathroom floor and broke into 2 pieces (pics 1 2). When I put the two pieces together it doesn't look too bad (i.e. I think it was a "clean break" with no additional tiny pieces missing), so I'd like to fix it. Can I do this myself and will it look not horrible? What type of stuff could I use to glue the pieces together? If the answers to the previous questions are no and none, do you know of someone (jeweler/stone person) who could fix it in the DC/MD area? I know that after fixing it (whether myself or professional), I will have to be extra careful as the joint will be a weak point. Believe me, I've learned my lesson with being careful with nice, sentimental jewelry.

Hold onto your butts!

hamandcheese — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:52:02 -0800

Mrs. hamandcheese teaches children education programs. About dinosaurs. She needs your help with a specific crafty art activity teaching kids about bugs stuck in amber. Suggest us some amber-like glue solutions! She is developing a program for grade 2 in which the kids will make their own insect caught in prehistoric amber. She has the plastic insects, but is having a tough time finding glue or epoxy or some other resin solution that will do these things:

- dry quick and transparent (preferably 30mins or less, but she is open to having something that the kids will be able to take away within 24hrs)
- relatively cheap
- accept some dye to make it look like amber
- be something safe that the kids can pump themselves
- no crazy fumes for the kiddies

She has tried Elmer's glue (too long to dry), nail polish (bad idea), Castin' Casts Resins (made for beaders -- but is too finicky). We've thought of hot glue, but it's not something the kids can do themselves.

She would love to be able to put it into a pump that she can disguise in a fake prehistoric "tree" that the kids can go up to, and do a pump or two pumps to get their bug covered.

Any ideas?

Keeping body and soul together with super glue

Corvid — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:52:11 -0800

Anyone have any recommendations for using "super glue" instead of bandages on small, routine wounds? After I had laparoscopic surgery last month, they closed the incisions with some medical version of Krazy Glue. I was very impressed with how this worked -- I had no worries about allergic reactions to adhesives (which usually bother me); pain-free, almost itchless healing; and no fuss at all about keeping the wounds extra clean or changing bandages. The after-care instructions were, just ignore it until the glue falls off, which will happen automatically as the skin heals. Brilliant.

I've used regular "super glue" for fingertip skin cracks (at doctor's suggestion), and the "liquid bandage" products seem to be about the same thing. But, those things are not very effective -- they need to be re-applied at least twice/day. I see that the surgical-grade glues are stunningly expensive, but there seem to be veterinary versions available at more reasonable cost.

What specific types or brands are safe and effective (and reasonably priced)? Obviously any wound needs to cleaned well before being glued, but are there any other procedures or precautions I should be aware of? Would it be a bad idea to keep the glue on long term on a few vulnerable areas of my fingertips that crack and peel all the time? Is there any reason why a dab of glue wouldn't be a good alternative to a band-aid after a needle-stick for a blood test?

DIY handbag repair

TWinbrook8 — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 07:00:12 -0800

The strap of my handbag broke and I'm looking to repair it but how? As you can see by this photo, the short metal bit fits into the metal cap. The metal cap holds the end of the braided strap but the strap does not fill the cap entirely; the end where the opening is is hollow. Would filling it with some kind of glue or epoxy work? But which kind? It's very annoying as this handbag is barely a month old and has not received much use. When the strap came off, I thought a flange (?) had broken off the metal bit but there is nothing rattling around inside the cap.

So I have no idea how it held together in the first place but I am wondering if I fill the hollow part of the cap with some kind of glue and stab the metal bit back in, that it will hold. The glue would need to work with metal. I'm not sure how flexible it would need to be. I'd also need to get it into the hole. Any ideas?

We're going Krazy Glue crazy!

miss lynnster — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:24:46 -0800

Is there a heavy duty lock made that is tamper-proof from pranksters wielding Crazy Glue? Folks have taken to pouring Krazy Glue in keyholes and all over some locks of a venue I do events at. We're buying new locks and cutting them off weekly, and it's becoming a giant pain, cost and inconvenience. Is there any way to end this little battle once and for all with a great prankster-proof lock?

