Which Glue To Use?

[John Kasaian]

I've never had this happen before---
A black wooden Kodak 8x10 film holder.
I pulled the dark side. The metal tab and top fitting came completely off!
I pulled the dark slide out with a pair of tweezers.
It looks like the metal tab had been glued on (?) So I presume I can glue it back on (?)
My question---which glue should I use? The dark slide looks to be phenolic or some kind of plastic. The metal bar aluminum.
I think I may have some Duco cement around the place. Is that good enough for this application?

[Jim C.]

You could try 5 Min epoxy, Duco is a vinyl cement if I recall, not too strong with dissimilar materials.

From what I've seen the metal tabs on the dark slides are peened on, only the really old one's with the wood pull tabs
were nailed. Are there any divots in the metal tab ? You may want to hit the divots lightly with a punch after applying glue.

[John Kasaian]

No divots but there looked like some kind of dried cement in the dark slide under where the tabs were, but upon closer inspection it appears to be "polishing" from the tight fit. Maybe I can peen it back on but the tricky part will be not damaging the plastic dark slide.

[Jim C.]

Best bet is to leave it if it's not peened, old dark slides can be brittle. Just clean and rough up the area the aluminum tab goes and
the inside of the tab and 5 Min epoxy it on.
Mix the epoxy well, you have 5 min, if you want more work time leave the bottles/tube in a cold place about 50-60 degrees
for about 3-4 hrs, mix well and apply. You can speed the set with a hair dryer on high temp but low air, be warned the epoxy will lose
viscosity and run if you speed set it, so plan ahead where you have clamps handy and a way to set the dark slide tab down.

[koraks]

Another vote for 2-part epoxy glue. Be sure to give it at least 24 hours to cure completely before putting any pressure on the glued parts.

[mdarnton]

I'd use superglue. Five minutes and you'll be back on the road, and it will probably never happen again. Epoxy is too much work and mess for something this simple. I use superglue for all sorts of quick fixes around the shop, and you'd be surprised how durable it is.

With superglue, assemble the pieces, and put a few drops in from either end--it will go where it's needed on its own.

The best glue for this job is Gorilla glue, but it's a guaranteed mess unless you've used it before.

[Sevo]

Overall I would expect a gap filling two-component curing epoxy glue to be most suitable for this particular task. Regular household superglue is best used where at least one of the surfaces is paper or wood (or where you can impregnate one of the sides with a catalytic starter), as it will not polymerize between two inert surfaces - and it will only fill gaps up to 0.1mm, probably less than the gap in that top fitting.

[aclark]

I agree with Sevo. Superglue would not be my first choice. It's ok when it works but when it doesn't -and it often doesn't - you have a bigger problem than when you started because you then have to clean all the dried superglue off, before you try something else.
I would use two-part epoxy. The slow setting variety gives a stronger bond than the five-minute stuff...

Alan

[Jim C.]

I'd use superglue. Five minutes and you'll be back on the road, and it will probably never happen again. Epoxy is too much work and mess for something this simple. I use superglue for all sorts of quick fixes around the shop, and you'd be surprised how durable it is.

With superglue, assemble the pieces, and put a few drops in from either end--it will go where it's needed on its own.

The best glue for this job is Gorilla glue, but it's a guaranteed mess unless you've used it before.

As Sevo said normal CA super glues rely on tight fitting parts, there are thicker super glues that could be used but not knowing
how loose the parts are epoxy would be the best bet.

The company that makes Gorilla Glue sells other types of glue such as epoxy and super glue, the wood working Gorilla glue
is not such a good idea since it's a polyurethane glue that foams when exposed to moisture the expanding
and the squeeze out clean up after curing would be a mess with a darkslide.

[c.d.ewen]

One more vote for epoxy, particularly if you're an outdoor shooter. Superglue doesn't like to freeze.

Charley