Rather than a "presenter" giving us the knowledge, we have you. A man with cut fingers, dirty fingernails and scars. A person who knows more than most in practical terms. Absolutely brilliant. I guess there's thousands who would love to meet you and your incredible machines, put me on the list,
Remember that during the filming of secret life of machines, someone paid postage, and hand-wrote a full length letter to the BBC saying how *apalled and shocked they were that a presenter would have dirty fingernails and dirt and grime and how offended they were* lmfao I forget which episode but Tim covers it in his extra scenes bit
I know 20 year olds that can't hold their body weight up with their fingers like that, amazing! This man and his workshop should be a British National treasure!
@@Tinker001 I totally agree, and should have been clearer. I simply meant the BBC should have given him a permanent presence on their network. He has a wonderful gift of communicating complex information to the everday, and a delightfully gentle nature about him. He is just a beautiful person that should have been allowed to share more of himself through programming. I can't believe I had to discover him through TH-cam 35 years later. Still I am so very glad he is healthy and still creating and that we all have him here! I will pass it on to the masses!
I am from Norway, and have never heard of Hunkin until "The secret life of..." showed up in my suggestions. I am amazed that I have just watched him talk about glue for almost an hour!
Yes, was about to make the same comment. At 12:48 the way he grabs her by the throat and ripped her head off made me chuckle. Not that I'm for abuse, it just kinda caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting that.
The section about hot glue loosing it's strength when it gets hot reminded me of an incident at a furniture store. In the late 70's, a few of us were making furniture in a friend's garage. We were experimenting with an industrial hot glue gun, using the glue to hold some pieces of wood on our furniture. We didn't want to drill and plug some exposed joints, so hot melt seemed the perfect solution. We tested the joints, banging them with a hammer, and they held up well. We put one of our pieces, a chair, in the street facing window of a friend's furniture store. The Summer sun beat down on the chair daily, and in 2 days, the chair started to disintegrate. Pieces were falling off by themselves, or when touched. Back to using screws and plugs. One thing about an industrial glue gun. It uses compressed air to push the glue out. This saves squeezing a handle all day, plus the glue gets REALLY hot. We didn't have a water trap on the intake for the industrial air compressor. Water, in the air line, and high heat, turns into STEAM. Then the steam, inside the gun nozzle, mixed with the super-heated glue, blew the scalding glue out of the nozzle like a shot gun. Onto our exposed flesh. Sticking to, and burning, the backs' of our hands. Many band-aids later, we concluded that we needed a water trap. Also, pulling hot melted glue off your hands is really painful.
Haven't ever had hot GLUE.... Molten sugar and I, however, are arch-enemies. Worked in enough kitchens around the desserts to get molten sugar on my hands a few times. It's like napalm, and even if you think you're smart and run your hand under cold water....it forms a 'skin' of cooled sugar on the outside while the inside keeps right on burning you. It's the devil's saliva, I tell ya!
Protip regarding hot glue: to peel it off easily you can use isopropyl alcohol, it makes unsticking/undoing things very very easy and doesn't leave residue
Another useful tip : as Tim said, hot glue doesn't work well on cold or thermally conductive surfaces. It freezes before it can make a proper bond. But it will stick, even though it can't soak in, if you warm a metal surface first. Alternatively, tack it in place quickly then warm the area with a hot air gun. The glue reflows over the surface and makes a much better bond. It even looks neater.
@@loukashareangas4420 Same! And same! It's tip that turned Hot Melt Glue into an 'every day' glue for me. It even comes undone from MDF and other fragile surfaces. That impressed me. And IPA won't damage/swell things.
Hey Tim, I'm sure you get this a lot, but show really had a great impact on me when I was a kid, I would watch and rewatch every episode every freaking day. I grow up in 3rd world country and to this day it's a shithole, I don't even think they had licence for all episodes on TV back then, but I loved every single one and decided that that his is path that I want to pursue. Today I'm only able to have normal life and support my family because engineering is the only thing that still pays well here. Thanks for showing me the way and giving us awesome childhood!
33:21 - to recover the spiral tube waste when using specialist and very pricey resins (marine/subsea applications), we lay it lengthwise in a groove cut in a block of scrap wood (routed out with a round bit for production use) and slit it lengthwise, twice, with a Stanley knife ( which of course gets kacked up badly ) Remove the spiral and scoop out the remnants of the glue from the halved tube, giving it an extra mix with a lolipop stick before application because remember that mixing is minimal-to-none further up the tube. It's messy, tedious and frustrating - as well as a frantic race against time - but it saves a fair bit as the volume in the tube is a very significant proportion of the syringes. Good task for an apprentice. who needs to be well briefed and ready for it with everything to hand :) I first saw this done by a builder who was installing resin anchors and had lost one of his cartridges - he literally swore every 2 seconds all the while he was scooping resin out until he was finished.
I'd like to echo that sentiment! As a teen, the secret life series made understanding how things worked so accessible, and set me on the course of electronics for life!
Totally agree, used to get all giddy when I heard The Russians Are Coming. Also used to act like my dad when the news was on. Shhhhhhhhh🤣 I'm only 41 lol
From my experience of 30 years of teaching technology in schools: If I am sticking say wood to metal, I first coat the metal with Loctite and then glue the wood to that with cyano. Cyanoacrylates can be bought in a variety of viscosities, the thicker ones are much more controllable and with less tendency to run down your arms and glue your elbows to the table. Kicker/activator can be bought at any model shop, you don't have to buy mitrebond to get it. Also great for neutralising superglue spills. Zap and it's set and you can scrape it off the table later. There is a trick, much promoted on TH-cam, of using bicarbonate of soda to fill gaps and then trickling super glue on to that, it sinks in a sets very quickly. I don't know what the supposed advantage of bicarb is, but almost any dust works, the wood flour dust that collects inside your bandsaw is particularly good and creates a very strong composite material with the glue. Wood dust has the advantage that you don't have to go into the kitchen to look for it. Wrapping a joint in cotton and letting super glue soak into that, makes a very strong joint too. The trick with solvent Tensol is to use a small metal tipped pipette to apply a small dribble to the assembled joint and let it run in by capillary action. I get a clear joint about three times out of four. The surfaces to be joined need to be accurately flat it but works better if it they (or one of them.) are not polished.
Donald, just an FYI for others who might not be aware of it, superglue in larger quantities can get quite hot in reaction with any kind of cellulose or biological materials, be it cotton, wood dust, or human skin. It can burn your skin, or set something on fire, as numerous You Tube videos demonstrate. Guitar repairman Ted Woodford in Canada ( the twoodfrd channel on Y-T) frequently uses superglue in conjunction with wood dust for impressive color-matched repairs. People also use superglue and baking soda to replaced chipped-off plastic or bone, such as the slotted nut or saddle that the strings pass through. It can be filed, sanded and polished!