Mixed Media Art 101

booksherpa — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:41:45 -0800

I think I have fallen in love with mixed media arts and crafts! Help me do more of this! I spent part of last week taking a workshop called "The Art of Happiness". Basically, we played with a large quantity and variety of all kinds of craft supplies, with help from our teacher. There were specific projects she had brought that we could do if we chose, and they mostly seemed a combination of collage (using paper, bits of tissue, cloth, ephemera), gluing things to a base thing, stamping, painting, all kinds of techniques. I played with paper, tissue, cloth, stamps, paint, grommets, matte medium, E6000, and all sorts of other bits and pieces.

I think the term for what we did is "mixed media art". My teacher recommended a magazine called "Cloth, Paper, Scissors" but other than that, I have no resources. Please feed my potential new obsession! My previous crafty background: making jewelry, knitting, and amateur digital photographer. I've got a fair amount of beads and yarn, not so much paper or cloth.

- suppliers - I've got Michaels, AC Moore and Hobby Lobby nearby, but I'm also looking for online suppliers and outside the box ideas for stuff. Cheap paper and cloth suggestions especially appreciated as I'm neither a scrapper nor a sewer.
- terminology - is mixed media art the right term for this? Is there a list of acronyms and insider langauge somewhere? Every hobby has their lingo...
- other magazines (and books) to read, as well as good blogs and other online resources. I'm looking for how-tos as well as inspiration
- organization - it seems like it would be easy to have a big disorganized mess of materials. I'm thinking of a number of small plastic shoeboxes, well labeled

So, how-to and inspiration... I'm looking for all kinds of how-tos. How do I use matte medium (my new best friend in the workshop) and when do I use it instead of something else? What other glues and things are there? What's a good minimum toolkit for making art? Where can I find both ideas for projects (what can I do with the stuff?) and pretty pretty inspiration (look what other people did with their stuff!) What questions do I not know enough to ask?

TL;DR: Basically, I loved my recent mixed media workshop and want to do more of it. Give me Mixed Media 101. Thanks!

Is there a way to safely separate two sheets of paper glued together?

johnofjack — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:25:44 -0800

A printout was inadvertently glued to a copy of a historical photo. How do I get it off? At work we've just discovered a stack of photos, on paper of unknown type, mounted to wood. Someone had the idea of separating each of these with old printouts. One of the printouts in the middle of the stack had glue on it, and is now stuck to the photo.

I don't know what kind of glue it is.

I also don't know what kind of paper the copy was made on, but it can apparently take and keep a visible fingerprint, as someone left one on it. The copy is probably decades old and the photo is on some sort of paper--apparently something had been stuck to it before, and resolved it by simply tearing the paper off, tearing the top layer off the photo in the process. And then made that same mistake again. Yes, yes, I know. It wasn't me, honest.

The original photos are no longer available, so this copy is all we have.

Is there a way to get this printout off the photo without destroying the photo?

I've looked into it a bit online and am not optimistic; most people seem to recommend steam, in hopes of loosening the glue. That doesn't strike me as the least risky option, since the photo is also on paper. Is dry heat a viable option? Wouldn't that just make the glue set further?

Photo of the situation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjack/7631302894/

Photo of the masses of glue visible through the printout: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjack/7631302698/

Photo of the damage done before: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjack/7631302492/

Photo of the corner, which has started to peel away and shows the layers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjack/7631480440/in/photostream

Rust and then some...

fifilaru — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:17:16 -0800

What glue should I use to glue laminated fabric to rusty steel? I asked a question here a bit back about a rusty refrigerator. Most of the suggestions involved scraping and painting, which does not work. We get rid of the rust and it comes back. Covering it in sheet metal is not practical.

It is really rusty. Not little spots, lots of rust. I live in a very tropical climate (80 F degrees most of the time with 80% or more humidity, no air conditioning, open windows all the time) and it is a cheap fridge. My landlord will not replace it unless it fails (even then I have my doubts!) SOOOO...

