Cabinet Shops... What adhesive (brand) for Formica / Laminate?

[Nick Sorenson]

I have spray equipment for lacquer but nothing really setup for thick viscosity... so unless there's a good cheap gun out there, I'm going to have to roll or brush on.

Will that give me an inferior result? I don't care about speed much other than that I will need to be able to start glue up before one end dries. I'm stripping old laminate out of my kitchen and resurfacing my counter tops. I will likely only do this once or twice more in my life. Probably not worth buying a spray setup for adhesive... but I absolutely will if it's necessary to keep the surfaces stuck for life. I don't like having to do things twice.

Related, is there a certain type of contact adhesive that will give best results? I plan on using solvent adhesives unless there's a reason not to besides fumes.

[Ron Selzer]

1- Contact adhesive needs to dry completely before putting the two surfaces together (any that I have used)
2- a special roller works best, has nips on it to hold the depth/thickness consistent (someone else surely knows what proper name for roller is)
3-two coats always worked better for me on any surface that was porous, most laminates only needed one coat(two didn't hurt anything)
4-spraying is faster never used a spray system as probably only have glued a few thousand square feet of laminate mostly back in the 80's
good luck
ron

[Peter Kelly]

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40069424/

Works well if you don’t need to do massively large areas just be aware that the web might telegraph through thinner vertical grade laminates, particularly high gloss ones.

[Mark Bolton]

We run Wilsonart 950 red for everything brought in in 5 gallon pails. Contact is not brand specific. A lot of shops spray with super low dollar harbor freight cup guns and run them til they dont run then throw them away. 15 bucks a hit isnt bad but supporting harbor freight and filling the landfill isnt great. But it works if your needs are small/intermittent. Rolling/brushing is a waste of time and a waste of material. You will go through miles more contact and it will be slow, lumpy, hit miss.. Dont waste your time. Ventilation is important but dont get caught up in the scaredy-baby "youll shoot your eye out kid" either. Decent ventilation, mask, gloves, your not building a neutron bomb.

[Nick Sorenson]

Just watched a video of a guy using one of the purple $15 HF "HVLP" guns. I don't care for those at all and have a couple. Now I have a good way to justify throwing them away... lol!

I didn't realize they would spray thick contact cement.

[Mark Bolton]

Just watched a video of a guy using one of the purple $15 HF "HVLP" guns. I don't care for those at all and have a couple. Now I have a good way to justify throwing them away... lol!

I didn't realize they would spray thick contact cement.

They blast a spatter coat which is just what you want. Pebble, 80% coverage.

[Warren Lake]

I use Helmitin a pro company up in canada and maybe in the states. red or natural five gallon pails or whatever the new size is. Be sure you get stuff for spraying. you can use a cheap gravity feed but be aware of your needle nozzel combo you want a larger size than even for primer if possible.

I modified a primer suction gun and it worked fine as long as the lid was really tight. Five lbs of pressure turns it into a turbo. They have Gravity guns that are also pressurized and id seen Sata and a few others had pressure gravity. If you use gravity and have the larger needle nozzle combo you wont need the benefits of pressure. The gravity guns will be easier to clean and since using pressure stuff on hoses for finishing dislike cups and more so if on the bottom.

[Kevin Jenness]

Pva wood glue works fine too if you have a vacuum press. No fumes.

[Mark Bolton]

The gravity guns will be easier to clean


No one even cleans gravity guns for contact. Shoot some acetone in a giant freezer bag, drop the gun in, and zip it up. Unless your spraying so infrequently that the contact in the cup settles out you just unzip the bag and spray again. Cleaning out a contact gun is a waste of time.

[Mark Bolton]

Pva wood glue works fine too if you have a vacuum press. No fumes.

If I had the room for a cold press that'd be my aim. But I can bring in cold/hot pressed laid up panels for pennies more than I can buy the raw material so unless its a time crunch panels come in laid up

[Warren Lake]

from day to day the gun was never cleaned, spaces between if I wasnt going to be doing laminate for some months poured it out and ran thinner through it and left a bit in the cup.

[Peter Kelly]

They blast a spatter coat which is just what you want. Pebble, 80% coverage.It should be a linear web 3" - 4" wide sprayed from 10" - 12" away. Anything uneven like a pebble will telegraph through and not give consistent coverage.

[Richard Coers]

I'm not a fan of spraying solvent based contact cement in my little shop. It's bad enough smelling the solvent, let alone getting overspray all around the spraying table and raising all the hair on my arms. Definitely use the roller here.

[Mark Bolton]

It should be a linear web 3" - 4" wide sprayed from 10" - 12" away. Anything uneven like a pebble will telegraph through and not give consistent coverage.