Donated, go spend the tenner on something frivolous like the gas bill Tim :) Your work inspires youngsters not just us oldies. There isn't a day go by when some aspect of what you do doesn't get applied at Ralph's House.
Mr. Hunkin, thank you for your generosity in sharing what is apparently decades of knowledge, experience, and tradecraft. As someone who is a bit of a "jack-of-all-trades" myself, I find your videos to be well-conceived, easily understood, full of valuable insight, and entertaining! My deep appreciation to you!
PVA is Poly Vinyl ACETATE. It also stands for Poly Vinyl Alcohol, but that's a different thing -- used as a mould release agent for fibreglass, and the opposite of a glue :)
Ah. But does that explain why kids like eating it? I tried it once, it tastes bad like shaving foam. Which I didn't try on purpose, that's just what happens when you shave with foam, you end up eating some by accident.
@@MaximilianonMars I know a guy who "rode the short bus" as a kid. We were working on a project that involved using pva glue and I asked him if he ate glue when he was younger. He corrected me and said it was paste, not pva glue, that tasted good.
Absolutely correct. Polyvinyl Alcohol would not work as a glue. It easily (very easily) dissolves with water (cold water) or alcohol. It simply forms a dissolvable film that acts as a release when casting various resins in molds (moulds for those that like this spelling better). Most of the time it has a green tint to it so you can be sure you have complete coverage on the mold surface. It does come clear as well which can be useful since sometimes the green color can stain the surface of the casted piece. This usually happens due to heat generated from exothermic reaction of the resin that is being used (polyester resin, for instance, can generate a lot of heat especially on thick castings). The film can melt into the casted part and become difficult if not impossible to remove. Well now you have way more information on a subject that is pretty unrelated and for most not very useful. O well.
The three men that have had a significant impact on my hobbies and interests would be my father, you, and James Burke I still search out episodes of The Secret Life of Machines. Very happy I found your channel! 👍
I knew the phrase “Stuck on you” would be found. I have a tip you may find useful: The demonstration of PVA & other simple wood glues, you found they slide when clamping. We saw that! While watching a TV show, an older woodworker took a pinch of salt and sprinkled a small amount on the wood glue, then clamped together with no slipping. The salt crystals in salt have spark edges a stop the sliding. The salt did not effect the adhesive and dissolved into the liquid! Brilliant I thought, this guy was building wooden planes by glueing sides to a cut block for the iron & mouth to create a plane as done for centuries except the old one were on piece blocks. A tiny pinch of salt goes along way! Cheers, I enjoy the info. Interesting plastics are marked with symbols for recycling. Car parts from radiator end tanks, oil pans, intakes have to resist oil, fuel/petrol and extremes in temperatures while retaining their shape. One in particular, marked PA66 GF33 is a nylon polyamide with 33% fiberglass filler to add strength. It is difficult to glue, but a few companies make it. The problem I found for a home tinker is that one bottle is slightly expensive but sold a cases of product only. It is like hotdogs & buns. You get 7 hotdogs but 8 buns! I may never make it to London but would shake your hand and then converse for hours. I enjoy! The inner child is still home.
Very useful and practical! One comment: epoxy and acrylic glues need a bit of layer thickness. With 0,1mm upto 0,3mm there's a way for the glue to stretch a bit and even the stress out. So don't clamp too hard. Using distance pieces (paper, metal, glass balls) makes it easier to maintain the appropriate distance. Oh, and rough op the surfaces! First clean, then use scotch brite.
Another fantastic gem Mr Hunkin, BUT... from one British maker of things to another, I am wondering why you didn't discuss the strongest glue of all? Weetabix!!! 🤔🤣😂⚒️🇬🇧 (I know... I should have left the bowl to soak overnight.. I know) 🙈
*nigelcarren* Those cereal bix do indeed make a strong glue. When used as winter fodder for cattle (factory bix waste, e.g. broken or incorrect weight etc.) it can glue up their alimentary tract - glued guts - to the point of death by constipation. I've lived on farms and worked on the WeetBix (that's the AU equivalent) factory line, seen both sides of those "breakfast house bricks". lol
@@21stcenturyozman20 Ok now that is terrifying! Just as my doctor used to say to me "Chew longer.. like a cow"' that will be my takeaway from this! The smell of Weetabix, does however trigger all sorts of memories for me because, (cue violins), twas the love affair of all love affairs. It was 2008, she had spent twenty minutes trying to explain to me how to find her house in this strange place called Burton Latimer.... A real nightmare to find her road. After a lot of 'stopping and asking' I eventually found it.... It was the one with The Weetabix factory at the bottom of the garden... Why didn't she just say that? The whole town smells like a bowl of Weetabix whether you are having bacon and eggs in the morning or Tikka Masala in the evening. Alas, I moved to France and left the Miss Weetabix behind.... But I can now find the cereal at least, perfect with honey. 🌞🇬🇧
Hi Tim - have you used UV glue - if not I think you'll like it. Comes in a little tube, sometimes with a UV LED in the back (e.g. Bostik Fix & Flash) - it's clear and quite runny, but sets hard in a couple of seconds when you shine UV at it - very useful for things you want to adjust then set in position.
@@jamieacraig Yes, the pen style from Amazon appear to be filled with whatever is left over in the bulk containers. I stick to buying branded 50ml bottles now.
I'd advise getting UV glasses, those yellow safety glasses. Don't damage your eyesight. Other than that photocuring resins are very toxic, I'd expect you're supposed to use it only in a very well ventilated place or with a respirator if in quantity, with gloves too to prevent skin sensitisation.
Another good use for the 2 part CA based mitre glue is for holding joints while they glue with pva. Put the pva over most of one of the surfaces, and a few spots of the mitre glue on the rest. The CA will then hold the joint firm long enough for the PVA to cure
Some 25 years ago I saw a construction worker installing threaded rod into holes drilled into concrete, using special glass test-tubes with the threaded rod sticking out and the test tube pre- filled with colored beads of epoxy resin. Chuck the threaded rod in a cordless drill, stick it in the hole, and spin it with the drill; the glass tube breaks and the spinning threaded rod mixes the epoxy.
I am being pedantic, but epoxy doesn't "dry", it cures by chemical reaction (as does superglue, but by a totally different type of reaction). 5- minute epoxy isn't ideal for joining metal, but a slow cure epoxy will grip incredibly well as long as the metals are degreased, and sanded to rough up the surface. JB-Weld in particular, containing powdered steel is incredible stuff, people have repaired cracked engine blocks with it. There's a 5 minute JB-KWIK and the stronger, slow cure JB-WELD variety. Devcon is another excellent epoxy brand.
Superglue (cyanoacrylate), particularly the very thin variety is great for strengthening old, weak wood. It wicks into the pores and sets very hard, but brittle. I use it for repairing piano pinblocks, bridges, and soundboards - it has good sound transmission qualities. The one thing it really lacks is shear strength - but when you are using it to make a composite, it's excellent.
