Poseidon11
Member
I need to glue small aluminum parts together on a lightsaber project of mine. Can someone suggest glue stronger than JB Weld?
Help gluing metal together?
- Thread starter Poseidon11
- Start date
Darth Detroit
Sr Member
Make sure the surfaces are CLEAN and lightly sanded.
There really isn't anything stronger. You could always JB Weld them and then solder the seams.
cheech9898
Sr Member
Some of the automotive metal glues have a higher psi rating, but it is for lapped joings and in the 2000psi range, but if this is butt-joint (or small surface area) it wouldn't have nearly that strength. JB weld is probably the best & cost effective choice. If cleanup in a tight area is a possiblity, most of the LORD Fusor auto glues dry to a pea green to medium green color that I've used, where the grey JB weld blends in better.
Is JB Weld stronger than GOOP? I used GOOP on my Gaffi stick years ago to glue the blades on and it hasn't budged even after hitting the blade against the wall.
Poseidon11
Member
Good question. I have some GOOP left over from when I used it to glue aluminum eyes to the plastic/rubber on a tusken mask. It worked great on that project.
But I would assume JB Weld would be stronger for metal to metal bonding. Anyone know for sure?
Gigatron
Sr Member
These metal-metal "adhesives" (jb weld, plumbers putty, etc.) are tough cookies, but not really true adhesives. They're compounds that dry rock hard. So, if you were to encase or embed 2 pieces in a glob of JBW, you'd have one hell of a time getting them apart. But for sticking two surface contact pieces together, they'll hold, but they aren't that difficult to pull apart.
The problem is that these compunds don't actually adhere to flat surfaces well. They adhere to themselves and to surfaces when they can really get a bite. They're basically really fancy CAs (crazy glue).
Unfortunately, that doesn't really help with a "what is stronger than JBW" question. All I can offer is, that if possible, drill holes in both surfaces to be mated and make sure the JBW gets in the holes. It'll increase the shear strength due to the extra surface area.
-Fred
The problem is that these compunds don't actually adhere to flat surfaces well. They adhere to themselves and to surfaces when they can really get a bite. They're basically really fancy CAs (crazy glue).
Unfortunately, that doesn't really help with a "what is stronger than JBW" question. All I can offer is, that if possible, drill holes in both surfaces to be mated and make sure the JBW gets in the holes. It'll increase the shear strength due to the extra surface area.
-Fred
stapleton13
Well-Known Member
You can also use a scrim cloth. I'm not sure the best place to buy it. We order it in rolls at work. You might even be able to buy something similar at any fabric store.
It is a thin open weave cloth. It looks like drywall tape, but thinner. What it does is allow a small space between the two objects being glued so that the glue remains between the pieces being glued. When two well mated parts are glued together. The glue can actually squeeze all the way out leaving very little glue between the 2 parts. Scrim keeps the parts from touching, and allows a thin film of glue to contact the part completly on both sides.
It is a thin open weave cloth. It looks like drywall tape, but thinner. What it does is allow a small space between the two objects being glued so that the glue remains between the pieces being glued. When two well mated parts are glued together. The glue can actually squeeze all the way out leaving very little glue between the 2 parts. Scrim keeps the parts from touching, and allows a thin film of glue to contact the part completly on both sides.
Would Bondo work? It holds like a mother on everything I've tried it on.
Poseidon11
Member
Bondo isn't designed for aluminum(there are other fillers for that) and it really isn't an adhesive. It does stick well to a lot of surfaces but it is brittle(and becomes moreso over time) and doesn't have a lot of shear strength.
