Slow curing adhesive to join wood to ABS

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9 November 2021 at 10:01 #6344
Johannes Jones
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@johannesjones12331
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9 November 2021 at 10:01 #98499
Johannes Jones
Participant
@johannesjones12331
Hi all,

I'm partway into building a Krick Borkum, and I'm getting to the point where I need to join the deck to the hull. I've already used UHU Plus Acrylit Express to join wood to the ABS hull, but it only remains workable for 7 – 10 minutes at 25 degrees C. I have grave doubts as to whether I can spread the glue right round the mating surface on the hull, get the deck fitted and tape it in position in 7 – 10 minutes, so I'd prefer to use an adhesive that remains workable for at least 30 minutes.

I know epoxy doesn't work with ABS. Cyanoacrylate works on ABS, but, again, is too quick to set, although I am considering taping the deck in position, then running cyano into the joint, but I'm not confident of the outcome.

Does anybody know of a slow-setting adhesive that will join wood to ABS?

Thanks in advance,

John Jones
9 November 2021 at 10:55 #98500
Richard Simpson
Moderator
@richardsimpson88330
It might be worth a read through this.

Glue Link
9 November 2021 at 11:42 #98501
Johannes Jones
Participant
@johannesjones12331
Thanks, Richard,

I've had a look at the website you suggested and so far the JB Weld product looks the most promising, so I've ordered some.

Unfortunately, several of the recommended glues are listed on Amazon as "Unavailable. We don't know if or when this product will become available again". Still, I only needed one.

Thanks again,

John
9 November 2021 at 11:52 #98502
Colin Bishop
Moderator
@colinbishop34627
This guide from Deluxe Materials is also very useful:

**LINK**

Have you considered a two stage process? What you could do is to stick a stripwood stringer around the inside of the hull just below deck level. This might be made up of two laminations of 2mmx5mm with the wider edge against the hull. Locate the first lamination in place with mini clamps like these:

**LINK**

and then run thin superglue along the joint. When dry, add the second lamination with either superglue or wood glue.

You now have a base for the deck with a wood to wood joint using waterproof wood glue. Tape the deck in postion until it sets and finish up by running thin superglue into the surface deck/hull joint.

The deck will then be secured with two surfaces rather than one.

Where there are tight curves at the stern you can either steam the stripwood to shape or alternatively cut small blocks at close intervals to support the deck.

Colin
9 November 2021 at 11:59 #98503
Johannes Jones
Participant
@johannesjones12331
That's a very good idea; I've already added blocks around the glue line in the hull, but I can easily add strips of wood between them.

Thanks very much.

John
9 November 2021 at 12:04 #98504
Colin Bishop
Moderator
@colinbishop34627
A couple of pics – this example used balsa on GRP but the principle is the same.

Colin
9 November 2021 at 12:12 #98505
Johannes Jones
Participant
@johannesjones12331
Again, thank you for the food for thought.

John
9 November 2021 at 13:14 #98506
Richard Simpson
Moderator
@richardsimpson88330
Just one other thing worth remembering, do trial pieces first!

I wanted to do a similar deck fitting job on a Club 500 and bought the specific glue recommended in the instructions. The deck was a tight fit but did just hold in place. When I applied the glue however it acted as a lubricant and no way could I get the deck to stay in place while the glue set. Tape and clamps everywhere and a lot of swearing. I ended up removing the deck and spending the next hour carefully cleaning all the glue off. I then thought I would do some experimenting with scrap plastic from the kit. I could not believe it when I discovered that the best glue was good old plastic kit polystyrene cement.

Always worth experimenting before going for it!
9 November 2021 at 14:00 #98508
Johannes Jones
Participant
@johannesjones12331
Yeah, thanks for that; I've been caught like that myself.

Also been caught out by not reading the label; I was fitting the deck to my Aerokits Bella, for which I used epoxy, and I was somewhat taken aback when it started to go off before I'd finished the job. Turned out that I'd used five minute epoxy instead of the slow setting stuff I normally use. The tubes used exactly the same colour scheme; one tube white, the other blue. End result was that I had to fit a rubbing strake to hide the gaps between hull and deck. Looks okay now, though.

What a relaxing hobby this is!
9 November 2021 at 15:04 #98509
Colin Bishop
Moderator
@colinbishop34627
My favourite epoxy is now Zap Z-Poxy 15 minute version which gives a bit of wiggle room without making you wait for hours!

Colin
9 November 2021 at 17:25 #98510
Johannes Jones
Participant
@johannesjones12331
I'll give it a try next time I'm needing epoxy.

Thanks,

John
21 November 2021 at 19:42 #98613
Johannes Jones
Participant
@johannesjones12331
Hi again.

After much cogitation and after buying some J – B Weld Plastic Bonder ( as recommended in one of the links you sent me), I ended up using masking tape to hold the deck in place and thin cyano run into the joint. I then ran a bead of thick cyano into the joint from underneath. It's in and it looks fine. When I tested the J – B Weld, I found it to be no better than epoxy with ABS; it peeled off quite easily. And, yes, I did roughen the surface of the test piece and I degreased it thoroughly.

As I said before, while I would have preferred to use the UHU Plus Acrylit Express, the curing time seemed to me too short to do everything that needed to be done to fit the deck after spreading the adhesive along the joint on the hull. As I also said earlier, I've been caught that way before.

One thing I did was cut the deck into two halves so I could deal with each end separately (I came across this suggestion in another forum). When I'd adjusted the two halves of the deck to fit their respective ends of the hull, I found that there was about 5mm overlap at the cut ends of the deck. Cutting this overlap off at the join was a lot easier than trimming the excess at the front and/or rear of the deck while keeping the correct shape would have been. If you see what i mean.

Anyway, thanks for your help and I'll keep your helpful suggestions in mind.

Thanks again,

John
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