I have decided to cover it in oil cloth or a vinyl laminated cloth. What glue should I use? I would pretty much have to cover the entire unit. As I said, the doors are very rusty and the rust cannot be removed or there would be no door. I think a permanent spray adhesive would work, but I am not sure. Is there a glue that comes in a pail I can paint on?

Help me fix my cracked ivory plugs

catatethebird — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 11:36:41 -0800

I need to glue/fix something weird. Help! I bought these plugs recently, deeply discounted because of cracks. You can see the obvious weak points in how they are carved.

They are made of fossilized mastodon ivory. (Yes. Isn't that cool!?) So, my problem is that, as expected, one of them has cracked all the way through now. So, how can I fix these? I think I can glue it back together, but I don't know what to use because of the unusual material.

I need something that will be fairly invisible, not bulky, and able to stand having some pressure on it. Superglue may work, but I don't know it it's too brittle. The goal is of course to make them wearable again.

So any brilliant ideas or products?

Here is a pic of the damage. The crack runs through that bottom triangular section, nd it is also cracked through at the junction of the top left point, so if I remove the plug, it is in two pieces.

Glue to bond glass and ceramics

robintw — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:15:51 -0800

Suitable glue to bond glass to ceramics - must dry clear, and be dishwasher proof (or at least waterproof) I'm looking for some strong glue to bond glass (old wine glasses) to ceramics (plates). This is for a craft project, so it must dry clear, and the item may get wet or even be put in the dishwasher in the future, so it must be able to cope with that.

I went to my local B&Q store (I'm in the UK( and they didn't really have much idea, but sold me something which seemed to work very well (v strong and clear), but comes apart immediately in water.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what sort of glue I should get, and also where I could buy it (in the UK)?

My kitty is sticky.

cmyk — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:33:18 -0800

Please help me remove glue from a cat with luxurious long fur. Complication: she reacts violently to human touch. An infestation of drain flies led to the deployment of one of these glue-stick traps, which worked wonderfully well until the cat got stuck to it.

Mina is a lovely long-haired black cat, in the foreground here and looking appropriately hunterly here. I stole her out of an alley when she was three weeks old, and had to bottle-feed her. She's a nasty little feral hellspawn who loathes human contact. I am the only person who can handle her without risk of injury -- and even then, I get bitten a fair amount.

The trap got stuck to her belly and the right side of her head. It came off without much of a problem, but now the fur on her belly and along the side of her head (including the ear and whiskers on the right side) is very sticky, with bits of dust and paper and things stuck to her.

It took rubbing alcohol to get the glue off my skin. How do I get it off the cat? Is there a magic cat-unstickying soap? Should I tie her down and shave her belly? Please hope me... and my evil man-eating vicious hateful killer sticky cat.

Adhesive over the Stove

gimonca — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:34:14 -0800

I have a microwave oven installed over my regular oven. The lower endcap has popped off the handle. I'd like to glue it back on, but it's in a spot where there will be a lot of steam rising towards it. What's the best product to get it glued back on?

Please fix this bear's coat. Thank you.

gregjones — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:21:36 -0800

The leather-thing holding it on snapped and one of the toggles has come off my duffle-coat. I have the toggle itself, and I have acquired some spare leather-things, but I'm not sure of the best way to re-attach. I don't have a sewing machine, and I don't think I know anyone who does. I have discovered that a thing called 'Fabric glue' exists, but is it any better than superglue? Will superglue work on wool/leather? I could put a few hand-stitches, but the thickness of both bits of material make me think that I might not be able to do a very good job. This is a picture of the coat (mine's brown, but I don't think that will affect the repair). It's the 2nd from the top that's broken. The vaguely circular bits of leather either side of the coat are 'hollow'...sewed only round the edges, and the leather-things slide inside, which I'm thinking I can somehow benefit from to help anchor securely. The non-broken leather-things are sewn as they go into the circle-bits, and then again a couple of centimetres closer to the edge...you can just about see the stitches on the picture.

