Aluminium bonding

[multiweb]

I need to glue two flat pieces of aluminium then drill and tap through. What's a good bonding agent for this? TIA. :thumbsup:

[Kunama]

Locktite E-30-CL Hysol Blackwoods sell it

[AndrewJ]

Gday Marc

How thick are the bits and what will they be subject to later, ie heat, vibration, loading, exposure to corrosion???

Std slow set epoxy is good for most things, but you MUST prepare the surfaces ( both cleaning and abrading ) if you want a good bond.

Andrew

[glend]

Boat building epoxy systems will create a permanent bond between two pieces of aluminium - provided, as indicated below, that the surfaces are properly prepared. You will need to rough the surfaces to create a keying face for the epoxy and clean them carefully with a solvent that does not leave a film behind, acetone works well. Boat building epoxy small sized kits are available at all Whitworths outlets and online. Don't just buy a resin kit, you will need to add glue powder to it, you can get little two part glue kits instead.

[multiweb]

Thank for the link Matt. I have som J-B Weld that I'm trying at the moment. If it doesn't do the job I'll try that loctite.

It's just for some brackets for my primary mirror. I need to thicken them a little as it's too tin to tap. Not much load on it at all. Just need the thickness.

[rogerco]

Sikaflex is used extensively in the caravan industry.

[DavidTrap]

JB Weld. I know someone who used it to "glue" a carburettor back onto the engine of a model helicopter. I seem to recall it can be drilled and tapped too.

DT

[pdalek]

Scrub both surfaces with Ajax and an old toothbrush, then wash well under running hot water. This will dry almost instantly.
Use any slow setting epoxy on both surfaces. Clamp well - the springy metal paper clips are good for small stuff, otherwise use metal g-clamps.
Cure in a warm oven - about 80C. Use foil to prevent drips on oven floor. After a minute or two you can wipe off any excess epoxy while it is still liquid. Cure in oven for an hour.
Hot curing increases the strength and gets the job done quicker.

[Barrykgerdes]

Araldite was developed years ago before welding of aluminium could be done to join aluminium parts in the aircraft industry. In the last 70 years I would have expected to be considerably improved.

All those glues mentioned should work. The main requirement is attention to the surfaces before gluing. I suspect that failures in gluing are caused by the aluminium surface oxidizing before the parts are actually glued.

Barry

[JJDOBBER79]

Hi Marc, theres a glue that comes in a caulking gun tube called AV515. It sticks just about anything including metals. It is used a lot in joinery and is notoriously strong. I havent used it on metals but I can tell you this; I decided to test it once and glued a piece of hardwood to the concrete slab in the shed. After 24hrs I was hitting it with a sledgehammer to get it off. When it finally came off, it took an inch of concrete with it. THATS A SERIOUS GLUE.

[Irish stargazer]

Will this be inside an optical tube? Could you use a bit of aluminium foil tape to thicken it up a bit. Or if there is no real load a transfer adhesive tape to hold the aluminium together. Simple peel and stick.