Glue for steel and plywood

[Dan Stuewe]

I'm making a storage cabinet for my wife and she asked for steel panels for the doors so she can use it like a refrigerator. I picked up some 12x24 sheets of 26-gauge steel at Home Depot and I'm planning on gluing them to 1/4" plywood for the panels of the frame and panel doors. What type of glue would you recommend? Gorilla? Epoxy? Contact Cement?

BTW. I am planning on using my jig saw with a metal cutting blade. The edges will be buried in the frame, so they don't need to be too pretty. Do you think that will work okay, or should I spring for tin snips?

Thanks,

[Mark Singer]

Silicon caulk or mirror mastic should work

[Chris Padilla]

Jig saw blade should work but clamp the metal between some scrap sheets of plywood very close to the cutting line or clamp it to a bench with the cutting line just overhanging the bench (don't cut the bench!).

However, you may wish to have some support for the jig-saw, too, and you may want two additional piece of scrap. Doing this will ensure nice clean cuts and you won't get any unforseen hang-up of the blade that might put a nice twist/line into the sheet metal.

[Randy Meijer]

Since the wood and the steel will have different rates of expansion and contraction, you probably need to find an adhesive thas has some flexibility to it. Of the ideas already mentioned, mastic and contact cement sound good to me.....but that is just a guess......never tried this particular type of lamination before. Think I would avoid epoxy??

I'm not exactly sure hoe thick 26 gauge steel is; but cutting it with a jig saw might be a chore. You might think about laminating your panels and then trimming them with an inexpensive carbide blade for your table saw or Skill saw. Don't know for certain that that would work.......maybe someone else will know for sure????

[Earl Kelly]

Dan,

I know Gorilla glue works good with a steel to wood bond. Just burr up the backside with some coarse sandpaper, clean, then glue with some weight on top.

I made 2 pieces with hammered steel tops inlaid in a wood border, had to clamp the steel flat while the glue set. Been a couple of yrs now and no problems.

[Jamie Buxton]

Since the wood and the steel will have different rates of expansion and contraction

Neither steel not plywood has significant expansion with humidity. Steel does have a tiny expansion with temperature. It is .001 percent per degree C. That is, if you expose a steel panel which is 10.00" wide to a 10 degree C change in temperature (about 15 degrees F), it will expand by ten thousandths of an inch. That's not very much.

I've laminated plywood with sheet steel, using epoxy and a vacuum press. I was careful to degrease the steel to ensure the epoxy could bond to it. It works just fine.

[Randy Meijer]

.....a storage cabinet for my wife and she asked for steel panels for the doors so she can use it like a refrigerator.....

Might be more of a temp difference than 10°C here??? Maybe we need a little more information on actual design and contemplated use??

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Silicon adhesive or mirror mastic, maybe construction adhesive, will give a good bond. Don't worry about movement between ply and steel if the cabinet will be inside the house. Just be sure the back of the steel is very clean and scuff it up a little with sandpaper. You can sandwich the steel between pieces of scrap wood for cutting with a jig saw or do as I would--use this as an excuse to buy a good pair of tin snips. If you go with the tin snips, should this be posted on the neander side? ;)

[Paul Prescott]

From ThisToThat.com:

If you are gluing small pieces of metal to wood, or small pieces of wood to metal, we recommend:
<dl><dt>LePage's Metal Epoxy </dt><dt>J-B Weld </dt><dt>Faststeel Epoxy Putty if you have gaps to fill </dt></dl> <!--These are Barges ("]metal epoxies[/url]--> <!-- in a laminate scenario, --> If you have a large amount of surface area, we recommend:
<dl><dt>LePage's Press-Tite Contact (solvent-based) </dt><dt>LePage's Press-Tite Green Contact Cement </dt><dt>3M Fastbond 30-NF <!--<dt>[url=")--> </dt></dl> <!--These are contact adhesives ("") --> http://www.thistothat.com/icon/tip.gifClamping can make the different between success and failure here. http://www.thistothat.com/icon/tip.gif Whenever you are gluing metal it's a good idea to clean it first with steel wool or sandpaper. (Rust never sleeps.)

[Pat Monahan]

Dan
You could try Lepage Bulldog Grip PL Premium polyurethane construction adhesive. It comes in a tube for a caulking gun, around $5 a tube. I used it to glue a 2 x 6 into the side channel of a steel I-beam to provide a nailing surface in my basement remodel. I was impressed with how strong the bond is.
HTH
Pat

[Bill Lewis]

I used to know some cabinet makers in a pro shop who would laminate sheet goods with brushed stainless steel (22 guage). They used contact cement to adhere it, and then trimed it the same way you would for a countertop with a laminate trimmer and carbide bit.

[Sam Blasco]

Contact cement would be quickest and work just fine for that particular application. So would silicone for that matter, a dime sized dab every six inches, and epoxy would be most permanant, but both of those require set up time. For cutting, you would be surprised how fast a good pair of snips will work compared to the mess and set up of a jig saw.

[Dan Stuewe]

Thanks everyone for the great responses. I think I'll go with tin snips since I think it will be much neater and easier to set up.

As for the adhesive...how much thickness would construction adhesive or mastic add to the panel? I'd like the panel to feel solid when the doors are opened or when notes/pictures are hung with magnets. Would a few dollops give me that solid feel? I'd like to go that route since I have plenty of Liquid Nails handy (maybe not the correct formulation, but might do the trick :rolleyes: ).

The panel isn't structural, so I'm probably over thinking this. Maybe I'll just pick up some rubber glue from the grocery store and be done with it ;) ! (I'm sure my daughter's glue sticks will not be able to do the job!)

[Randy Meijer]

If you use "ribbons" of construction adhesive or dabs of silicone, you might get a wavy steel surface?? You would probably want to apply the adhesive with a notched trowel so that the adhesive is uniformly applied over the entire surface and then use a roller to be sure the steel is well and fully bonded. It may have been mentioned previously; but one advantage of contact cement would be no clamping or waiting for the adhesive to cure.