(I live near Minneapolis St. Paul) A friend of mine in highschool, her dad was a chemist in the liquid adhesives department at 3M. Fascinating guy he was. To bad he couldn't have guest stared in this episode 😂 have you ever tried the super glue and baking soda trick?
For your Whack-a-Banker machine, to help your hammers last even longer you could make the platform surface around the area where the bankers are popping up from, out of some kind of foam (even if it were 6in diameter rings of foam that fit around each of the holes) that would absorb a lot of the impact (the foam rings could be a replaceable item too)
This series is amazing, thank you! Couple extra tips I've picked up with respect to two part epoxies: Surface wetting goes both ways. With thicker more viscous epoxy thoroughly wetting both surfaces will ensure a good bond and if you leave the "squeeze-out" alone it will easily chip off later with a sharp chisel. Wiping off the squeeze-out will push some of the epoxy into the surface and make it more difficult to clean up later if you didn't do a thorough wiping (especially for porous surfaces like wood). Probably less applicable to thinner less viscous epoxy. The other tip is to always save any left-over epoxy and the applicator you used. Pile up all the excess epoxy into a glob and stick the applicator into it. You can now refer to this to check how the epoxy is setting up instead of messing with the thing you are gluing. This can let you know if your epoxy batch was bad and didn't work and give you an idea of when you can safely move the object without it just falling apart.
Also, if your PVC pipe cement goes too stiff, add a bit of acetone to get it back to life. In fact, you can make your own by adding in ABS (ideally small bits from the saw as they dissolve faster) into acetone and wait for it to dissolve. Add more of either ABS or acetone to set the viscosity.
Add coarse salt in between wood to stop it sliding around when clamping, also use cotton thread as a binder, and soak in superglue for many a super strong bodge fix. Also use sticky tape and rust for..... well you know what for!!
tidbit: the anaerobic loctites use a bottle that is air permeable, that is why it does not harden in the bottle. anaerobics are nice because you can store them for a loooong time even without the lid on.
"Buttering" the adhesive on BOTH surfaces with a brush, finger or scraper (depending on the viscosity) makes an enormous difference to the final bond strength!
For sticking laminate to something using contact adhesive, a useful trick my father told me is to lay a sheet of polythene on the plywood (or whatever), covering the whole surface. Then lay the laminate on top of the polythene, line everything up, and gradually pull the polythene out from between the sheets. Works very well indeed. I had a kitchen work surface, which was fitted in place round a chimney breast and into a corner of the room. I cut the polythene pretty much to size and shape, the laminate had to be exactly to size and shape on all but one side. Put down the polythene, laminate on top and pulled out the polythene. Exactly in place.
These videos are endlessly fascinating. I also find Tim Hunkin's honesty refreshing - even when demonstrations don't exactly go to plan, they're included!
Found this channel yesterday and instant sub. Cannot look away. Took a bit but I recognized Tim's work from TV decades ago and couldn't put my finger on it until I hit the remastered ones. I was a big fan when I was a kiddo.
A little trick I use to avoid have the wood to move when clamping, like in 10:00, is to add the smallest bit of med-coarse sal. Just a couple of grains will embed themselves on the wood and avoid any slipping at all.
'Sikaflex'-type polyurethane is great, not just for glass to metal. Withstands higher temperatures than silicones. I've even used it to bond a metal plate over hole in car exhaust silencer. Also make objects with it to any shape or size, including any metal components while setting. For instance a drive wheel - grind down to the required diameter. Good for mending torn mounting bushes or making new ones. Mix some of it with acetone and can paint it as a rubber coating. If it gets on your fingers wipe off before sets with ordinary alcohol.
I missed one thing at the beginning : "I am no expert on glue but I will share my experiences with it ..... " That remark at the beginning of each episode always makes me smile 😊 Lovely and great info ..... and fun. Thank you Tim 🤝👍🇳🇱
I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am to see you making these videos Tim! I’ve rewatched Secret Life of Machines many, many times! As a Yank, I remember seeing that show on cable tv in the early 90’s it was and continues to be one of my all time favorite shows ever made!
Some instrument repairers are using *fish glue* because it adheres well to old, dried up, crystallized hide glue . Another unusual glue application: people on TH-cam are making wooden pens on a lathe and finishing them with thin coats of superglue, buffing it to a high gloss.
I quite like the versatility of “Bondic” It is a thick ish liquid that is then hardened by ultra violet light. It’s usefulness is mainly that you can build up subsequent layers, then harden them, each layer taking mere seconds to harden.
You’ll not find more skillsets in one person than on this channel, engaging, inspiring and a breath of fresh air. Mr Hunkin, as soon as my kids are old enough, I’ll be showing them your videos, Thankyou.
Excellent video Tim. A thing that you can do with double sided tape is taping down thin work to a machine table. I always used the white tape so you can get the work off the table easier. The table must be absolutely clean and without dings on the surface when the tape is applied. Aluminum can be easily milled and drilled using this method. It is important to have the work piece in as much contact with the tape as possible. Cheers from NC/USA
Aceroadholder, a Secret Life episode about adhesive *tape* would seem to be in order. Guitar repairman Ted Woodford (the twoodfrd channel on You Tube) has a number of uses for blue painter's tape, not just to protect delicate surfaces and finishes, but you can superglue things to the non-adhesive side of the tape, to hold small routing jigs and such, and then easily remove it afterwards. The guy's a true craftsman, and dryly funny (he's Canadian).
Wonderful video. I believe the reason why the epoxy joint failed, is due to the extreme clamping, basically squeezing all the epoxy out. Unlike woodglue epoxy does better when it’s a little thick.
My dad was a rolls Royce tool maker. I instinctively know why Tim loves this stuff. My dad used a hardened razor blade to cut an oil channel in the merlin.
With epoxy on metal (esp. aluminum) my understanding was that you want to apply the epoxy then sand the metal under it. Epoxy doesn't stick to metal oxides as well as the base metal. Sanding the metal with epoxy on it (wear gloves) keeps the metal from oxidizing before the epoxy can bond.
Incredibly useful to hear about the real world applications you’ve put these glue into, especially the fail states you’ve experienced. Thanks for passing your experience on!
Awwwwe I wish he went into E6000 more! It’s unbelievably strong AND extremely flexible. I always thought that E6000 should have been called “super glue” instead. The solvent in it is more toxic than usual though and getting the glue on your hands or gluing indoors can make you very dizzy and damage your liver over time. There’s a funny story with E6000 though. Originally it was an industrial product that was not available to the general public. This man had some from his work, and his wife took it from him to glue on some rind stones. The rind stones would not come off AT ALL anymore, it was so durable that she ended up popularizing it amongst her friends and eventually the rest of the arts and crafts industry
So many times people sharing knowledge come off as arrogant. You sir do not. To me that is the difference between knowing facts and being wise. Thank you.
