Introduction: How Glue Can Fix Everything

By my_blogspot

Dear Instructablers,

These projects will hopefully inspire you, how glue can fix everything.

Working with glue is sometime tricky. A little basic knowledge may be required to obtain best result. Several important things are:

  1. Ensure the item(s) to be glued is clean of dust/rust/debris/old glue residue. Any presence of these things will cause glue fails sticking onto the base material.
  2. Recommended glue selection according to the base material:Epoxy glue (usually comes in 2 parts mixing) is best for metal bonding. Use glue gun or silicon sealant for plastic, glass, etc. Silicone sealant is also good for any smooth finish material like shiny metal. Cyanocrylate glue (plastic, sometime referred as super glue) is good to be used in plastic, metal, etc.
  3. Be careful in working with Cyanocrylate as it bonds in seconds. Avoid touching the glue liquid, or breath on it. One fatal example: 2 fingers bonded together! Do not force to separate your fingers; because your skin will painfully peel off. Brush acetone to the glue to remove it patiently (may take minutes)
  4. Cyanocrylate glue curing can be speeded up by applying accelerator (provided by the manufacturer). Thin gap also cures faster compared to thick glue. The thinner the faster. Higher humidity/moisture also speeds up the curing. You can gently blow onto it for example.
  5. All glue above can be resolved by acetone, except silicone sealant. Silicone originally can not resist acetone. However I have ever did an experiment dipping silicone sealant glue in much higher acetone volume in 24 hours. The silicone is still completely attached to the base material.

Here are some basic examples on what you can do with glue. And of course it is not limited to what were listed here.

Step 1: 1. Fix a Toy or Home Accessories

  • I have an example here is tricycle toy/accessory. The roof original glue was detached.
  • Clean the dust residue remnants. Use cutter or cutting pliers.
  • Apply the glue to the contact area
  • Paste the 2 parts, hold it steadily until the glue is cured
  • Retouch the glue up if necessary
  • Cut off any excess glue to make it looks better
  • It works!

Step 2: 2. Repair Broken Electronic Appliances’ Plastic

  • My example here is an electronic mosquito electrocute/trap.
  • There was supposed to be a lid to activate the limit switch
  • Cut some plastic to the lid shape (I cut a piece of PVC tube)
  • Apply the glue
  • Paste the plastic, hold it steadily until the glue is cured
  • Apply more glue to ensure sufficient bonding strength
  • And it works!

Step 3: 3. Plant Handphone Battery Into Emergency Lamp to Replace Exhausted Original Battery

  • I have an old LED headlamp which can be used as an emergency lighting. The original built in rechargeable battery was exhausted. It was a sealed lead acid 4V battery. I replace with old smartphone 3.7V battery, apply some glue onto the soldering joints to secure them.
  • Apply glue to the housing contact area to the battery
  • While the glue is still in liquid form, quickly paste the battery
  • hold it steadily until the glue is cured
  • add more glu layer if necessary to ensure sufficient bonding
  • it works!

Step 4: 4. Stick LED Strip Lighting Onto Fixture

  • My example here is my DIY aquarium LED lighting
  • Apply silicone sealant to the intended contact area, paste the LED strip
  • It works!

Step 5: 5. Secure Unmatched Fitting

  • Example is tap water valve which doesn't match with the aerator plug-in
  • Apply plastic glue or Cyanocrylate
  • Fit and add some more glue to ensure durability
  • Never mind if it does not look so nice at the beginning. You can still touch up using cutting pliers etc.
  • It works!

Step 6: 6. Repair Lamp Fitting

  • If you have detached LED lamp fitting (or any other fitting), this video will inspire you how to fix it using glue

Attachments

Step 7: 7. Final Note

That's all I can show you for this moment. You should not stop your creativity from inspiring you doing more than what I have shown. Some industrial company consider gluing as their important sub-processes. It requires some gluing hand skill to have an "industrial grade" product.

Feel free to ask me anything. Please vote if you find this is useful :)