Searching for Help on gluing Soft Metal

[Floyd]

I have been working on putting my Diamond Scale 134' Turntable together and have been having problems when trying to "Glue" some of the very soft metal parts together. The instructions refer to these as "Soft Metal Castings" and at one point "Zink Alloy Castings". These parts are very soft i.e., you can clean the flash from the parts easily and you can bend the thin parts such as the ladders very easily as well. There is also some brass wire that is part of the construction that calls for "gluing" the brass to the castings.

I have tried various types of glue that is supposed to work on metal, etc. and I have tried JB Weld. When the glue that I hve used sits, i.e., fpra day or more and I start handling the pieces the joints come apart very easily.
There must be something that I am doing wrong and there must be something out there that will work. It says you can quick solder using caution since it could melt the castings. My soldering skills are not that good so I have not tried that for fear of melting the parts.

I would really appreciate it if anyone has ideas of how to make things stick.

[nachoman]

Step one would be to make sure the castings are clean. Use dishwashing soap and water to accomplish this. I have used both JB weld and Super glue, but prefer the JB weld. Some hints are to try and make the surface areas of the parts to be joined as large as possible. Use a file to make sure the joints mate flush. If possible, clamp the joint. I use small spring clamps. If the joint needs to be stronger, you may try surrounding the joint with an excessively large blob of jb weld. It is unsightly, but for joints that are hidden this works well. For joints that need to be strong but are visible, you can drill a small hole in each half of the joint and glue in a pin made from wire. The pin will give the joint shear strenth and make it much, much stronger.

Kevin

[Floyd]

Kevin thanks for your suggestions. I have washed the parts and have used JB Weld but since the parts are all visible I used a minimal amount and used the clamps. I have not used the file to make sure they are both flat and matching. Your idea for the wire seems like it would work but the pieces are so small that drilling holes would be difficult since even the smallest bits would probably vier through the sides. I will use the filing idea and perhaps more of the JB Weld. I appreciate your input.

[MasonJar]

If you need to drill holes in very small piece, you need a pin vice and some #80 - #60 drills. You go very slowly, as the pin vice is turned by (your ) hand.

All of Kevin's tips are great. Fit and cleanliness of the parts is essential.

Three other glues you might like to try -

1. Hot glue - suitable only for large pieces and hidden joints. E.g. can be useful inside a cast metal roof or walls

2. Epoxy. Similar use to above, but with care can be used on smaller joints.

3. Gel CA/Super glue. The gel type cures more slowly, but can help fill any minor irregularities in the joint that were not corrected by your file. Can be made to set faster with a compatible accelerator spray.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

[Nomad]

Hey Floyd
I have had good luck with gorilla glue. It does have a 24 hour drying time, should be clamped, and does expand, so there could be some clean up.

Loren

[gman95687]

I use KwikFix SF-100 Thin formula SuperGlue on all my small metal pieces and it works great. It will work with ease on photo etch kits as well as thin aluminum....

[Floyd]

Again there are a gret bunch of folks on this forum and I thank you all for the suggestions it is really appreciated. I'll post a message to let you know how I am comming along.

[MasonJar]

The gorilla glue is a polyurethane glue which requires moisture instead of air to cure. Since it cannot draw moisture from the metal, you will have to spritz the parts with a misting bottle. The foaming expansion action is probably too much for small detailed parts, as it is difficult to keep alignment 100% accurate as the glue cures.

Andrew

[Glen Haasdyk]

Most of my white metal kits have been glued together with 5 minute epoxy. Sometines I've used CA on smalled, non-structural parts.
I've tried JB weld but it's slow setting time makes it nessasry to clamp the parts for a long time.

[jbaakko]

Check out the GREEN tube of cement from Testors, its called "Cement for metal & wood models". I've had VERY good luck with it. In fact I have a JL Innovative Designs trail right in front of me that I cemented today.

[RonP]

Thanks for the tips guys...