Glues for Photoetch?

d4reaper

CA is no better or worse than most other adhesives if used properly (at one time, during the late 60's, my home town was giving serious consideration to banning the sale of all plastic glues because several kids got to snifffing glue and managed to screw themselves up very badly - luckily calmer heads prevailed and it didn't happen, but it was very close).

Just use some common sense, follow the instructions, and work in a well ventilated area. And oh yea, keep some Acetone or whatever the CA mfg recommends to remove the adhesive - sooner are later you are going to glue your finger or hands to each other or to something else (there is even one person on the forum who has admitted he superglued his hand to his cat - that particular thread was a riot).

Polyurethane glues such as Gorilla glue work terrific for holding metal pieces to just about anything. The disadvantage is that these glues expand as they dry and pieces must be clamped until dry

He's right. Superglue -- thick -- is the only way to go on PE parts. I also strongly recommend the toothpick/gluestick method of handling and placing small PE parts. Put a drop of CAA glue on your palate or bottle cop or piece of cardboard scrap. Then, cut the part from the fret holding it down with a toothpick. Then, dip the small end of the toothpick in the top of a glue stick to get just enough stickum to pick up the PE part. Use that to handle and position the part. If necessary, I use fine tweezers with a tiny shred of toilet paper to wipe any residual glue stick that may be on the part and keep the paint from sticking. It's also good to rough up your PE part while their still on the sprue to help paint stick to them. Just run over the fret a couple of times with a medium grit sanding stick. It'll make a world of difference. Good luck.

White glue is commonly called "Carpenter's Glue" and is primarily for glueing wood or paper. It is not suitable for PE parts or even styrene if you want a permanent bond.

Epoxy is slow to mix and slow to cure. It is also very thick. If you try and use it for PE it is going to take forever and probably not look very good.

Your best bet, by far, is CA glue.