Rubbery glue, wood to metal

[Mark Gibney]

I need a rubbery glue to attach wood to metal.
The metal might move a little in use so I don’t want to use epoxy. And the mating surfaces are not exact enough for contact cement.

Is Loctite PL Premium appropriate for this situation?

20 years ago I used to be able to get a glue called Vulkem (something close to that spelling) and it was great, but I don’t see it anymore around here - Southern California. It probably eats brain cells for fun.

Any advice welcome. Mark

[Tony Latham]

"Is Loctite PL Premium appropriate for this situation?"

That is the stuff I was going to recommend before I read the body of your post. It should work great as long as the metal is well-degreased.

T

[Bill Dufour]

rubber cement

[Mel Fulks]

The PL stuff is great. But for something that is going to move beyond just expansion and contraction I like NP 1 sealant

[Mark Gibney]

I went and bought a tube of NP-1 locally.
Thanks all.

[Ted Phillips]

Actually, I would recommend G-Flex Epoxy by West Systems. It is what many knife makers use to afix scales to blades. It has a bit of flex built in to accommodate movement between the materials. I've never had it fail in 20 years.

[johnny means]

I just remade a zinc on plywood conference table that the original maker used PL on. It had failed shamefully. I opted to do a good job on getting a nice flat substrate them using contact adhesive, rather than hoping to find some magic void filling adhesive.

[Jacob Reverb]

It's expensive, and it's miserable to work with, and once you open it, its shelf life (in fridge) is about a week or two (or a couple days in the open air), but another option is 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive Sealer, which is very strong and permanent and waterproof (even below the waterline), and stays "rubbery" for years, even outside. It's a water vapor-curing polyurethane (although it does not foam like Gorilla Glue) with the consistency of caulk, so it'll fill gaps. But it only comes in black or white, that I know of. And you'll have a devil of a time removing it if ever you need to. Its adhesion and tensile strength are pretty impressive.

[Andrew Hughes]

I need a rubbery glue to attach wood to metal.
The metal might move a little in use so I don’t want to use epoxy. And the mating surfaces are not exact enough for contact cement.

Is Loctite PL Premium appropriate for this situation?

20 years ago I used to be able to get a glue called Vulkem (something close to that spelling) and it was great, but I don’t see it anymore around here - Southern California. It probably eats brain cells for fun.

Any advice welcome. Mark

I remember Vulkem 116 it’s a very good polyurethane caulking. Np1 is good stuff too.

[Wade Lippman]

It's expensive, and it's miserable to work with, and once you open it, its shelf life (in fridge) is about a week or two (or a couple days in the open air), but another option is 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive Sealer, which is very strong and permanent and waterproof (even below the waterline), and stays "rubbery" for years, even outside. It's a water vapor-curing polyurethane (although it does not foam like Gorilla Glue) with the consistency of caulk, so it'll fill gaps. But it only comes in black or white, that I know of. And you'll have a devil of a time removing it if ever you need to. Its adhesion and tensile strength are pretty impressive.

I was going to recommend 5200 also. 4200 is for things you might need to remove; haven't had reason to use it.

[Ole Anderson]

Gorilla Glue, polyurethane, water activated version?

[Richard Coers]

Since you provide no parameters, E6000 works well.

[Rich Engelhardt]

In 1986, when we moved into our house, I stuck the motion detector light fixture to the Aluminum siding on the peak of the garage up with the original formula - "Shoe-Goo".
It faces South & takes the full brunt of weather & Sun.
It's my "go to" for everything when I'm not sure what to use or , if there isn't a specified adhesive.

[Carl Beckett]

In 1986, when we moved into our house, I stuck the motion detector light fixture to the Aluminum siding on the peak of the garage up with the original formula - "Shoe-Goo".

Have used this shoe goo... not bad (and reminds me I am out)

Otherwise my 'go to', if decent surface area, is 100% silicone caulk. The 'aquarium' caulk version that is used to put glass together for aquariums I find works pretty well for a variety of tasks.

[John K Jordan]

Have used this shoe goo... not bad (and reminds me I am out)

Otherwise my 'go to', if decent surface area, is 100% silicone caulk. The 'aquarium' caulk version that is used to put glass together for aquariums I find works pretty well for a variety of tasks.

Same here, I use one of the various Goos for some things and silicone caulk otherwise. I usually use the caulk that goes on white and is clear when cured, and sometimes the black RTV.

As an aside, note that RTV and some others are conducive until cured, perhaps of interest when applying to things like terminals with with AC power.