Alternative To Stewmac Binding Adhesive

[Denis]

I thought I had done all the hard work to bind the top of my first solid body build, but no.

I bought some plain plastic binding from Stewmac (item #5791) assuming I could attach it with CA as they won't ship their weld-on cement to me in the UK. Tried it on a test piece today, and while the initial tack seemed OK, any pressure just loosened it. I tried using a kicker, and no better results. The CA was the very thin stuff - would a thicker CA be better?

I also bought some acetone thinking that might be the holy grail, but the plastic didn't even get tacky.

Any/All suggestions would be very welcome - I feel that this build has aged me enough already!!

Thanks

Denis

[WezV]

I glue plastic binding with normal thickness CA.

To help it stick i scrape the gluing surface of the binding and wet the gluing surface of the wood. The water stops the CA instantly soaking into the wood.

First off i make sure all my binding fits and hold it in place with tape, sometimes the sharper bends need a bit of heat from a hair dryer to help them stay in place. when i know it will stay in place with little pressure i can start glueing. I wipe up any excess CA so it can dry quicker, i usually end up sticking to the body at least once!!

It normally sticks just fine - i could probably pull it off if i needed to and you need to make sure you dont actually tear it out of the channel with tools or sandpaper but when its all finished and it has no edges that can be grabbed it will hold up just fine

[Acousticraft]

Try a google search for Weld on 16 cement in the UK. I had the same problem in NZ and found a company here that stocked it. It was just sold as acrylic cement and they had no idea it would bind plastic to wood.

There probably other brands of acrylic cement that would work equally well.

[wwwdotcomdotnet]

WezV, thanks for that info on using a little water on the wood. I will be doing that within the next few weeks on one of my builds now.

[Denis]

Try a google search for Weld on 16 cement in the UK. I had the same problem in NZ and found a company here that stocked it. It was just sold as acrylic cement and they had no idea it would bind plastic to wood.

There probably other brands of acrylic cement that would work equally well.

Thanks so much for that. I found it here and I have just ordered a tube.

Thanks again everyone

Denis

[Martinedwards]

the only time I've used plastic binding I used Evostik impact adhesive.

put in in the channel and on the inside of the binding, left it 10 mins then stuck it.

no probs.

[erikbojerik]

You can also spray or brush shellac on the binding channel to seal it off before using CA.

Edited June 12, 2007 by erikbojerik

[johnsilver]

I glue plastic binding with normal thickness CA.

To help it stick i scrape the gluing surface of the binding and wet the gluing surface of the wood. The water stops the CA instantly soaking into the wood.

First off i make sure all my binding fits and hold it in place with tape, sometimes the sharper bends need a bit of heat from a hair dryer to help them stay in place. when i know it will stay in place with little pressure i can start glueing. I wipe up any excess CA so it can dry quicker, i usually end up sticking to the body at least once!!

It normally sticks just fine - i could probably pull it off if i needed to and you need to make sure you dont actually tear it out of the channel with tools or sandpaper but when its all finished and it has no edges that can be grabbed it will hold up just fine

Exactly.

Especially the part about gluing my fingers to the body.

I've used Weld On and the method WezV describes and prefer his method mucho.

[awilcox]

I "melt" small pieces of the Stewmac binding in acetone to make a binding paste. It works great, plus it is the same color as the binding so if the binding is not perfectly tight against the channel, it fills in the crack and dries the same color. I got this idea off of the Stewmac website. I also tried CA and DUCO, but for seamless binding, I find the binding paste the best for me.

[Daniel Sorbera]

I glue plastic binding with normal thickness CA.

To help it stick i scrape the gluing surface of the binding and wet the gluing surface of the wood. The water stops the CA instantly soaking into the wood.

First off i make sure all my binding fits and hold it in place with tape, sometimes the sharper bends need a bit of heat from a hair dryer to help them stay in place. when i know it will stay in place with little pressure i can start glueing. I wipe up any excess CA so it can dry quicker, i usually end up sticking to the body at least once!!

It normally sticks just fine - i could probably pull it off if i needed to and you need to make sure you dont actually tear it out of the channel with tools or sandpaper but when its all finished and it has no edges that can be grabbed it will hold up just fine

Thats exactly what I do. Works like a charm.

[Phil Mailloux]

That cement thing is nothing more than the cement used to glue the plastic parts of those model cars/airplane/trains. You should be able to find it locally in any of those hobby shops.

[Daniel Sorbera]

That cement thing is nothing more than the cement used to glue the plastic parts of those model cars/airplane/trains. You should be able to find it locally in any of those hobby shops.

Are you sure? I thought that kind of glue worked by melting the plastic (on a microscopic level) so that it fused together. But would it work on plastic to wood joints?

[Phil Mailloux]

It does, I got this tip from a pro archtop builder.