Sticking Glass to wood

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

So I thought I'd do a slick job of making my diamond and glass plate sharpening station into a four-by box inside another that sets on little rails so none of the glass surfaces touch anything (preventing cross contamination).

Sounds like a plan.

I built the inner box upon which I planned to affix the glass plates.
I used 3-M double sticky tape to adhere the plate to the urethaned sides of the box. I rubbed 'em down real well to get the maximum conformal adhesion between the box, tape, and glass. Set it on it's side and in a few hours the glass plates had crept down answering gravity's call.

The glass plates are 1/4" thick and 4" by 22", they are substantial. It makes for a really sweet sharpening surface 'cause of all the surface one can have in a stroke.

Now I'm thinking either Contact cement or epoxy.
Any thoughts?

The surface of the box is pretty well flattened (from sanding) and is coated with well cured Polyurethane. The box is a recycled table top I made in a pinch a couple years back from oak veneer ply. I wiped it with naphtha to make sure no residue remained so it was clean and flat, a great surface for a double sticky tape application but, the glass thinks otherwise.

[Jerry Bruette]

Cliff,

You could try some silicone adhesive (clear caulk). I've used it to hold a stained glass panel in a cupboard door for about the last 15 years and haven't had any problems.

Just make sure your panels are horizontal until the silicone is cured.

Jerry

[Marlin Williams]

Yea a good silicone should do the job. GEs Silicone 2 (Window/Door) is what I would use in this case.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

+3 on the silicon. Surprising how well it holds.

[Joe Jensen]

I built an exotic set of stereo speakers years ago with walnut and acoustic glass. They had frames of 5/4 walnut, and 1/4" thick smoked audio glass in everywhere else. Just the audio glass was over $1000 in 1981. they were awesome for about a year and then one evening there were several very loud snaps. Apparently parts of the frame shrunk as the humidity fell in the room and several panes of glass were cracked. I routed 3/8" grooves in the walnut and bedded the glass in clear silicone.

If you do this, do not use a ton of silicon. Only use some small dabs. Lest you crack like I did.

[Nathan Hawkes]

I was going to say the same thing about the amount. I used to put in & maintain saltwater aquariums for people. Wood & silicone form an excellent bond with each other (provided the wood isn't oiled first...). A lot of seasonal movement could be bad if it torques the glass a lot. I've cleaned up a few messes caused by stand frames that moved out of square causing an unlevel surface. Coral & fish are very expensive when they end up on the floor......

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Silicone it shall be. Such an obvious choice and I even have some handy.

Milli grazi

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Cliff,Here's a site that I find handy. They also recommend silicone.http://www.thistothat.com/