Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of Zamac)
broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order of
several mils (definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places. Since I
can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I have on
hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity (thicknesses)
of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and several
woodworking glues.

What's going to give me the strongest bond?

TIA
Norm

http://www.marinetex.com/PRODUCT%20P...rod%20info.htm
=Magic!





"Norm Dresner" wrote in message
...
Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of
Zamac)
broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order of
several mils (definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places. Since I
can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I have
on
hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity
(thicknesses)
of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and
several
woodworking glues.

What's going to give me the strongest bond?

TIA
Norm

There ARE some "welding" rods for aluminum that are mostly zinc alloy,
they're supposed to work on zinc alloy castings as well. Uses a
propane torch and no fancy stuff. Not sure about ultimate strength of
the joint.

I've not used that stuff for that putpose, JB Weld has been my epoxy of
choice for fixing die-castings, sometimes with some steel wire
reinforcements across the break. I drill holes, then lace the parts
together after buttering up the break faces. Doesn't look too great,
but for tool handles and the like, who cares? Holds up at least as
well as the original casting. Devcon makes some decent filled epoxies,
too, but JB Weld is available at just about every auto parts and
hardware store.

Stan

Norm Dresner wrote:

Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of Zamac)
broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order of
several mils (definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places. Since I
can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I have on
hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity (thicknesses)
of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and several
woodworking glues.

What's going to give me the strongest bond?

TIA
Norm


Alumaloy will solder pot metal. - GWE

Grant Erwin wrote:
Norm Dresner wrote:

Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of Zamac)
broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order of
several mils (definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places. Since I
can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I have on
hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity (thicknesses)
of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and several
woodworking glues.

What's going to give me the strongest bond?

TIA
Norm


Alumaloy will solder pot metal. - GWE

Id say Raycrete, which is a multi-mender. Works great for us. Though
epoxy works really well on clean surfaces, this would be a job for
raycrete.. either that or penetrating epoxy..

wrote in message
oups.com...
| Grant Erwin wrote:
| Norm Dresner wrote:
|
| Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of
Zamac)
| broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order
of
| several mils (definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places.
Since I
| can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I
have on
| hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity
(thicknesses)
| of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and
several
| woodworking glues.
|
| What's going to give me the strongest bond?
|
| TIA
| Norm
|
|
| Alumaloy will solder pot metal. - GWE
|
| Id say Raycrete, which is a multi-mender. Works great for us. Though
| epoxy works really well on clean surfaces, this would be a job for
| raycrete.. either that or penetrating epoxy..

What is 'penetrating epoxy"?

Norm

wrote in message
oups.com...
| There ARE some "welding" rods for aluminum that are mostly zinc alloy,
| they're supposed to work on zinc alloy castings as well. Uses a
| propane torch and no fancy stuff. Not sure about ultimate strength of
| the joint.
|
| I've not used that stuff for that putpose, JB Weld has been my epoxy of
| choice for fixing die-castings, sometimes with some steel wire
| reinforcements across the break. I drill holes, then lace the parts
| together after buttering up the break faces. Doesn't look too great,
| but for tool handles and the like, who cares? Holds up at least as
| well as the original casting. Devcon makes some decent filled epoxies,
| too, but JB Weld is available at just about every auto parts and
| hardware store.
|
| Stan

I'm going to get some JB Weld as soon as I can find a local store that has
it.

BTW, I should have mentioned that this was part of the trucks for an O-Scale
passenger car and that the area of the break was on the order of 1/8" x
1/16" -- hardly something I'd want to take a propane torch to, even the
so-called micro torches.

Thanks
Norm

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
| Norm Dresner wrote:
|
| Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of
Zamac)
| broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order of
| several mils (definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places. Since
I
| can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I have
on
| hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity
(thicknesses)
| of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and
several
| woodworking glues.
|
| What's going to give me the strongest bond?
|
| TIA
| Norm
|
|
| Alumaloy will solder pot metal. - GWE

This was part of the trucks for an O-Scale passenger car and that the
area of the break was on the order of 1/8" x 1/16" -- hardly something
take a propane torch to, even the so-called micro torches.

Thanks for the product info -- I'm sure it will come in handy in other
circumstances.

Norm

I fixed a badly broken model airplane engine with JB weld and it held
together and has run just fine.. It's just glue with iron filings but it
does work if you prepare the surfaces carefully.

Norm Dresner wrote:
..

BTW, I should have mentioned that this was part of the trucks for an O-Scale
passenger car and that the area of the break was on the order of 1/8" x
1/16" -- hardly something I'd want to take a propane torch to, even the
so-called micro torches.

Thanks
Norm


Sounds like a job for T-88, Norm...

"Richard Lamb" wrote in message
k.net...
| Norm Dresner wrote:
| .
|
| BTW, I should have mentioned that this was part of the trucks for an
O-Scale
| passenger car and that the area of the break was on the order of 1/8" x
| 1/16" -- hardly something I'd want to take a propane torch to, even the
| so-called micro torches.
|
| Thanks
| Norm
|
|
| Sounds like a job for T-88, Norm...

