Glues - what to use

Discussion in 'Modeling Tips' started by klrwhizkid, Dec 27, 2009.

  1. SAFN SAAP

    SAFN SAAP Member

    Why is coolchem so secretive? Kinda raises an eyebrow with me.



    klrwhizkid: Rather than a separate post, I thought I would post an answer here. By keeping a product in-house, a manufacturer/vendor has better control of product quality; especially one that may be temperature/time sensitive such as Ken points out. It is also a way to be more price competitive. I will stand behind my statements about the products abilities based on my own experience - I truly believe in the product.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 28, 2023
  2. wpmoreland719

    wpmoreland719 Member Frisco.org Supporter

    For gluing metal to plastic or wood to plastic, I've found that mixing Testor's plastic cement (orange tube) with Testor's Metal/Wood cement (green tube) works very well. I've used this to attach wooden trestle beams to plastic ties and it creates a very strong bond.

    Pat Moreland,
    Union Mo.
     
  3. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    Epoxy adhesives, as 3DTrains suggests, usually work best when resin and hardener come in separate containers.

    Meteor910's tip about refrigeration extending super-glue life also applies to the thin, two-part, separately packaged epoxies. The only drawback is that small volumes take much longer to cure when mixed up cold. This requires preparation of tooling and clamping for accurate joints. In addition, cold ones are too thick to penetrate fibers like glass cloth or wood end grain. A gentle blast from a hair drier helps with this.

    I am sure it has been said before, but it bears repeating. Good practice with two part systems is KEEP the caps SEPARATE, and NEVER put the HARDENER CAP on the RESIN BOTTLE, or vice versa.

    There are epoxy putties where the two components are extruded onto the same thin strip, but their lack of thickness prevents commingling and reacting until kneaded uniformly. (Who knows, maybe there is a small barrier strip between them to prevent cure.) Their shelf life may benefit from cold storage, too, but at the expense of extended cure time.

    George
     
  4. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    I even store the two parts of epoxies in separate locations and cyanoacrylates and kicker in separate locations so the hardener/kicker doesn't come into contact with the base without my intervention.
     
  5. SAFN SAAP

    SAFN SAAP Member

    I wasn't questioning you Keith. I trust your recommendations completely. It was just cool's presentation which made me feel uncomfortable. I have to "log in" to see the product? That's kinda weird. That's all. I'm gonna try some. Sorry for the confusion.
     
  6. Bruce Adams

    Bruce Adams Member

    Glue Applicators Question ...

    I had a bottle of Faller Expert - the needle applicator dried / clogged / became unusable. So, I purchased a Flex-I-File applicator bottle, decanted the Faller Expert into it, and the same thing happened again in less than a day.

    Does anyone have a suggestion for keeping a needle applicator clean? (The tube is too small for anything to be inserted into it, as nearly as I can tell.) Is there any solvent to dip the needle in? If so, how do you keep from contaminating the glue? Does squeezing the bottle when it's right-side-up (to suck the glue back down into the bottle)? Nothing seems to be working for me, and I'm not enjoying wasting the money.

    Thanks for the help.
     
  7. trainchaser007 (Brandon Adams RIP 9/22/2017)

    trainchaser007 (Brandon Adams RIP 9/22/2017) Passed away September 22, 2017

    I know that some people don't like Testors Non-Toxic Cement for Plastic Models, but I like it just fine, especially since I have kids. I used up the last of what I had yesterday & ran in Walmart today to buy more. They had it marked down from $1.95 down to $0.75 on clearance. I bought two tubes. I would have bought them out (about 8 more tubes) but I was concerned about shelf life as 10 tubes might just very well be more than I would use in my lifetime. In spite of my research, I haven't been able to find anything about its shelf life. If you know anything or can find any info about its, please reply. Thanks.
     
  8. yardmaster

    yardmaster Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Brandon, I don't have any empirical data and I'm not well-versed enough in its chemical properties, but I do know that I'm still using a tube of this cement that's older that's at least 17 years old. It seems to be working just fine for me, so unless Testors has changed their formula, I would personally be inclined to stock up.

    Best Regards,
     

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