Putting a screw in the nozzle end doesn't keep the air out, it seeps in around the screw thread and the tube thread at the bottom. Besides, the stuff in the nozzle will go off and you'll have to replace it before reusing the tube. If you need to keep your tube fresh for longer, remove the nozzle and empty it out (kitchen towel wrapped around a skewer works nicely), put *2 (two)* layers of cling film over the open end of the tube, and screw the nozzle back on top of the cling film. Even silicone lasts for over a year. (That double thickness cling film is important because only 1 layer doesn't seem to be totally gas-proof and a tube of silicone only lasts 6 months.)
3m makes some amazing tapes! In Florida we use a VHB (very high bond) 2 sided tape to attach road signs to poles and the like. It seeps into microscopic surfaces and bonds incredibly tightly.
Hey Tim, not sure if you see this or not. I have come across some 'rubber toughened' CA glue. It's quite nice. It's much less brittle than typical CA. It's very good for a bonding a variety of materials together. Starbond in USA has been great for me. I find that CA products of different sources, they differ a bit in quality. Some brands activators cause the glue to aerate a bit which weakens it. So, l sort by application needs and cost. Fantastic video. The self wicking Loctite is used very often to add friction to plates which you don't want to slide, say after a precision adjustment.
A few things I've learnt about glue over the years :- Hot glue can be released/removed by spraying it with Isopropyl alcohol, this makes it great for temporary things that may have to be repaired/removed later but make sure you don't get the IPA on anything acrylic. Baking Soda makes super glue set instantly and also acts as a gap filler. Glues that set rigid like epoxy and superglue (unless they have additives that make them flexible) often fail due to thermal expansion/contraction of what they're sticking, particularly if both materials have significantly different rates of expansion like steel and aluminium for example, this causes the bond to crack which is why flexible glues are generally better in those cases and might explain why you have failures with superglue. If you use epoxy, warming the joint while it sets makes it set faster but also stronger. One of the issues when you were showing polyurethane used with wood was you used weights, but the joint really needs to be forced together from the sides with clamps so when the glue foams it can't push the pieces apart and instead forces itself into the grain of the wood.
Another use for hot glue - fixturing. I'll use it to hold the work to a surface or "handle" if need be. When done, a little alcohol in the joint will creep in thru capillary action and physically break the bond if the surface is reasonably smooth.
So super useful & interesting. Glues have vexed me more than any other thing that comes to mind. I had the propaganda that pva wood glues were stronger than wood, but I proved to myself that they need warm temperatures when bonding or fail miserably. I repaired the shaft on a hoe with a scarf joint & pva & had it fail repeatedly till I abandoned the idea. So much great advice & practical information here, a delight from beginning to end. Thank you for sharing!
I used polyuerthane glue to glue a hewing axe to the shaft. It's an old design with a single long taper so it can't be wedged. Old timers used to use hot tar and ash as a glue.
Loving this series Tim, and while I remember watching your TV show when I was a kid, I hadn't realised howuch you were like my father in law! It's uncanny.
Modern adhesives are a wonder of technology. - Luke Tim said, having an auto releasing tensioning caulk gun is a must have tool. They stop pushing the material when the trigger is released.
In gluing plastic laminate to a substrate with contact cement, use the slats from an old set of venetian mini-blinds for separation. They are thin, narrow and arched, allowing alignment to be more sure.
A guy I know who makes guitars told me that on glued neck guitars it would be the last bit to break if a musician decided to smash it up on stage... like some have done in the past. Stronger than the wood itself.
Nitromethane (model airplane/ race car fuel!) will soften and loosen many types of thread-locking glues such as lacquer-like Glyptol (often used by electronics manufacturers). Don't use it near sparks or flames! MEK, methyl ethyl ketone, also softens some adhesives, but stinks to high heaven and is very flammable. Either one can damage plastics, so use carefully.
What a great idea putting the grinder *under* the shelf instead of on top of the workbench taking up space. I'm going to change mine now since I have a low shelf like that - Thanks!
(19:55) Cyanoacrylate glue works really well with baking soda as a kicker and structural building agent. It sets almost immediately and forms a hard plastic shell around whatever you place it on.
I'm glued to this video. Let's all stick with him.
ya killin me....love this comment
@James Cotter now that's funny, cheers, Paul in USA
I'm doing my part by pasting this comment here!
@@Pants4096 haha
Bit of a tacky comment, no?
Rather than a "presenter" giving us the knowledge, we have you. A man with cut fingers, dirty fingernails and scars. A person who knows more than most in practical terms. Absolutely brilliant. I guess there's thousands who would love to meet you and your incredible machines, put me on the list,
Remember that during the filming of secret life of machines, someone paid postage, and hand-wrote a full length letter to the BBC saying how *apalled and shocked they were that a presenter would have dirty fingernails and dirt and grime and how offended they were* lmfao I forget which episode but Tim covers it in his extra scenes bit
I know 20 year olds that can't hold their body weight up with their fingers like that, amazing! This man and his workshop should be a British National treasure!
They already are and have been for quite a while now. But I agree with you.
International Treasure!
His appeal isn't restricted to Britain.
@@Tinker001 I totally agree, and should have been clearer. I simply meant the BBC should have given him a permanent presence on their network. He has a wonderful gift of communicating complex information to the everday, and a delightfully gentle nature about him. He is just a beautiful person that should have been allowed to share more of himself through programming. I can't believe I had to discover him through TH-cam 35 years later. Still I am so very glad he is healthy and still creating and that we all have him here! I will pass it on to the masses!
True, but was it done with mirrors or lowering the sign. Slight of hand tricking the eye or three rows of calluses on each hand?
@@deankay4434
Superglue on the fingertips.
I am from Norway, and have never heard of Hunkin until "The secret life of..." showed up in my suggestions. I am amazed that I have just watched him talk about glue for almost an hour!
Same here, I'm from the US. Been watching him for a week now
I grew up watching him on TV! 😁
You're a living legend, Tim. We've grown old together. Thank you.
Watching Tim casually decapitate the chiropodist to reveal a large metal hook gave me a good chuckle, I love these new episodes
Yes, was about to make the same comment. At 12:48 the way he grabs her by the throat and ripped her head off made me chuckle. Not that I'm for abuse, it just kinda caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting that.
Yeah, wasn't expecting that.
I don't know how you manage to be so educational and calm while not being boring, but thank you, sir.
I can’t believe how strong he is. Never underestimate an an dude in a boiler suit
The section about hot glue loosing it's strength when it gets hot reminded me of an incident at a furniture store.
In the late 70's, a few of us were making furniture in a friend's garage. We were experimenting with an industrial hot glue gun, using the glue to hold some pieces of wood on our furniture. We didn't want to drill and plug some exposed joints, so hot melt seemed the perfect solution.
We tested the joints, banging them with a hammer, and they held up well. We put one of our pieces, a chair, in the street facing window of a friend's furniture store. The Summer sun beat down on the chair daily, and in 2 days, the chair started to disintegrate. Pieces were falling off by themselves, or when touched.
