What adhesive would you use to glue two pieces of minicel together? Weldwood contact cement?
Yes, maybe
Contact cement will work, but…
Contact cement needs a very tight fit between the two pieces being glued together. It does not have any ability to bridge gaps.
If you don’t have a good fit, use something like 3M 5200 or PL Ultimate.
If you are trying to bond the “shiny” skinned factory flat surfaces from a bun of Minicell, they may be contaminated with mold-release agent, in which case nothing will stick to it.
…Weldwood works great…just
Let pieces get tacky(if the fitting isn’t difficult), othw…give yourself a few seconds tweak-time…once the fit is there…keep apart & blow on the glued surfaces a little to get tacky!..then join…that way the pieces won’t move on you when drying…
$.005
You can use other stuff
I’ve used Barge Cement, and I think Aquaseal would work also.
Weldwood or Marine Goop
I have had good luck with both.
With the Weldwood, once the two pieces make contact, you can’t move them, but with the Marine Goop, if you misalign them you can usually move them a bit.
With either, I leave heavy weights or clamp them over night.
Cheers,
JackL
Not the new eco-weldwood.
I tried the new weldwood contact cement with low VOC’s. It is a buna-N rubber latex-like adhesive. In the humidity of the garage, it took way too long to tack over, and by morning, it was dry and wouldn’t stick. I’m not sure it would bond anyway, smelly stuff means it works.
Stay with the original or newer, but not the low VOC weldwood.
sure
– Last Updated: Aug-02-08 7:59 AM EST –
as said above, good fit, apply thin coat to both surfaces, let dry, apply another coat, let dry, put two sides together, for glueing minicell to polyethelen I'v used three coats. Most production boats have the thin neoprene come off the thigh braces in a years time because they can't spend the time to apply it like that. 3m, Lexcel or aquaseal are good for sliding minicell into position but contact cement is perfect for immediate bonding, just make sure to let the glue dry on both sides.
thanks, always wondered about that one
To emphasize Lee’s point…
…multiple coats are necessary when bonding Minicel foam with contact cement. The first coat gets mostly absorbed into the pores of the foam and leaves very little glue on the surface for bonding. A second coat is critical to get a good bond. Nearly all of the contact cement failures I’ve seen and experienced have been due to using only a single coat.
use Barge
it’s much better than Weldwood.
Cement
I’ve used Barge Cement for a number of years. It works great.
John
Thanks for the great advice
This is why Pnet is such a great resource for paddlers. I probably would not have done the multiple coats treatment, and been disappointed in the results.
Weldwood works just fine…
…so how much better can barge cement be?
3M Super77
Comes in a spray can, but you can spray a little into a bottle cap and then use a disposable glue brush to spread it with more precision. Work fast, though - the brush gums up in less than 5 minutes.
Both surfaces have to be completely dry and oil-free before you put the glue on. Sanding LIGHTLY with 100-grit sandpaper works well to prep the surfaces.
Coat both pieces and let the glue dry so it’s barely tacky before you join them. Give it about a half hour to dry before you expose it to water.
Barge vs Weldwood wet time
As in, how often does weldwood need replacing/regluing from being wet/soaked, compared to barge cement?
Does Barge come in a quart can?
It doesn’t matter
If it’s properly bonded, Weldwood contact cement doesn’t have any specific lifespan, nor does Barge Cement. A quick Google search turned up Barge Cement in quarts for ~$21.00! That’s another good reason to use Weldwood, it’s about half the price. Another good reason is that it’s available in a gel formula that doesn’t run drip or string all over the place.
I’ve used both
Weldwood and Barge many times and Barge is much, much better.
Barge lasts a long time
So far, I’ve never needed to reglue it from its being wet. The only reglues I’ve needed were cases where I rushed the job: applied it to only one item when glueing two items. It makes the best bond if applied to both the sides to be mated, let tack up, and then pressed together. The stuff is waterproof for sure.