I have 10 spare leather-things, so experimentation is possible. I also have 10 different toggles (repair-kit for a different type of coat...leather-things aren't identical, but are the same length and close enough colour), but I don't think replacing all of the toggles is the best option.

Prevent a Tube of Goop or E6000 From Drying Up Before You Can Use It All

purefusion — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:12:52 -0800

How do you extend the shelf-life of a tube of adhesive, such as Goop or E-6000 by preventing it from drying out during long periods without use? I'm curious about how to get the most value from a large tube of partially used adhesive such as Goop, E-6000 or other epoxy-like adhesives? It usually dries up before it's all used up. How do you prevent it from drying out, thus extending its shelf-life until you've used it all up?

Someone has to have come up with a creative solution to this issue of tubes drying up after long periods without use. There's gotta be a secret technique for increasing the longevity of these adhesive tubes after their initial use, because they always manage to be dried up at the most inconvenient of times!

Of course, I'm aware that smaller tubes of the stuff exist, but they generally only come in tubes that are often just too tiny to do much good (0.18oz and 0.5oz). 1oz would be more ideal, but I haven't seen them around, and as such I want to get the full value from the large 2oz tube!

So I'm looking for any tips or tricks to extend the shelf-life of these tubes of Goop. Anyone have any successful experience doing this?

Food safe and high temperature way of sealing wood.

wile e — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:14:25 -0800

Woodworking filter: I need to seal a leak in a wooden vessel but whatever I use needs to be both food safe and high temperature resistant. Long story short I am recreating an old Finnish brewing method of making something called sahti. When making sahti, you filter out your grains from the liquid using something called a kuurna, which is a long wooden trough typically made from a hollowed out log. The grains and liquids when poured into this kurrna will be just below boiling temp, around 80deg C (176deg F).

Since this was my first time hollowing out a log, I didn't know what I could and couldn't do. I got a bit over-zealous with the ax and cracked the log on one end. Thinking I could fix this easily, I continued.

Upon testing the kuurna with water yesterday, this thing poured water out like crazy. I need to find a solution to patch it if I am going to salvage my 1/2 of a weeks worth of work.

Here is a link to what I am working on. And on the last photo, you can see the crack.

Any thoughts? I would love not to scrap this and start over. Thanks!

Oh and I have tried using a high temp epoxy, but it doesn't fill the gsp. I need something that can fill.

Green stuff on my fence - is it glue?

evadery — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:58:20 -0800

There's some green, glue-like substance on several spots of my brand new fence (put up by a contractor along with a whole big reno). What is it? Is it easy to get off?

Sticking spray painted canvas to more spray painted canvas.

cirrostratus — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:10:02 -0800

Metafilter, save my art project! What kind of glue can I use to stick spray painted canvas parts to a spray painted canvas? So I'm working on a painting so far I've got a stretched canvas with the background painted on it in heavily spattered spray paint. I've also got some small irregularly shaped canvas pieces that are also heavily spattered spray paint on one side and raw canvas on the other. The goal is to get the canvas cutout foreground elements permanently attached to the background painting. But how?

I tried brushing some watered down elmer's white glue on the back of a couple of the canvas pieces and sticking them on. Unfortunately, they started curling up into a roll almost immediately after the glue was applied and refused to stick to the background. Hopefully I can salvage these pieces once they dry and press them flat again.

So, what glue should I using? Would the little pieces be less likely to curl up if they were coated on both sides? I thought about trying epoxy, but that seems like overkill. Any ideas how I can make this work?

What do I do about someone squirting glue into the locks of my house?

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:04:24 -0800

What do I do about someone squirting glue into the locks of my house? Hello all. Over the last 3 weeks, someone has been squirting glue into the keyholes of my house.