Back to using screws and plugs.
One thing about an industrial glue gun. It uses compressed air to push the glue out. This saves squeezing a handle all day, plus the glue gets REALLY hot. We didn't have a water trap on the intake for the industrial air compressor. Water, in the air line, and high heat, turns into STEAM. Then the steam, inside the gun nozzle, mixed with the super-heated glue, blew the scalding glue out of the nozzle like a shot gun. Onto our exposed flesh. Sticking to, and burning, the backs' of our hands.
Many band-aids later, we concluded that we needed a water trap. Also, pulling hot melted glue off your hands is really painful.
Had some hot melt glue sticks on the backseat of my car once, on a sunny day. Part of them is still stuck to the upholstery alas.
Haven't ever had hot GLUE....
Molten sugar and I, however, are arch-enemies. Worked in enough kitchens around the desserts to get molten sugar on my hands a few times. It's like napalm, and even if you think you're smart and run your hand under cold water....it forms a 'skin' of cooled sugar on the outside while the inside keeps right on burning you. It's the devil's saliva, I tell ya!
Protip regarding hot glue: to peel it off easily you can use isopropyl alcohol, it makes unsticking/undoing things very very easy and doesn't leave residue
Yeah! Came down to comment this, glad someone beat me to it.
Ordinary methylated spirits works just as well.
Another useful tip : as Tim said, hot glue doesn't work well on cold or thermally conductive surfaces. It freezes before it can make a proper bond. But it will stick, even though it can't soak in, if you warm a metal surface first. Alternatively, tack it in place quickly then warm the area with a hot air gun. The glue reflows over the surface and makes a much better bond. It even looks neater.
@@loukashareangas4420 Same! And same! It's tip that turned Hot Melt Glue into an 'every day' glue for me.
It even comes undone from MDF and other fragile surfaces. That impressed me. And IPA won't damage/swell things.
@@ElectraFlarefire Be sure that you use 99.5% IPA
Hey Tim, I'm sure you get this a lot, but show really had a great impact on me when I was a kid, I would watch and rewatch every episode every freaking day. I grow up in 3rd world country and to this day it's a shithole, I don't even think they had licence for all episodes on TV back then, but I loved every single one and decided that that his is path that I want to pursue. Today I'm only able to have normal life and support my family because engineering is the only thing that still pays well here. Thanks for showing me the way and giving us awesome childhood!
33:21 - to recover the spiral tube waste when using specialist and very pricey resins (marine/subsea applications), we lay it lengthwise in a groove cut in a block of scrap wood (routed out with a round bit for production use) and slit it lengthwise, twice, with a Stanley knife ( which of course gets kacked up badly )
Remove the spiral and scoop out the remnants of the glue from the halved tube, giving it an extra mix with a lolipop stick before application because remember that mixing is minimal-to-none further up the tube.
It's messy, tedious and frustrating - as well as a frantic race against time - but it saves a fair bit as the volume in the tube is a very significant proportion of the syringes.
Good task for an apprentice. who needs to be well briefed and ready for it with everything to hand :)
I first saw this done by a builder who was installing resin anchors and had lost one of his cartridges - he literally swore every 2 seconds all the while he was scooping resin out until he was finished.
Necessity is the mother of all cursing
Tim your an absolute legend! Loved your TV series as a teen.....love them and your TH-cams more now I'm 46!! Thank you 😊
I'd like to echo that sentiment! As a teen, the secret life series made understanding how things worked so accessible, and set me on the course of electronics for life!
you are spot on.......Tim is my Hero.....
me also.. me also. Although I'm 'only' 39.
Totally agree, used to get all giddy when I heard The Russians Are Coming. Also used to act like my dad when the news was on. Shhhhhhhhh🤣 I'm only 41 lol
@@mhbh1979 😂😂 thank you so much, I've been trying to track down that tune for ages, I thought it was dave brubecks take five!
extra points for using the phrase "jaunty angle" haha
He literally said that as I read this comment! Haha
Nice openbsd pufferfish. I use it on my servers.
Jaunty or skew-whiff?
Being a all round DIYer now 82 I could watch these videos for hours and learn a lot, thank you.
From my experience of 30 years of teaching technology in schools:
If I am sticking say wood to metal, I first coat the metal with Loctite and then glue the wood to that with cyano. Cyanoacrylates can be bought in a variety of viscosities, the thicker ones are much more controllable and with less tendency to run down your arms and glue your elbows to the table.
Kicker/activator can be bought at any model shop, you don't have to buy mitrebond to get it. Also great for neutralising superglue spills. Zap and it's set and you can scrape it off the table later.
There is a trick, much promoted on TH-cam, of using bicarbonate of soda to fill gaps and then trickling super glue on to that, it sinks in a sets very quickly. I don't know what the supposed advantage of bicarb is, but almost any dust works, the wood flour dust that collects inside your bandsaw is particularly good and creates a very strong composite material with the glue. Wood dust has the advantage that you don't have to go into the kitchen to look for it.
Wrapping a joint in cotton and letting super glue soak into that, makes a very strong joint too.
The trick with solvent Tensol is to use a small metal tipped pipette to apply a small dribble to the assembled joint and let it run in by capillary action. I get a clear joint about three times out of four. The surfaces to be joined need to be accurately flat it but works better if it they (or one of them.) are not polished.
Donald, just an FYI for others who might not be aware of it, superglue in larger quantities can get quite hot in reaction with any kind of cellulose or biological materials, be it cotton, wood dust, or human skin. It can burn your skin, or set something on fire, as numerous You Tube videos demonstrate.
Guitar repairman Ted Woodford in Canada ( the twoodfrd channel on Y-T) frequently uses superglue in conjunction with wood dust for impressive color-matched repairs. People also use superglue and baking soda to replaced chipped-off plastic or bone, such as the slotted nut or saddle that the strings pass through. It can be filed, sanded and polished!
Visiting the arcade was one of the highlights of my trip to London, I hope to make it to the pier this fall.
Lucky!
I hope to go one day
Donated, go spend the tenner on something frivolous like the gas bill Tim :) Your work inspires youngsters not just us oldies. There isn't a day go by when some aspect of what you do doesn't get applied at Ralph's House.
Mr. Hunkin, thank you for your generosity in sharing what is apparently decades of knowledge, experience, and tradecraft. As someone who is a bit of a "jack-of-all-trades" myself, I find your videos to be well-conceived, easily understood, full of valuable insight, and entertaining! My deep appreciation to you!
PVA is Poly Vinyl ACETATE. It also stands for Poly Vinyl Alcohol, but that's a different thing -- used as a mould release agent for fibreglass, and the opposite of a glue :)
Ah. But does that explain why kids like eating it? I tried it once, it tastes bad like shaving foam. Which I didn't try on purpose, that's just what happens when you shave with foam, you end up eating some by accident.
Freudian slip if you ask me!
