Gluing Bottle Stoppers

[Jack Ganssle]

Folks,

What glue do you use to secure a neoprene bottle stopper to the dowel that goes into the base of the turned bottle stopper? I've been using CA but had one fail last night.

Thanks!
Jack

[Ken Dolph]

CA is a very misunderstood adhesive. If you follow the following rules you should have no failures with most materials.

When applying:

The joint must be tight. CA is an anarobic adhesive and does not cure in the presence of oxygen.

CA sets quickly but does not fully cure for 24 hours. Any sudden impact durring this time stops the growth of polymers (read strength) at the level that it has reached. Don't tap the piece to test the joint for 24 hours.

Humidity at the joint must be above 35%. CA requires extra hydrogen for bonding otherwise the bond is weak and not waterproof.

No acidity. As most woods are acidic, you can use CA specifically made for wood. Better yet rub some baking soda into the surface before bonding. The baking soda will not only neutralize the acidity but will fill pores so that you use less and becomes a hard, tough plastic inside each pore so that you have a billion little mechanical joints. you can successfuly bond endgrain oak with this technique.

I hope this helps
Ken

[Greg Just]

I use 5 minute epoxy

[Bernie Weishapl]

5 minute epoxy.

[JerHall]

but am not satisfied. Will try CA. I had assumed CA wouldn't adhere to the silicon stoppers. Guess I was wrong.

[Al Wasser]

Maybe I'm on a different thought but the silicone stoppers I use are not meant to be glued. If you hold your mouth right, they are to be taken off so one can wash them without washing the entire stopper and thus messing up the wood finish.

[JerHall]

It seems that there is enough variation in bottle mouth size (from US, Australia, Europe) that sometimes a tight fit in a particular bottle will grab the neoprene stopper. I have tried turning a larger, more tightly fitting dowel but that is self defeating, making an even tighter fit in the bottle. I think an easy fit in the bottle, but a well attached neoprene stopper is the objective I want.

Maybe I am missing something in making these work, but I am about to give up on them. Have had too many complaints from users. My wife likes the neoprene stoppers best, as long as she doesn't have to dig them out of the bottle.

Good thread. Hope a clear answer emerges. Maybe some neoprene stoppers have a smaller ID than others. What brand do you all use that don't give you problems? I use Craft Supply's which I like because they are non-yellowing, but they still come loose.

[Don Carter]

JerHall:
I buy my stoppers (yellow silicon) from PSI for a while now. I use CA and have not had a failure. The 5 minute epoxy also sounds like a good idea. I don't know if there is a difference between the yellow stoppers and the white, but they have worked for me.

All the best.

Don

[Roger Bell]

I have used CA in the past and have had a few failures. I have used ordinary white or yellow PVA glue now for about a year with no problems. But I would recommend and now use an easy five minute epoxy.

[Ron McKinley]

I don't use any glue either and haven't had a problem with them. What am I missing here? .........Ron