I live alone in a house with 2 locks on the front door and one lock on the back door. One morning three weeks ago, my top front door lock had suddenly become gummy and difficult to use. I thought it was suspicious but put it down to kids' pranks. My top front door lock became increasingly difficult to use, and last week I stopped using it altogether (so I only locked my bottom front door lock as I left for work every day).

This morning, I woke up and my bottom door lock had become gummy overnight, and was difficult to use.

In both cases, you can feel that the area around the lock (and the key after it had been inserted into the lock) was sticky -- as if someone had been spraying glue into and around the lock.

I called a locksmith and changed both locks this afternoon. After the locksmith left, I checked my (hardly used) back door. Lo and behold -- that was gummed up, too.

I'm worried about this. Does anyone have any tips? I'm particularly worried because it would be a bit of a mission to get to my back door -- you'd basically have to climb over a 6' brick wall from a main road.

I'm also wondering why someone would do this? I'm dreading that either (1) someone is casing my house for a burglary, or (2) squatters are looking to expropriate me while I'm away, or (3) someone is victimising me (no idea who or why).

I've reported this to the police, who have recorded it as "criminal damage" but that's it so far. For what it's worth, I live in London in the UK.

Any recommendations -- motives for the gluers, or steps I can take to increase my security, recommendations of products that I can use to increase my security -- would be very much appreciated.

How do I glue alabaster?

talitha_kumi — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:45:23 -0800

What's the best way to repair alabaster? I have a small alabaster cat statue which is currently missing one ear after a fall. I have the missing piece, and I want to glue it back on. Is there anything I need to be wary of in terms of the kind of glue or the method I use? Am I likely to discolour or damage the alabaster if I use the wrong stuff?

The statue originally came from a street vendor, but I'm pretty sure it's genuine alabaster since the thinner portions are translucent when I hold it to the light.

How to plug a water leak, food-safe?

anthill — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:46:39 -0800

My stovetop espresso maker has a small leak. I don't think returning it will help me. Are there any recipes for food-safe 'stop leak' compounds? The coffee maker is a Vev Vigano Carioca in stainless steel. The leak is in the water tank, around the pressure relief valve (not through it). Viewed from the inside, it seems the brass pressure relief valve was installed by being 'punched' through the stainless water tank, leaving a rough, splayed surface. I imagine there's a small gap between brass and stainless where steam / water can escape.

The place I bought it from is a ways away, and it doesn't seem possible to test coffee pots for leaks before buying, so I don't think returning it is worthwhile.

Is there any solution I could buy/make that would do a decent job of sealing the tiny leaks around the pressure valve? Of course, whatever I use has to be food safe (no automotive products!).

What glue should I use?

skjønn — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:40:32 -0800

Plastic laminated label on glass bottle, which glue to use? Please help! I make things that I put in amber glass or cobalt glass bottles. Since the bottles get wet (being in the bathroom or whatever) I like to laminate the labels before I put them on with really thin lamination at staples.

Then, I glue them to the jars. The problem is, they always seem to come off. Since laminated plastic and glass are so smooth, they don't adhere very well to eachother.

How can I fix this? What kind of (reasonably priced) glue could I use?

Sticky goo to attach things to envelope?

eleanna — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:26:07 -0800

Any suggestions for sticky goo to stick flash drive to envelope? I've designed a marketing packet for our library to send out to faculty. We'd like to stick flash drives (that we've put files on) onto the envelopes that are going out in a way that looks a bit nicer than a piece of tape. My director suggested maybe that goo they use to attach samples to magazines or cards. Does that exist somewhere I could walk into a store and buy it? Alternative suggestions? Thank you in advance.

Name the glue

fire&wings — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 05:29:50 -0800

UK Glue ID filter. Triangular, transluscent plastic bottle, red nozzle used for direct spreading. Glue itself brown/clear. Bottle similar shape to this. It's not Gloy, although the bottle may have been based on the Gloy bottle, or it may be a rebranding of Gloy. The Gloy nozzle is identical. Glue was available in the UK 80s/90s, possibly still for sale, and I'm sure had a catchy brand name.