I'm continually amazed by the depth of knowledge on damn near any subject by someone on this site sooner or later, so here goes:



I'm building this doll house for my great-granddaughter.

I need to glue a crapload of Victorian gingerbread details under the eaves and such-like places.

The material is crappy lauan plywood with voids exacerbated by the crappy die-cut pieces. Ya gets what ya pays for.

The problem here is I haven't found a suitable adhesive. Here's what I've tried:

Carpenters (yellow) wood glue bonds okay once it's set, but holding the little pieces in place while it sets is problematic.

Tacky Glue (a hobby glue) holds things in place fairly well, but doesn't bond to the latex paint worth a damn.

Gel Superglue isn't working because the wood is too porous and all the glue wicks into the wood rather than creating a bond.

I also tried UV-cure gel superglue, same issue. Seems to bond but a stiff breeze will break the bond and the part falls off.

Haven't tried contact cement, I need to get a small container.

Any experience/suggestions much appreciated.

Try clear silicone RTV.
Takes a while to fully set but gives more attachment and stiffness than wet glue.
The slight flexibility will make longer term attachment to wood better than a hard curing glue.

Try 3M super weatherstrip adhesive (yellow). Seems to stick better than black. Very tolerant and doesn't seem to care what it is gluing.

Homemade paste?

Can you use a hot glue gun to tack the pieces in place while the real wood glue dries?

Three types of adhesives used for crafts and other projects by my wife:
1.Aleene's original tacky glue https://aleenes.com/
2. Hot Glue from a hot glue gun (does require some dry time)
3. G-S Hypo cement. https://www.hobbylobby.com/. (primarily for non porous surfaces)

E6000.

Haven't found a surface I couldn't stick something on with this stuff. Comes in a tube, so can use a toothpick to apply. You may need to hold your small decorations up with a piece of tape, as the adhesive dries, about an hour. Sets in 24 hours, IIRC. Could set the dollhouse on its side, or upside down while gluing, then wouldn't need any tape to hold it.

Good luck!

For using superglue on wood put a dab on the wood then let it dry. Once dry re-apply superglue and stick it like normal.
The first dab of glue dried gives the second dab something to bond too.

I do the same thing for supergluing cloth.

Hot glue for the win.

Dunno why I didn't think of that.

The instructions recommended hot glue for ALL of the project as it's faster than waiting for wood glue to cure.

Unfortunately, getting things situated before the hot glue sets created more problems than it solved and I put the gun away. Plus the "cobwebs" drive me crazy(ier).

"Sealing" the wood grain with super glue and then re-applying also sounds like a good idea, I'll try that next time the situation comes up.

I've used E6000 on several applications and it may work here as well, but I'm out at the moment.

Thanks, guys!

quote:

Try 3M super weatherstrip adhesive (yellow).

Gorilla snot! But it is very gooey and stringy, is hard not to put it where you don't want it, and difficult to clean once you do. I don't think you'd want it for tightly fitted small parts.

Back when I made balsa wood model airplanes (this was a long time ago), I used a wood glue called Titebond. I don't think it dried fast, but you could sand down any that oozed out, unlike white glue which dries very hard. I also think it was more or less the color of the wood itself (before painting).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

Starbond

I think it's probably available on Amazon and at most woodworking stores.

Another fan of the E6000.

E6000 and shoe goo are essentially the same thing with shoe goo being flexible

Or they make small tubes of 3M 5200

Gorilla construction adhesive. Grabs in 30 seconds

Shoe-Goo and Gorilla Clear grip seem to be about the same.

E6000 in my experience seems more thinner and takes a whole lot longer to cure.

3M 5200. It will glue the wood together so strong the wood will break before the 5200 loses it's bond, fast cure sets up in less than an hour.

Why not just use a hot glue gun, it dries very fast and holds well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jimmy123x,

Try straight pins to hold trim in place until the glue dries.

quote:

Originally posted by bigpond73:
E6000.

Haven't found a surface I couldn't stick something on with this stuff. Comes in a tube, so can use a toothpick to apply. You may need to hold your small decorations up with a piece of tape, as the adhesive dries, about an hour. Sets in 24 hours, IIRC. Could set the dollhouse on its side, or upside down while gluing, then wouldn't need any tape to hold it.

Good luck!

I've had good luck with this stuff too for non- or less- reactive surfaces, and if this stuff gets into the porous surface, you may get lucky.

My wife has had bad luck with hot glue, it's sticky when it's hot but lacks chemical adhesion, and over time it just lets go on pretty much everything.

The first thing I thought of was liquid nails or any construction adhesive.