@@MaximilianonMars I know a guy who "rode the short bus" as a kid. We were working on a project that involved using pva glue and I asked him if he ate glue when he was younger. He corrected me and said it was paste, not pva glue, that tasted good.
Absolutely correct. Polyvinyl Alcohol would not work as a glue. It easily (very easily) dissolves with water (cold water) or alcohol. It simply forms a dissolvable film that acts as a release when casting various resins in molds (moulds for those that like this spelling better). Most of the time it has a green tint to it so you can be sure you have complete coverage on the mold surface. It does come clear as well which can be useful since sometimes the green color can stain the surface of the casted piece. This usually happens due to heat generated from exothermic reaction of the resin that is being used (polyester resin, for instance, can generate a lot of heat especially on thick castings). The film can melt into the casted part and become difficult if not impossible to remove. Well now you have way more information on a subject that is pretty unrelated and for most not very useful. O well.
The three men that have had a significant impact on my hobbies and interests would be my father, you, and James Burke
I still search out episodes of The Secret Life of Machines. Very happy I found your channel! 👍
I knew the phrase “Stuck on you” would be found. I have a tip you may find useful: The demonstration of PVA & other simple wood glues, you found they slide when clamping. We saw that! While watching a TV show, an older woodworker took a pinch of salt and sprinkled a small amount on the wood glue, then clamped together with no slipping. The salt crystals in salt have spark edges a stop the sliding. The salt did not effect the adhesive and dissolved into the liquid! Brilliant I thought, this guy was building wooden planes by glueing sides to a cut block for the iron & mouth to create a plane as done for centuries except the old one were on piece blocks. A tiny pinch of salt goes along way! Cheers, I enjoy the info.
Interesting plastics are marked with symbols for recycling. Car parts from radiator end tanks, oil pans, intakes have to resist oil, fuel/petrol and extremes in temperatures while retaining their shape. One in particular, marked PA66 GF33 is a nylon polyamide with 33% fiberglass filler to add strength. It is difficult to glue, but a few companies make it. The problem I found for a home tinker is that one bottle is slightly expensive but sold a cases of product only. It is like hotdogs & buns. You get 7 hotdogs but 8 buns! I may never make it to London but would shake your hand and then converse for hours. I enjoy!
The inner child is still home.
Very useful and practical! One comment: epoxy and acrylic glues need a bit of layer thickness. With 0,1mm upto 0,3mm there's a way for the glue to stretch a bit and even the stress out. So don't clamp too hard. Using distance pieces (paper, metal, glass balls) makes it easier to maintain the appropriate distance.
Oh, and rough op the surfaces! First clean, then use scotch brite.
Another fantastic gem Mr Hunkin, BUT... from one British maker of things to another, I am wondering why you didn't discuss the strongest glue of all?
Weetabix!!! 🤔🤣😂⚒️🇬🇧
(I know... I should have left the bowl to soak overnight.. I know) 🙈
I have to agree, and also add dog shit in the tread of your trainers. Jeez...
*nigelcarren* Those cereal bix do indeed make a strong glue. When used as winter fodder for cattle (factory bix waste, e.g. broken or incorrect weight etc.) it can glue up their alimentary tract - glued guts - to the point of death by constipation. I've lived on farms and worked on the WeetBix (that's the AU equivalent) factory line, seen both sides of those "breakfast house bricks". lol
@@21stcenturyozman20 Ok now that is terrifying! Just as my doctor used to say to me "Chew longer.. like a cow"' that will be my takeaway from this!
The smell of Weetabix, does however trigger all sorts of memories for me because, (cue violins), twas the love affair of all love affairs.
It was 2008, she had spent twenty minutes trying to explain to me how to find her house in this strange place called Burton Latimer.... A real nightmare to find her road.
After a lot of 'stopping and asking' I eventually found it.... It was the one with The Weetabix factory at the bottom of the garden... Why didn't she just say that?
The whole town smells like a bowl of Weetabix whether you are having bacon and eggs in the morning or Tikka Masala in the evening.
Alas, I moved to France and left the Miss Weetabix behind.... But I can now find the cereal at least, perfect with honey. 🌞🇬🇧
I love how tim hunkin being very honest with his opinions and dont cut out any failed attempts.
Tim does all his own stunts!!!
Hi Tim - have you used UV glue - if not I think you'll like it. Comes in a little tube, sometimes with a UV LED in the back (e.g. Bostik Fix & Flash) - it's clear and quite runny, but sets hard in a couple of seconds when you shine UV at it - very useful for things you want to adjust then set in position.
My dentist highly recommends it!
UV glue is great, it does come in a variety of grades from very hard to fairly elastic when cured.
@@jamieacraig Yes, the pen style from Amazon appear to be filled with whatever is left over in the bulk containers. I stick to buying branded 50ml bottles now.
I'd advise getting UV glasses, those yellow safety glasses. Don't damage your eyesight. Other than that photocuring resins are very toxic, I'd expect you're supposed to use it only in a very well ventilated place or with a respirator if in quantity, with gloves too to prevent skin sensitisation.
@@MaximilianonMars There are medical grade UV curing adhesives used in dentistry.
Another good use for the 2 part CA based mitre glue is for holding joints while they glue with pva. Put the pva over most of one of the surfaces, and a few spots of the mitre glue on the rest. The CA will then hold the joint firm long enough for the PVA to cure
Nathan Lucas ...
Excellent tip. Thank you.
@@DrQuadrivium not my idea! I got it either from Steve Ramsay (wood working for mere mortals) or Jimmy DiResta
Your videos taught me more than any teacher I've ever had. Thank you.
Some 25 years ago I saw a construction worker installing threaded rod into holes drilled into concrete, using special glass test-tubes with the threaded rod sticking out and the test tube pre- filled with colored beads of epoxy resin. Chuck the threaded rod in a cordless drill, stick it in the hole, and spin it with the drill; the glass tube breaks and the spinning threaded rod mixes the epoxy.
I am being pedantic, but epoxy doesn't "dry", it cures by chemical reaction (as does superglue, but by a totally different type of reaction). 5- minute epoxy isn't ideal for joining metal, but a slow cure epoxy will grip incredibly well as long as the metals are degreased, and sanded to rough up the surface. JB-Weld in particular, containing powdered steel is incredible stuff, people have repaired cracked engine blocks with it. There's a 5 minute JB-KWIK and the stronger, slow cure JB-WELD variety. Devcon is another excellent epoxy brand.
Superglue (cyanoacrylate), particularly the very thin variety is great for strengthening old, weak wood. It wicks into the pores and sets very hard, but brittle. I use it for repairing piano pinblocks, bridges, and soundboards - it has good sound transmission qualities. The one thing it really lacks is shear strength - but when you are using it to make a composite, it's excellent.
Thrilled to have found Tim after so many years.
