Glue: My final thoughts at least for now

The last time I talked about glue I mentioned I was going to explore two part epoxy.  Well I’ve been to the mountain so to speak.

I’ve tried this.

Bzzzt! was able to pop the bails right off with very little force.

I tried this based on a review in an article I read.

Same old same old here; the bails popped right off.

So I finally relented and tried E-6000 again.  This time I applied it the way other websites and forum posts recommended.

• I used only fresh glue.  I avoided glue that had skinned over or started to become gelatinous (which means discarding at least a quarter to one third of the glue I dispensed) .
• I let the glued pieces set undisturbed for at least 48 (if not 72) hours.
• I made sure that the bail and the cabochon where “Roughed up” (which is pretty much standard procedure for any type of metal to glass bond)

If indulge E-6000 with all this fussiness (good grief I’m anthropomorphizing a glue) then I get a bond that is much stronger and two part epoxy.  It’s still not “impossible” to tear the bail off but I definitely need to use more force.

This pisses me off.  I wanted the epoxy to work because it allows me a longer working life so there is little to no waste.  It also (due to surface tension and it’s more fluid state) creates neater slope if it oozes from underneath the bail.  Finally I don’t have to let the glued pieces sit for three days. Grrrrr.  I’ll still experiment with the epoxy.  Perhaps I didn’t have the correct proportions or didn’t mix it well enough.

Oh well.

Blogger Labels: Glue,bail,glass,epoxy

The glue saga…Continued

Ya know…I think I left off with the last blog post leaving you with the impression that I was going to use 2 part epoxy resin and kick some butt. Well, as a great philosopher/acquaintance once told me: “ Laugh at yourself or others will do it for you…”

Yeah.

Well the epoxy stuck to the cabs of but wouldn’t stick to the bail. It didn’t matter if the bail was scooped or flat; both tore off with a minimal amount of effort.

 

I found this article on the sobering reality of glues.  It’s an interesting read.

What Glues to Use for Jewelry Making?

I’m taking a stab at using the Huntsman's Araldite glue which is supposedly one of the most reliable.  I had to order it from England off of EBay.  I keep you posted on how that goes.

A sticky rant…

I’m being a curmudgeon tonight.  I’d heard all sorts of great things about E-6000 glue.  I’d heard that a bail glued on with this stuff is very difficult to get off.

So far I’m underwhelmed.

When I first tried gluing a bail on to a cabochon with it I waited almost 36 hours before trying it out.  I tugged on it a little bit and it seemed to hold pretty firmly.  Then I tried a dirty rotten trick; I tried twisting the bail off and it tore off fairly easily.  I had even roughed up both the cabochon and the bail and it still tore off without much effort.   OK, Granted what I was trying to do was functionally equivalent to buying a 20 dollar pocket calculator then dropping from 6 feet just to see what happens…but still I expected more given the claims I had heard.  Disappointed, I dug in and did more research and found that the glue I was using wasn’t “fresh” enough.  Numerous sites said that when you squeeze a dollop out you need to get the glue from the freshest part of the dollop.  In other words you can’t use the part of the glue that’s skinned over or has started to congeal.  If you do the bond will be DOA. The one thing I noticed while working with E-6000 is that it skins over almost immediately and when you starting poking around in it with a tooth pick to get the glue you introduce more air into the mix and end up with a third to a half of the dollop wasted because it’s congealed.  One gal on some forum had a technique where she held the tube of glue in one hand, got the cap off with one hand, quickly got some glue with a tooth pick, put the cap back on and then glued the bail on to the cabochon.  I don’t do her description justice but it sounded like she had the skill of a surgeon and the speed of Apollo Ohno.

Well I don’t.

I’m going to give two part Epoxy a shot.  I like the idea of being able to mix a small amount and have it be usable for half an hour or so.  I’m more likely to do neater work than having to rush to get the “freshest” part of the glue just for one or two cabochons and having to throw the rest of it away.  I’ll keep you posted on how things go. I’ll be doing another “twist” test.