A Conversation for Super Glue - Handling Breaks with Gaps
Mixing your adhesives
Peet (the Pedantic Punctuation Policeman, Muse of Lateral Programming Ideas, Eggcups-Spurtle-and-Spoonswinner, BBC Cheese Namer & Zaphodista) Started conversation Dec 5, 2001
When repairing plastic computer cases (BBC Micro, Apple II etc.) which have become broken in an unfortunate "Elite" incident, or somesuch, you tend to find that the break is missing some shards of plastic. This means that there's not enough surface area in actual contact to use superglue effectively. I've found the following to work remarkably well...
Pack the break with a commercial 2-part epoxy adhesive such as "Araldite". Put a piece of insulating tape over each side to prevent "oozing". Leave overnight in a cool spot, with the parts suitably clamped in position, until the epoxy is set.
The next day, remove the insulating tape and pull gently on the crack. You'll find the epoxy pulls off without too much effort - that's why you don't just use it on its own...
Smear superglue on both sides of the break, and reinsert the epoxy piece which has formed a perfect mold of the gap. Press closed for about 5-10 minutes. You end up with a superglue-epoxy-superglue sandwich... Any bulges in the epoxy can be dealt with using fine sandpaper at this point. 
Another epoxy-related hint; tiny amounts of artists' acrylic paint can be mixed in with the 2-part epoxy to make it less noticeable when filling, for example, the odd blue plastic used for Zip drives and Silicon Graphics workstations! You need very little, as while it doesn't look that noticeable when the epoxy is cloudy, the colour becomes brighter as the epoxy sets translucent.
Mixing your adhesives
Peet (the Pedantic Punctuation Policeman, Muse of Lateral Programming Ideas, Eggcups-Spurtle-and-Spoonswinner, BBC Cheese Namer & Zaphodista) Posted Dec 15, 2001
Thanx
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Mixing your adhesives
- 1: Peet (the Pedantic Punctuation Policeman, Muse of Lateral Programming Ideas, Eggcups-Spurtle-and-Spoonswinner, BBC Cheese Namer & Zaphodista) (Dec 5, 2001)
- 2: Hammy of Hamster (died, still moving) (Dec 15, 2001)
- 3: Peet (the Pedantic Punctuation Policeman, Muse of Lateral Programming Ideas, Eggcups-Spurtle-and-Spoonswinner, BBC Cheese Namer & Zaphodista) (Dec 15, 2001)
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