(I live near Minneapolis St. Paul) A friend of mine in highschool, her dad was a chemist in the liquid adhesives department at 3M. Fascinating guy he was. To bad he couldn't have guest stared in this episode 😂 have you ever tried the super glue and baking soda trick?
For your Whack-a-Banker machine, to help your hammers last even longer you could make the platform surface around the area where the bankers are popping up from, out of some kind of foam (even if it were 6in diameter rings of foam that fit around each of the holes) that would absorb a lot of the impact (the foam rings could be a replaceable item too)
As a professional R&D chemist, I worked with glues and cements for many purposes. You know your stuff, mate.
Literally watched glue dry and was entertained the whole time. Amazing show.
This series is amazing, thank you! Couple extra tips I've picked up with respect to two part epoxies: Surface wetting goes both ways. With thicker more viscous epoxy thoroughly wetting both surfaces will ensure a good bond and if you leave the "squeeze-out" alone it will easily chip off later with a sharp chisel. Wiping off the squeeze-out will push some of the epoxy into the surface and make it more difficult to clean up later if you didn't do a thorough wiping (especially for porous surfaces like wood). Probably less applicable to thinner less viscous epoxy. The other tip is to always save any left-over epoxy and the applicator you used. Pile up all the excess epoxy into a glob and stick the applicator into it. You can now refer to this to check how the epoxy is setting up instead of messing with the thing you are gluing. This can let you know if your epoxy batch was bad and didn't work and give you an idea of when you can safely move the object without it just falling apart.
21:04 bench grinder mounted underneath a shelf. Brilliant.
Tim, use v. small amounts of salt on PVA to stop it sliding around when clamping
Also, if your PVC pipe cement goes too stiff, add a bit of acetone to get it back to life. In fact, you can make your own by adding in ABS (ideally small bits from the saw as they dissolve faster) into acetone and wait for it to dissolve. Add more of either ABS or acetone to set the viscosity.
Add coarse salt in between wood to stop it sliding around when clamping, also use cotton thread as a binder, and soak in superglue for many a super strong bodge fix. Also use sticky tape and rust for..... well you know what for!!
tidbit: the anaerobic loctites use a bottle that is air permeable, that is why it does not harden in the bottle. anaerobics are nice because you can store them for a loooong time even without the lid on.
I'm confused, what makes it harden then? Lack of air? How?
@@SianaGearz yep , lack of air (oxygen)
"Buttering" the adhesive on BOTH surfaces with a brush, finger or scraper (depending on the viscosity) makes an enormous difference to the final bond strength!
im ... glued ... to this channel ... lol
outstanding.....stick tuitivness
For sticking laminate to something using contact adhesive, a useful trick my father told me is to lay a sheet of polythene on the plywood (or whatever), covering the whole surface. Then lay the laminate on top of the polythene, line everything up, and gradually pull the polythene out from between the sheets. Works very well indeed. I had a kitchen work surface, which was fitted in place round a chimney breast and into a corner of the room. I cut the polythene pretty much to size and shape, the laminate had to be exactly to size and shape on all but one side. Put down the polythene, laminate on top and pulled out the polythene. Exactly in place.
Thank you for taking the time to share your know-how with us. From one tinkerer to another.
Thank you, sir. An educational video that isn't boring.
that video is the one on drilling......Tim is Brilliant
I envy that Tim's curiosity is boundless........
These videos are endlessly fascinating. I also find Tim Hunkin's honesty refreshing - even when demonstrations don't exactly go to plan, they're included!
Occasionally, TH-cam sends me a suggested video that is actually worthwhile. This is one such example, thanks for the content and I've subscribed!
Glues that work from a life-time of experience...Who knew? Many thanks Tim, invaluable.
Tim is one of last the eccentric inventors that Britain produced. Unless you count Colin an his mobility scoot...
How did I get old without learning all these things?
Thank you.
Found this channel yesterday and instant sub. Cannot look away. Took a bit but I recognized Tim's work from TV decades ago and couldn't put my finger on it until I hit the remastered ones. I was a big fan when I was a kiddo.
A little trick I use to avoid have the wood to move when clamping, like in 10:00, is to add the smallest bit of med-coarse sal. Just a couple of grains will embed themselves on the wood and avoid any slipping at all.
I was intrigued but confused by the wording of this tip. For anyone else in the same boat, I think it’s medium to coarse ground salt. Will try this!
I've been stuck to Tim for over 3 decades!
'Sikaflex'-type polyurethane is great, not just for glass to metal. Withstands higher temperatures than silicones. I've even used it to bond a metal plate over hole in car exhaust silencer. Also make objects with it to any shape or size, including any metal components while setting. For instance a drive wheel - grind down to the required diameter. Good for mending torn mounting bushes or making new ones. Mix some of it with acetone and can paint it as a rubber coating. If it gets on your fingers wipe off before sets with ordinary alcohol.
I remember original Secrete Life of Machines. Glad I found you still doing these. Added you to my wood shop's educational classes.
Initially, I thought model at 20:38 was a tooth! 'Loved the Psychofluorescent Radiomirror, by the way!
I missed one thing at the beginning :
"I am no expert on glue but I will share my experiences with it ..... "
That remark at the beginning of each episode always makes me smile 😊
Lovely and great info ..... and fun.
Thank you Tim 🤝👍🇳🇱
You can't imagine how much I appreciate your thorough videos. Who else is gonna teach me this stuff?
Big Clive and This Old Tony have a little overlap, check 'em if you didn't already! :-)
My son and I are very much enjoying these videos. We shall be watching this episode later, I can hardly wait!
I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am to see you making these videos Tim! I’ve rewatched Secret Life of Machines many, many times! As a Yank, I remember seeing that show on cable tv in the early 90’s it was and continues to be one of my all time favorite shows ever made!
Let's all stick with Tim.
Some instrument repairers are using *fish glue* because it adheres well to old, dried up, crystallized hide glue . Another unusual glue application: people on TH-cam are making wooden pens on a lathe and finishing them with thin coats of superglue, buffing it to a high gloss.
I quite like the versatility of “Bondic”
It is a thick ish liquid that is then hardened by ultra violet light. It’s usefulness is mainly that you can build up subsequent layers, then harden them, each layer taking mere seconds to harden.
You’ll not find more skillsets in one person than on this channel, engaging, inspiring and a breath of fresh air. Mr Hunkin, as soon as my kids are old enough, I’ll be showing them your videos, Thankyou.
Excellent video Tim. A thing that you can do with double sided tape is taping down thin work to a machine table. I always used the white tape so you can get the work off the table easier. The table must be absolutely clean and without dings on the surface when the tape is applied. Aluminum can be easily milled and drilled using this method. It is important to have the work piece in as much contact with the tape as possible.
Cheers from NC/USA
Aceroadholder, a Secret Life episode about adhesive *tape* would seem to be in order. Guitar repairman Ted Woodford (the twoodfrd channel on You Tube) has a number of uses for blue painter's tape, not just to protect delicate surfaces and finishes, but you can superglue things to the non-adhesive side of the tape, to hold small routing jigs and such, and then easily remove it afterwards. The guy's a true craftsman, and dryly funny (he's Canadian).