It certainly sounds promising. I'll see if there's any available locally.

Thanks
Norm

There are probably at least a hundred different epoxy glues and variants out
there [and that may be a low estimate]. The serious question is how to
select one from another -- and how to decide whether to use epoxy or CA or
anything else for that matter.

I just did a quick Google search and couldn't find any website that had a
comparison chart of the properties of different epoxy products. Does anyone
know of one that's out there?

TIA again
Norm

On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 18:53:39 -0800, Grant Erwin
wrote:

Norm Dresner wrote:

Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of Zamac)
broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order of
several mils (definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places. Since I
can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I have on
hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity (thicknesses)
of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and several
woodworking glues.

What's going to give me the strongest bond?

TIA
Norm


Alumaloy will solder pot metal. - GWE

Alumaloy *is* pot metal. It works great for potmetal repair, whether
it's welding, brazing, soldering or whatever it might be. The trick
is to keep the stuff captive while it's in molten state. "Managing
the puddle" is about impossible because it is so fluid, so it must be
constrained with dams made of clay, ceramic jigging putty, casting
sand or ???

Don sez:

"Managing the puddle" is about impossible because it is so fluid, so it
must be
constrained with dams made of clay, ceramic jigging putty, casting
sand or ??? The trick is to keep the stuff captive while it's in molten
state. "

Notice here that by reference to "dams made of clay, etc", Don has offered a
gem of trivia to the loyal readers of RCM. Only someone with Don's vast
storehouse of knowledge re. "welding, soldering, sticking stuff together"
would know the oft-used expression "tinker's dam" refers to a soldering dam.

Bob Swinney

According to Norm Dresner :
Background: a brittle white metal casting (probably some relative of Zamac)
broke and the break's not clean. There are visible gaps on the order of
several mils

A minor point here. In this newsgroup (and in machining in
general) "mils" are not commonly used. Yes, in dimensional specs for
integrated circuits, they are common (as a synonym for 0.001"), but here
it has produced confusion with mm at times in the past, so it is best
avoided here.

(definitely nothing as large as a 1/64") in places. Since I
can't weld or solder this stuff, I'm stuck gluing it. The things I have on
hand are various hardening time epoxy glues, several viscosity (thicknesses)
of cyanoacrylates, and such mundane stuff as Pliobond, Shoe-Goo, and several
woodworking glues.

What's going to give me the strongest bond?

Under what conditions?

Cyanoacrylates tend to be pretty strong -- until they are
exposed to moisture. And they do not usually fill gaps well.

Epoxies may be better there, but the bond to the broken edges
may not be that great without some form of surface treatment. But, it
may be the best for filling the gaps.

Pliobond works best with fairly flat surfaces, and certainly
does not fill gaps well.

I've never dealt with (or seen) Shoe-Goo, so I don't know what
to expect from it.

Woodworking glues tend to do better at bonding to wood.

My *guess* is that one of the epoxies may be the best bet for
you -- depending on the needed strength.

If you need reasonable strength from it, I suspect that none of
the glues or epoxies would suffice over time.

An alternative might be to make something from a good grade of
aluminum to replace the broken part.

Or -- you could glue the original part together (if it is not
warped as suggested by the gaps), and use that as a master for forming a
mold into which fresh Zamac could be poured.

Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Speaking of repairing. I bought a nifty bakealite (sp) clock and I have
the tiny bits. What is the best glue for this material? Sorry to jump in
midstream but I have never dealt with this before

If it is truly bakelite or catalin, it will resist any sort of solvent
welding.

I have occasion to repair a fair amount of bakelite jewelery. If the bits
are broken off cleanly, can nestle easily into their original position, and
do not see a large amount of stress, super glue does a really good job.

I have glued bangles that had been broken in two with it and in the last
fifteen years none of them have come back.

If the joint does not have enough surface area for a good super glue bond,
Super glue it into place and back it up with an epoxy scab.

If the bits are just applied decoration that has fallen off, Duco cement is
the closest thing to what they used originally. It is not good for patching
breaks though.

Paul K. Dickman


"daniel peterman" wrote in message
...
Speaking of repairing. I bought a nifty bakealite (sp) clock and I have
the tiny bits. What is the best glue for this material? Sorry to jump in
midstream but I have never dealt with this before

Thanks Paul
The break is on the back and I almost missed it. I'm pretty good at this
once I find my glasses.
And why is it that you need glasses to find your other ones?
Going blind is not that fun.

I gotta little joke
Bakelite mountain
or is that mounting
I have not seen the film.
I like the actors but not really in this role(s)

On Mon, 6 Mar 2006 13:56:10 -0800, (daniel peterman)
wrote:

Speaking of repairing. I bought a nifty bakealite (sp) clock and I have
the tiny bits. What is the best glue for this material? Sorry to jump in
midstream but I have never dealt with this before

I would think that a resorcinol/phenol/formaldehyde woodworking glue may be
the best for Bakelite, purely on the grounds that Bakelite is a
phenol-formaldehyde resin with sawdust, or similar, filler.


I could also be wrong!


Mark Rand
RTFM