Adhesive Question

[MMB]

Not sure how many people in hear might have gone in this direction but I thought that this might be the best place. I do like mixed media and I recently wanted to attach metal forms to my clay forms. This would be for decorative and maybe even functional. I know there are a lot of expoxies out there to chose from but a lot of them advertise themselves as the real deal and end up being far from it. Iv tested Gorilla Glues Expoy, Loctites, and a off brand JB quick weld. All of which gave me some good ahesion. I was concerned though when it came to the functional aspect and whether or not some of these would be food safe. My other concern was really about the effective strength of the bond. Being that it would be bonded to the outer surface not really penetrating into the body of the clay, so would the break away no matter how strong the ahesive be at a higher percentage.

 

Anyone ever gone down this road or at least started to?

[Benzine]

I used Gorilla Glue, to fix a broken dinner plate.  It was advertised as both water proof and non-toxic, so I went with it. 

 

The repair worked really well, and lasted several years, before the plate was broken again.

[perkolator]

i started a thread on this a while back, i'm sure it'll come up with a search.  there were some good adhesive suggestions.

 

gorilla glue is a joke IMO.  really only has a few specific applications where it does it's job well without creating a big mess all over the place.

 

my personal favorites are PC-7 and PC-11 epoxies.  hold like crazy and are basically like marine epoxies and will be chemical resistant.  though the adhesive doesn't get into the pores of the clay it still holds an extreme bond --- when you re-break the seam, there will be clay stuck to the epoxy, proving the clay will break first!

 

 

as for your comment regarding food-safety, i wouldn't consider epoxied ceramics food safe, ever.  on a cup handle, sure, but anywhere that's going to contact food/mouth i'd say it's a no-go with any epoxy.

[Bob Coyle]

I use epoxy to attach gemstones to my pieces and then electroplate them in an acid bath for three days. Unless your piece is going to be used a great deal and washed...say in the dishwasher... any old epoxy will do.All of them are food safe when cured correctly. I get whatever is in the store . If your piece is going to have to take lots of hot cycles in the dishwasher, then you had better go with epoxies formulated for that type of environment. They will be hard to find and expensive. PC-7 or PC-11 might work, but I have never tried them. Marine epoxies are durable at room temperature, but may fail in a hot caustic environment.

 

I  do a lot of mixed metal/clay/wood/gemstones/whatever pieces. But I steer clear of making dinnerware types of things that I have to glue something to.  If people want a mug with a turquoise glued to it, Or a dish with an electroplated inlay. I tell them no. I have caved in a few times on what I felt was an iffy project and had some come back to me for repair.