Too many channels focus on the end result rather than the basics and it's is great you do.
Wonderful video.
I believe the reason why the epoxy joint failed, is due to the extreme clamping, basically squeezing all the epoxy out.
Unlike woodglue epoxy does better when it’s a little thick.
A sticky subject handled well.... I was glued to his every word. I will be sticking around for the next once.
My dad was a rolls Royce tool maker. I instinctively know why Tim loves this stuff. My dad used a hardened razor blade to cut an oil channel in the merlin.
With epoxy on metal (esp. aluminum) my understanding was that you want to apply the epoxy then sand the metal under it. Epoxy doesn't stick to metal oxides as well as the base metal. Sanding the metal with epoxy on it (wear gloves) keeps the metal from oxidizing before the epoxy can bond.
A testament to how much people like bankers!
Incredibly useful to hear about the real world applications you’ve put these glue into, especially the fail states you’ve experienced. Thanks for passing your experience on!
Awwwwe I wish he went into E6000 more! It’s unbelievably strong AND extremely flexible. I always thought that E6000 should have been called “super glue” instead. The solvent in it is more toxic than usual though and getting the glue on your hands or gluing indoors can make you very dizzy and damage your liver over time. There’s a funny story with E6000 though. Originally it was an industrial product that was not available to the general public. This man had some from his work, and his wife took it from him to glue on some rind stones. The rind stones would not come off AT ALL anymore, it was so durable that she ended up popularizing it amongst her friends and eventually the rest of the arts and crafts industry
So many times people sharing knowledge come off as arrogant. You sir do not. To me that is the difference between knowing facts and being wise. Thank you.
With this channel youtube has come of age.
Putting a screw in the nozzle end doesn't keep the air out, it seeps in around the screw thread and the tube thread at the bottom. Besides, the stuff in the nozzle will go off and you'll have to replace it before reusing the tube.
If you need to keep your tube fresh for longer, remove the nozzle and empty it out (kitchen towel wrapped around a skewer works nicely), put *2 (two)* layers of cling film over the open end of the tube, and screw the nozzle back on top of the cling film. Even silicone lasts for over a year.
(That double thickness cling film is important because only 1 layer doesn't seem to be totally gas-proof and a tube of silicone only lasts 6 months.)
3m makes some amazing tapes! In Florida we use a VHB (very high bond) 2 sided tape to attach road signs to poles and the like. It seeps into microscopic surfaces and bonds incredibly tightly.
OMG! MY MAN! I got hooken on "Secret Life Of Machines" through SBS Network Australia back in the 1990s! So happy to see this!
Hey Tim, not sure if you see this or not. I have come across some 'rubber toughened' CA glue. It's quite nice. It's much less brittle than typical CA. It's very good for a bonding a variety of materials together. Starbond in USA has been great for me. I find that CA products of different sources, they differ a bit in quality. Some brands activators cause the glue to aerate a bit which weakens it. So, l sort by application needs and cost. Fantastic video. The self wicking Loctite is used very often to add friction to plates which you don't want to slide, say after a precision adjustment.
A few things I've learnt about glue over the years :-
Hot glue can be released/removed by spraying it with Isopropyl alcohol, this makes it great for temporary things that may have to be repaired/removed later but make sure you don't get the IPA on anything acrylic.
Baking Soda makes super glue set instantly and also acts as a gap filler.
Glues that set rigid like epoxy and superglue (unless they have additives that make them flexible) often fail due to thermal expansion/contraction of what they're sticking, particularly if both materials have significantly different rates of expansion like steel and aluminium for example, this causes the bond to crack which is why flexible glues are generally better in those cases and might explain why you have failures with superglue.
If you use epoxy, warming the joint while it sets makes it set faster but also stronger.
One of the issues when you were showing polyurethane used with wood was you used weights, but the joint really needs to be forced together from the sides with clamps so when the glue foams it can't push the pieces apart and instead forces itself into the grain of the wood.
Cyanoacrylate is also good for sealing up small cuts on the jobsite. I carry a small tube of it in my toolbox.
Another use for hot glue - fixturing. I'll use it to hold the work to a surface or "handle" if need be. When done, a little alcohol in the joint will creep in thru capillary action and physically break the bond if the surface is reasonably smooth.
So super useful & interesting. Glues have vexed me more than any other thing that comes to mind. I had the propaganda that pva wood glues were stronger than wood, but I proved to myself that they need warm temperatures when bonding or fail miserably. I repaired the shaft on a hoe with a scarf joint & pva & had it fail repeatedly till I abandoned the idea. So much great advice & practical information here, a delight from beginning to end. Thank you for sharing!
I used polyuerthane glue to glue a hewing axe to the shaft. It's an old design with a single long taper so it can't be wedged. Old timers used to use hot tar and ash as a glue.
Loving this series Tim, and while I remember watching your TV show when I was a kid, I hadn't realised howuch you were like my father in law! It's uncanny.
I just found this channel a day ago and it's the best!! Reminds me of simple and better times, love this guy!!
Pressure sensitive with foam tape: A big advantage over regular double-faced tape is that it spreads out what would otherwise be a peeling force.
OK, now that I can make the wacking mallet, how do I get the bankers to stay still long enough to hit them? LOL
Modern adhesives are a wonder of technology.
- Luke Tim said, having an auto releasing tensioning caulk gun is a must have tool. They stop pushing the material when the trigger is released.
In gluing plastic laminate to a substrate with contact cement, use the slats from an old set of venetian mini-blinds for separation. They are thin, narrow and arched, allowing alignment to be more sure.
A it's all chemistry (well, everything is!) B learning by doing is always best (18minutes) C thank-you! And hurrah!
A guy I know who makes guitars told me that on glued neck guitars it would be the last bit to break if a musician decided to smash it up on stage... like some have done in the past. Stronger than the wood itself.
Nitromethane (model airplane/ race car fuel!) will soften and loosen many types of thread-locking glues such as lacquer-like Glyptol (often used by electronics manufacturers). Don't use it near sparks or flames! MEK, methyl ethyl ketone, also softens some adhesives, but stinks to high heaven and is very flammable. Either one can damage plastics, so use carefully.
What a great idea putting the grinder *under* the shelf instead of on top of the workbench taking up space. I'm going to change mine now since I have a low shelf like that - Thanks!
(19:55) Cyanoacrylate glue works really well with baking soda as a kicker and structural building agent.
It sets almost immediately and forms a hard plastic shell around whatever you place it on.
E6000 is indeed excellent for gluing rhinestones to fabrics. I used it to cover a costume in rhinestones. 142,000 of them, to be exact.
Fantastic episode Tim. A note on Un-glueing Hot melt : alcohol (IPA or Meths) will immediately break the joint.