Gluing rubber to wood?

Laspector

Master Member

• Oct 13, 2018

• #1

Guys, help me out here. I'm working on a piece that is going to be a base for something. The base is wood and I'm trying to glue these rubber strips to the sides of it and I'm not having any luck getting these strips to stick. I've tried Gorilla two-part epoxy and have also tried rubber cement. Neither seem to be working. What is the best glue for doing this? It's not like the material needs to flex or anything. I'm just using these strips because I like the corrugated texture.

 

8 perf

Sr Member

• Oct 13, 2018

• #2

"Barge" Contact cement. A lot of cosplayers use it when making foam armor and such. Holds really well.

 

J

JoeCS

Active Member

• Oct 13, 2018

• #3

I would think regular old CA super glue should work

 

swgeek

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 13, 2018

• #4

Barge is good. I'd also try...

 

A

Automaton

Well-Known Member

• Oct 13, 2018

• #5

A good "contact adhesive" should do the job too. That stuff's messy but magical in its sticking power as long as the parts are porous. I think shoe glue is similar.

 

TazMan2000

Master Member

• Oct 14, 2018

• #6

Superglue (CA) will work great. Just ensure that the viscosity is medium or thick. This will be a permanent bond, so ensure that you place it right the first time.

TazMan2000

 

Laspector

Master Member

• Oct 15, 2018

• #7

I tried superglue and it would not work. It stuck great to the rubber but not to the wood.

 

A

Automaton

Well-Known Member

• Oct 15, 2018

• #8

Laspector said:

I tried superglue and it would not work. It stuck great to the rubber but not to the wood.

Click to expand...

I see you've finished the edges of the wood in black... Is it a wax or oil finish at all?

 

TazMan2000

Master Member

• Oct 15, 2018

• #9

Laspector said:

I tried superglue and it would not work. It stuck great to the rubber but not to the wood.

Click to expand...

When I provided that advice I was concerned about the "rubber" and not the wood, as ther ar many synthetic materials that could be made to have the same look as rubber but not take CA. Wood is porous and takes the glue easily. Almost too easily since the porous nature absorbs the glue readily. That's why I suggested the thick stuff, but Automaton may be correct if the wood has a waxy finish it will not adhearing correctly. Is it possible to sand it? If you put Thompsons Water Seal one it all bets are off.

TazMan2000

 

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 8, 2018

Axlotl

Master Member

• Oct 15, 2018

• #10

Have you tried Shoe Goo?

 

Laspector

Master Member

• Oct 15, 2018

• #11

Well, I finally made a concoction that worked. I applied rubber cement to the rubber strips and let it dry. Then I applied a coating of acrylic gesso to the wood over the layer of superglue that was already there. Then applied rubber cement to the wood pieces. After that dried I was able to go dry-to-dry with the rubber cement and it held pretty good.

Kind of a long way around the solution but it worked.