I have used a variety of adhesives, but wondered what others liked. My application this time will be foam to the underside of fiberglass thigh braces.
I just glued in some foam thighbraces
to the underside of my glass boat last week. I used “H2 glue” made by Wildwasser. I use it for all my minicell applications. The foam will rip before the bond breaks, on glass or poly.
Weld Dap In The Red Can
– Last Updated: Apr-21-05 9:02 PM EST –
use with minicell on poly and glass. Holds well equally.
*Correction: Weldwood Adhesive
sing
3M 90
Available at office supply stores and any large hardwear store.
3M spray adhesive
I have used 3M spray adhesive for attaching minicell to fiberglass and it holds up well. I apply masking tape around the sides of the minicell and then apply a heavy coat of the adhesive on the minicell and place it on the desired area and give it some slight pressure and twist and then remove it and let it set for a few minutes, then apply firmly when both surfaces are tacky.
test first…
I contact cemented in foam as a foot rest the second time I did the 70 miler. Seemed real squissey in the sprint at the beginning of the race. After we finally got off the water I realized the Cement had desolved the foam so I only had the edges to brace aginst. The Rest of the Foam had no body to it…
This will happen
if the frshly glued surfaces are not allowed to flash properly prior to contact.
The solvents in the glue are trapped and will attack the foam.
The glued surface should have a matte appearance and be tacky but not stringy prior to contact.
Holmes
my favorites…
are Dap Weldwood Contact Cement and GOOP. I hear that Marine GOOP is good stuff but I’ve had equally good experiences just using Plumbing GOOP. Since I’m out of DAP and almost out of GOOP, I think my next purchase will be DAP Weldwood Gel as many people here have spoken highly of it.
I don’t think that Minicell will be
affected by solvents, as it is essentially polyethelene. I use Weldwood contact cement on minicell all the time and have never seen the minicell dissolve at all. Ethafoam should be similarly resistant. Styrofoam, on the other hand, is very solvent-sensitive.
Agreed…
however, I cannot think of any other reason the gentleman experienced the foam degradation he describes.
Perhaps it indeed wasn’t a closed cell foam or at least one of lesser integrity.
I’ve found minicell incredibly durable and user friendly.
Pleasant waters to ya.
Holmes
you are right and wrong
It was not Mini-cell and I am not a gentleman…
I have used Marine Good with minicell
for my thigh braces and a foot brace. It Goop takes 2-3 days to completely dry but you better be sure the pad is where you want it because it ain’t coming out.
LOL!
I stand corrected! 
Holmes
Minicel is unaffected by solvents
It’s a polyethylene foam. Polyethylene is the material that’s commonly used for containers to store various solvents in.
GOOP is GOOP
All of the GOOP products (plumber’s, crafter’s, etc.) are the same thing in different packaging, according to the manufacturer. Marine Goop has UV inhibitors in it for exterior use, but otherwise it’s identical to the rest. For gluing pads, there’s no need to use Marine GOOP since the glue is not exposed to the sun.
Velcro?
For permanent applications, I typically employ some type of adhesive. However, for your application, you may want to consider industrial strength velcro.
Velcro has an andvantage as it is not permanent and you can “stick” the foam pad in infinite locations to find the best fit/comfort for the brace pads. You can also take the pads out if you let someone else use your boat that may not require them. Industrial strenght velcro is strong enough so the pad won’t move during use.
If you do go this route, put the soft/fuzzy side of the velocro on the boat and the plastic gripper side on the pads. That way, if you remove the pad, you won’t be rubbing against a rough surface.
TheBigYaker