Nope. And you can d#ck off over linear web pebble...disposable guns have been laying laminate for years.

[Mark Bolton]

I'm not a fan of spraying solvent based contact cement in my little shop. It's bad enough smelling the solvent, let alone getting overspray all around the spraying table and raising all the hair on my arms. Definitely use the roller here.

Material is so thick there is no "overspray". You can contain what doesnt hit the work with a scrap of cardboard in your free hand. Airflow and a respirator handles solvent in the air.

[johnny means]

A paint tray and cheap thin rollers will work perfectly well and not require any clean up besides a trash can. Sometimes I don't even bother with the tray, just spill adhesive on your material and roll. Corncob rollers are useful if you're doing production work and need to use the same equipment for longer stretches, but don't do the job any better.

[Mike Kees]

I am in the same camp as Johnny. I use a paint tray and foam trim rollers with a 3m water based contact adhesive. This product is fantastic ,it holds well and there is no vapor/headaches.

[andy bessette]

I use a roller tray liner and yellow foam roller, but refuse to use the water-based material. Have a stash of the real contact cement, Weldwood brand IIRC.

[Mel Fulks]

Some shop owners who use contact cement daily …..won’t use it on stuff for their own house. Manufactures of contact cement say it lasts
between 5 and 7 years. The urea formaldehyde type glue is the most permanent, with parts of the same size you can stack them overnight
with plastic bags between , requires no rolling. Every trade harbors it’s own nutty ideas , cabinet shops often look down on the rolled edge
factory applied laminate ,but those round pieces don’t loosen and flap in the breeze and fall on the floor.

[Kevin Jenness]

Another pva option for shops without a press-FSV adhesive laid with hand pressure or a pinch roller. https://veneersystems.com/product/fsv-flexible-sheet-veneer-1-gallon/

[Mike Kees]

I use a roller tray liner and yellow foam roller, but refuse to use the water-based material. Have a stash of the real contact cement, Weldwood brand IIRC.
Andy I used to think exactly like you, until I tried out the water based product.

[andy bessette]

Andy I used to think exactly like you, until I tried out the water based product.

Since all my work is on yachts, the water-based adhesive has no appeal to me. It just isn't worth the risk.

[Richard Coers]

Material is so thick there is no "overspray". You can contain what doesnt hit the work with a scrap of cardboard in your free hand. Airflow and a respirator handles solvent in the air.
Everyone in the commercial shop I worked at must have missed that class. Everything in the open face booth had a coating of red rubber on it. The build up on some saw horses must have been an inch thick. You had no issues with your feet sliding in there as you almost stuck to the floor. I guess I am surprised how it stunk in the shop since all the off gassing and smell is so easy to get rid of.

[Mike Kees]

Since all my work is on yachts, the water-based adhesive has no appeal to me. It just isn't worth the risk.
Ok I get that. The 3M product I now use has worked very well for me. (counter tops in residential and commercial settings). I have never worked on a boat or yacht . What type of work do you generally do on these jobs ? Sounds like it could be real interesting.

[Jim Becker]

Since all my work is on yachts, the water-based adhesive has no appeal to me. It just isn't worth the risk.
I would think that the only real risk would be if water was the actual solvent rather than just a carrier like it is with waterborne finishes. If the adhesive will not dissolve/re-wet with water, it "should" be no different than the older solvent based products where the solvent was both carrier and, um...solvent. Whether the specific product is as good at adhering or not in the marine environment is a different question, of course.

[andy bessette]

...What type of work do you generally do on these jobs ? Sounds like it could be real interesting.

Very interesting and challenging work. My specialty is customizing yachts, though I am also called on for repairs. I fabricate in most materials. Custom cabinetry represents a great deal of my work. Also fabricate in metal.

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[Jim Becker]

You do beautiful work, Andy!

[andy bessette]

Thanks Jim. Very kind of you to say so.

Always wanted a mill and a lathe. So, when an ancient mill and lathe presented themselves to me at a good price, about 7 years ago, I jumped on them and began teaching myself how to use them. The machined block of aluminum, an end fitting for a sailboat boom, was actually the very first part I ever made on a mill. Likewise the Bimini frame/solar panel arch was my very first attempt at using my new JD-Squared tube bender (last year).

At 77 years old I am often told by friends that I should be selling my machines--not buying more. :) Never too old to learn new skills. And I believe it really helps us to continually challenge ourselves.

[Jim Becker]

At 77 years old I am often told by friends that I should be selling my machines--not buying more. :) Never too old to learn new skills. And I believe it really helps us to continually challenge ourselves.

Apparently, you're also wiser than your friends... ;)