Magnets To Hold Cavity Cover

[Bmth Builder]

Hey I'm having some trouble gluing magnets to my guitar body to hold a cavity in place.

Which glue works best?

Do I have to ruff up the metal on the magnets to get a good join? They're currently very smooth, and stay glued for a while but come unstuck easily.

Cheers

[zyonsdream]

I use rare earth and I counter sink them into the body. I also use CA glue and I've had no issues with them coming out. I make mine tight enough that I have to press fit them into the hole though. I then use thin strips of metal on the back of the cover plate.

[Rick500]

I use CA too. Haven't had a problem. But I do it a bit differently: I only use magnets on the cavity cover, and zinc screws set into the cavity ledge.

In this pic, the magnets are on top of the screws. Soon after, I put a small drop of CA on top of each magnet and pressed the cover on to adhere them.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Rick500

[Donut Man]

Are you using CA? I'm not sure if this applies to metal, but when gluing plastic to wood you have to wet both surfaces slightly before applying the glue, otherwise it doesn't dry properly.

[Mattia]

Water will catalyze (kick) a CA glue reaction, but you do not need to wet surfaces to get the stuff to dry. Ambient moisture will do the trick.

[Prostheta]

If you really want to ensure the magnets will stay in the hole you're putting them in, tap a shallow tack into the base of the hole with a counterpunch and then drop in the epoxy/CA so the magnet sticks to the head and is also held in by the adhesive. You'll have some trouble getting that sucker out! Just make sure the tack isn't so deep that you extend the field of the magnet closer to the pickups than is comfortable....

+1 on the ambient moisture point. CA will cure in air with no surfaces being glued, otherwise you'd never be able to reliably dropfill a ding in finish with CA :-D

Edited July 8, 2008 by Prostheta