Gluintg metal to wood

[Jerryi]

I'm an old newwbie who has decided to finish the plank on frame model of HMS Beagle I started 30 years ago.  I'm now up to the part where I have to attach brass rudder hinges to the ship and rudder.  The instructions call for glue but I'm not sure what kind of glue to use or if there is a better way 30 years later.  Any help or suggestons wold be appreciated.  Thanks

Jerry

[Ulises Victoria]

Hello Jerry.

2 part epoxy.

IMO nothing works better. Is it messy? YES! Is it a big waste? YES! Is it more expensive? YES! Is it still the best option? YES!

Hope this helps.

 

Ulises

[jud]

Wood and metal both expand and contract at different rates and there is the effect of  wood expanding and contracting with moisture changes while metal does not creates lots of microscopic movement at the glue joint. Use an adhesive that will remain plastic over time, I would think about reinforcing the joint with small rivets or a roughed up inside surface of the hinges. Although messy, Plumbers Goop comes to mind. Have used it to attach surveying info and warning aluminum posters to cliff faces, Railroad tool shacks and large glacier deposited boulders, once used it to hold stamped brass washers to a concrete floor, remaining floor after a chemical fire so the hazardous remains could be monitored by grid, all stayed put in the outside elements, some still are in place after 40 years. Good Stuff.

jud

[michaelmys]

I absolutely agree with Ulises that two part epoxy is the only way to go. While what jud says is true, I think that, with the small size of the parts involved, the amount of expansion/contraction will be insufficient to disturb the integrity of the glue joint or that the forces involved will be insufficent to cause any significant distortion.

I agree that the traditional method of mixing epoxy, by squeezing out two equal sized puddles of glue and hardener onto a surface and mixing gives rise to significant waste. I picked up the following "toothpick" method from a 1/43 scale car modelling site a few years ago, and found it fantastic at cutting down both waste and mess. It lets you mix up nano amounts of epoxy, with the result that 5ml tubes seem to last forever.

You need a pile of tooth picks, and a decent sized mixing surface, as well as a suitable epoxy - I tend to use a 5 minute epoxy for convenience, although will use a longer set if maximum strength is required.

I place the glue and a single toothpick on one side of the work area, and the hardener and the rest of the toothpicks on the other. Open both tubes, and squeeze gently until glue and hardener fill the nozzles of the tubes. Using the single toothpick scoop out just enough glue out of the nozzle to do the job, and trasfer to the mixing surface. Place both glue and toothpick back, and well away from the hardener. I Ihen dig out the equal amount of hardener from its tube with one of the tothpicks from the pile, and use that toothpick to mix up the adhesive. That tothpick is also used as the applicator. Discard the toothpick with mixed adhesive on it, and you're ready to go again. I recycle the glue toothpick, and use a fresh toothpick from the pile for hardener. Keeping track of the tothpicks is essential - introducing the mixed glue toothpick back into the glue tube, or the glue toothpick into the hardener tube spell disaster.

With a bit of practice, you can easily mix up sub-millimetre drops of glue.

 

Hope that's helpful.

 

Cheers!

Michael

[Ulises Victoria]

Excelent tip, Michael. Thank you!!!

[vaddoc]

I used epoxy for securing hinges. I degreased the metal and I think also lightly sanded the meeting surface. Really strong bond

[wefalck]

On the prototype, such fittings would have been bolted on. So why not use some suitable nails in pre-drilled holes ? I still would use some adhesive to first attach the parts and then pre-drill the holes. The additional nailing sorts out any differential movement from temperature-induced expansion.

[Dan Vadas]

When using one of those Epoxy double-"syringes" I cut the two plungers apart so I can use them one at a time. If they stay together, inevitably one side will shoot out a heap more than the other. I get much better control over the proportions this way.

 

When I have the quantity I need I pull the plunger back slightly to suck the epoxy in the tip back in. It avoids leaving messy tips.

 

  Danny

[vaddoc]

I use the big bottles of epoxy and insulin syringes as you can get very accurately just 1 m of each. If I need more epoxy I use 3 ml syringes (without the needle). I wear single use gloves and of course use the syringes only once. Very consistent results and not messy at all. Better value for money also I think

 

It is important to avoid skin contact with epoxy as an immune response builds up over tine.

[Gaetan Bordeleau]

Epoxy + pre-drilling holes 1 size smaller than nails so that there is  friction.

 

Sometimes nails needs to be  inserted with a pair of pliers.

 

When  friction is good, glue becomes almost  not necessary.