Plastic Resin Glue

[Tom Bain]

Will Plastic resin glue bond with melamine? I have a large, complex glue up to do and will be using plastic resin glue for the long open time. I want to perform the glue up on a large, flat surface that I’m certain the glue will not bond to and thought melamine would be a cheap, ready-made option.

[Mel Fulks]

Oh yeah , probably the best thing to use . You can tape the stuff down at the corners , stack ‘em up and add one more
sheet with NO GLUE at top . Just make sure room stays at least 70 degrees. I think its faster than all that time wasting
“rolling and I know it holds up BETTER over time than the spray stuff. Put plastic sheeting under bottom piece.

[David Zaret]

Will Plastic resin glue bond with melamine? I have a large, complex glue up to do and will be using plastic resin glue for the long open time. I want to perform the glue up on a large, flat surface that I’m certain the glue will not bond to and thought melamine would be a cheap, ready-made option.

yeah. i routinely use melamine as cauls for urea resin glue ups. i wax the melamine - even a light wax that's easy to spread will work (slip-it gel is my go-to). you should have no issues.

[Kevin Jenness]

yeah. i routinely use melamine as cauls for urea resin glue ups. i wax the melamine - even a light wax that's easy to spread will work (slip-it gel is my go-to). you should have no issues.

I also use wax with melamine - it's cheap insurance, especially for repeated use of the caul.

[John TenEyck]

Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue is no longer manufactured, hasn't been for 2 or 3 years. What brand are you using now and where do you get it?

I went back to Unibond 800, which I like better except I can't get it locally.

John

[David Zaret]

Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue is no longer manufactured, hasn't been for 2 or 3 years. What brand are you using now and where do you get it?

I went back to Unibond 800, which I like better except I can't get it locally.

John

unibond, i have it shipped. sometimes 2 gallons at a time, rarely a 5 gallon pail.

[Tom Bain]

Ditto on Unibond 800 shipped … it’s expensive and I usually only buy 1/2 or 1 gallon at a time given the short shelf life, but the adjustable open time is key and I absolutely HATE feeling rushed through complicated glue ups

[Richard Coers]

I would have guessed that plastic resin would peel off melamine with little pressure. Titebond makes a melamine glue, and Roo glue works too.

[Mel Fulks]

I would have guessed that plastic resin would peel off melamine with little pressure. Titebond makes a melamine glue, and Roo glue works too.

On high end projects I’ve seen plastic resin glue used to glue down plastic laminate, it’s much more reliable than the “professional “ spray
on stuff . Years ago I read that the spray stuff …stuck 5 to 7 years. I’m convinced that the main feature of “solid surface” is that it doesn’t
fall off like “Autumn leaves”.

[John TenEyck]

On high end projects I’ve seen plastic resin glue used to glue down plastic laminate, it’s much more reliable than the “professional “ spray
on stuff . Years ago I read that the spray stuff …stuck 5 to 7 years. I’m convinced that the main feature of “solid surface” is that it doesn’t
fall off like “Autumn leaves”.

Plastic laminate, I assume you are referring to Formica, etc, is made to be glued down with contact cement, plain old yellow glue, etc. And etc would include Plastic Resin Glue. The glue side of Formica is far different that the use side, or Melamine. Yellow glue comes off of Melamine w/o much trouble, which makes me wonder about PRG adhesion, too.

John

[David Zaret]

Plastic laminate, I assume you are referring to Formica, etc, is made to be glued down with contact cement, plain old yellow glue, etc. And etc would include Plastic Resin Glue. The glue side of Formica is far different that the use side, or Melamine. Yellow glue comes off of Melamine w/o much trouble, which makes me wonder about PRG adhesion, too.

John

i use formica for my cauls and top sheets. waxed, again. works really well. my plywood supplier had a "truck rollover" with a large load of laminate on it, and they wrote it off as a loss, and gave it to their customers. i got 40 sheets for effectively free, and it's served for a decade as custom cauls for the press.

[Richard Coers]

I have a feeling the answers are for 2 different situations. I thought the OP was asking about building cabinets and was asking about gluing two pieces of stock together in which on piece had to bond to a face covered with melamine. But answers are coming in using various products that won't let glue stick the the face of laminate or melamine. Could you explain the situation Tom Bain.

[David Zaret]

I have a feeling the answers are for 2 different situations. I thought the OP was asking about building cabinets and was asking about gluing two pieces of stock together in which on piece had to bond to a face covered with melamine. But answers are coming in using various products that won't let glue stick the the face of laminate or melamine. Could you explain the situation Tom Bain.

i read it as "i want a large, glue-free work surface, and checking to see if urea resin will stick to melamine."

[Mel Fulks]

Around here the “laminate “ word was used to mean any FORMICA type product made by …somebody else . Some places started using
melamine coated stuff not just for show surfaces of cabinets ,but also as the substrate for plastic laminate. They would scuff it ….sometimes
for “better adhesion “ , from my observation that meant that the laminate wouldn’t start falling off until the customer had paid for it. They
always used the common spray on glue. I did mostly mill work ,but whenever I had to to use “laminate “ I glued it with the “plastic resin glue”
some in shop didn’t like that as they preferred the regular spray on laminate glue which had the advantage TO THEM of spending time driving around to fix
loose laminate.

[Tom Bain]

i read it as "i want a large, glue-free work surface, and checking to see if urea resin will stick to melamine."

Yep, that’s the situation … I am not trying to bond melamine … what I want is a flat work surface that the glue (plastic resin) will not stick too as I anticipate a fair amount of squeeze out and don’t want the piece to accidentally bond with the assembly surface. My current assembly table is MDF which I know will cause a problem so sticking a sheet of melamine on top should do the trick.

[Kevin Jenness]

Yep, that’s the situation … I am not trying to bond melamine … what I want is a flat work surface that the glue (plastic resin) will not stick too as I anticipate a fair amount of squeeze out and don’t want the piece to accidentally bond with the assembly surface. My current assembly table is MDF which I know will cause a problem so sticking a sheet of melamine on top should do the trick.

Just wax it periodically and the glue drips and drops will pop off easily with a scraper.

[John TenEyck]

You could always put a sheet of 3 or 4 mil plastic over your work surface for insurance. I often do that with things I put on my Melamine base to go into the vacuum bag.

John

[David Stone (CT)]

Yep, that’s the situation … I am not trying to bond melamine … what I want is a flat work surface that the glue (plastic resin) will not stick too as I anticipate a fair amount of squeeze out and don’t want the piece to accidentally bond with the assembly surface. My current assembly table is MDF which I know will cause a problem so sticking a sheet of melamine on top should do the trick.

Unibond 800 will not stick to a melamine coated particle board panel (a slight tap will dislodge any drips or squeeze out). It also will not stick to wax paper, which is what I cover my cauls in for vacuum bag veneering and what you could put over your existing MDF assembly table.