Is Titebond Best for This Application, Or Another Adhesive? (Please see photos)

[Scott Memmer]

I have just a bit of a weird one.

I recently got a fantastic deal on an ancient Lapmaster lapping machine. This thing is from the fifties, runs perfectly, and is built like a Sherman tank. Just amazing.

Initially I'm going to be using it only for polishing. To accomplish this, I'm mounting a 12-inch felt pad on top of the old felt pad. The original pad looks to be as ancient as the machine itself, decades old, hard as a rock, and perhaps has some trace oils in it.



I am mounting on the original pad a thin piece of plywood. Because this is all kind of Rube Goldberg, I want to use an adhesive that doesn't set or cling right away (which takes out contact cement or super glue) but is instead workable and with a slower setting time. This will allow me the time to turn on the machine (which rotates at only 70 rpm) and align the wooden disc as close to centered as I can get it.



I have a bunch of Titebond 3, and I'm thinking either that or Epoxy are my two best choices. What do you think? Other suggestions.

While we're at it, once I have the wood glued and set in place, I will then be mounting a 12-inch mounting pad on top of it (pictured below). Initially I thought I'd just glue it in place, but I'm now thinking of Velcro-ing it instead. This way I can remove and replace different pads with increasingly fine grits. Again, for the time being this machine will only be used as a polishing machine, not for grinding or flattening.



OPTION TWO: Another thought I had was to instead glue the Velcro directly onto the original ancient felt pad, then remove and replace different new felt pads via Velcro. My concern here is that the Velcro will not hold because the older pad is saturated with oils.

Yeah, a little weird. Appreciate your suggestions.

sm

[Richard Coers]

First thought is that plywood is not flat enough, second is that no adhesive sticks to oil.

[Scott Memmer]

Richard, thanks. Again, the process I'm doing here is not lapping or flattening, only polishing. This is at the level of 14K grit rating, with a felt pad that is very cushy and soft. The flattening will have taken place long before the workpiece arrives at this stage.

Yes on the oil thing. It's not brimming with petroleum, but I'm assuming something this old would have that issue.

Yet another option might be to just remove the old pad completely, but I like it's firmness as is.

Again, to reiterate, flattening is not an issue in this application. The machine came without conditioning rings, which are expensive to buy and/or time-consuming to make. Probably a year from now I'll begin looking into the actuallly lapping application where, yes, flatness becomes an issue.

Thanks very much, Richard,

Scott

[Dan Cameron]

Richard, thanks. Again, the process I'm doing here is not lapping or flattening, only polishing. This is at the level of 14K grit rating, with a felt pad that is very cushy and soft. The flattening will have taken place long before the workpiece arrives at this stage.

Yes on the oil thing. It's not brimming with petroleum, but I'm assuming something this old would have that issue.

Yet another option might be to just remove the old pad completely, but I like it's firmness as is.

Again, to reiterate, flattening is not an issue in this application. The machine came without conditioning rings, which are expensive to buy and/or time-consuming to make. Probably a year from now I'll begin looking into the actuallly lapping application where, yes, flatness becomes an issue.

Thanks very much, Richard,

Scott

Maybe Velcro (hook side) will grab onto that old felt.

[Scott Memmer]

Maybe Velcro (hook side) will grab onto that old felt.

Dan, thanks. I had hoped for that, but the old felt has absolutely no surface text. The Velcro does zip against it. Honestly, that felt is almost rock hard and must be at least 30 years old. It might best for me to just remove it -- which will likely required a hammer and chisel. It's THAT hard and dried out.

Thanks Again,
S

[Jerry Bruette]

Silicone might work for attaching the plywood to the felt.

[Rick Whitehead]

I'd recommend 3M 90 spray adhesive. If you put both surfaces together while they're still slightly wet, you'll have a short time to adjust the pad to center it.
Rick

[Austin Perera]

What about spreading a polyurethane adhesive like PL?

[Andrew Hughes]

I recommend this stuff you’ll get a good long open time and it dries just the same as hard rubber.

[John C Bush]

3M #77 Spray adhesive should work. Seems to stick most anything together-- 70 rpm's for sure-- and you can peel apart with a heat gun. It would shred the old felt tho. I think 3M 99 is a contact cement--more permanaent adhesive.

[Ed Mitchell]

My concern with epoxy is that it might wick up through the felt and to the surface, where it will obviously wreck the ability to use the area for polishing. Also, if the felt is really that old, it might collapse into the epoxy, or a combination of these two disasters. If you have a tiny bit of felt you can use to test, that's how I'd start.

If not, I'd go another way. The 3M Repositionable 75 Spray Adhesive is a good place to start. It's got really low soak-in so it's good for porous fabrics, it won't destroy the old felt with gnarly chemicals, and of course you can keep peeling it up and putting it back down until you like the placement.

[lowell holmes]

I only use Titebond three and never had a failure. A bottle of it will last you for years.

[lowell holmes]

I use Titebond 3 and never had a failure.

[Jim Allen]

I use Titebond 3 and never had a failure.

For everything?

[lowell holmes]

I use it to make furniture, boxes, and even out door projects.

Try a bottle of it, the big box stored have it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tite...hrome&ie=UTF-8