"Davebt" wrote in message
...
dan wrote:
What's that Lassie? You say that Brian Lawson fell down the old
rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue
by Fri, 23 Jun 2006 16:05:18 -0400:

Can anyone suggest a "for sure it's permanent" way to "glue" 1/8"
thick stainless steel maple-leaf solid profile about 6" X 6"
vertically to tombstones of granite or stone.

Use GE silicone II caulk. Sticks real good and is flexible.

Dan H.

If you want it to be permanent, use epoxy. Silicones may "stick" but they
can be removed - by force .You have to burn epoxies before they will
fail, and upto that point they have a shear strength of 15tons per square
inch!.

I have done fairly extensive tests about a year ago on sticking metal to
stone and stone to stone. Epoxy (West system and JB Weld) came out on top
with one proviso: The structures seem to lose their integrity on hot days
when left outside. I had some extensive correspondence about this with West
people but in the end I suspect that the stones get simply hot enough for
the adhesion to weaken. Thus for the use outside I still have my doubts
about epoxy.

The next best adhesive was LePage polyurethane construction glue (*not*
Gorilla or Sumo - they were useless!). The problem with that was that it was
messy, very viscous and as such difficult to apply to the bonding surfaces.
However, once one managed that it held really well.

Getting the right viscosity when working with stones, particularly
decorative ones, is crucial. Much work has been spoiled by the epoxy running
into places where you don't want it. This can happen quite late in the
process, when the pieces have been clamped for some time. The West system
has a bunch of fillers which allow you to control the viscosity pretty
accurately.

Apart from those two I have not had much success with any other adhesives.
FWIW I found silicone far from permanent.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC