I have a bunch of parts where a 1/4 304 SS rod needs to be glued into to a 1/4 drilled hole in a 1/2" diameter 304 rod. We are wanting to get away from a welding process here. Is there an epoxy you know of that would work? It needs to be permanent and never come loose. Thank you. Attached is a photo of the application
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Looking For Iput on Which Epoxy to Glue 304 SS
- Thread starter munruh
- Start date
- Replies 31
- Views 4,188
Milland
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2006
- Location
- Hillsboro, New Hampshire
What sort of loads? What temperature and vibration and other environmentals, like moisture and chemical exposure?
What level of surface preparation are you willing to do? Of measuring and mixing the epoxies correctly? Time after time?
You may find you're better off welding, or maybe a knurl and press fit.
If you really want to epoxy contact the applications guys at Masterbond, when I was doing aerospace work they were my go-to for such questions and recommendations.
What level of surface preparation are you willing to do? Of measuring and mixing the epoxies correctly? Time after time?
You may find you're better off welding, or maybe a knurl and press fit.
If you really want to epoxy contact the applications guys at Masterbond, when I was doing aerospace work they were my go-to for such questions and recommendations.
Gordon Heaton
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Location
- St. George, Utah
We glue 304 daily. The joints are in the weather, subject to wide temperature swings and some relatively low-frequency vibration. I'll try to get the mfg and PN later at work. Still, 'permanent' and 'never come loose' are pretty demanding words. . .
L Vanice
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2006
- Location
- Fort Wayne, IN
And then there is Loctite, who have application engineers that can give expert advice at no charge.
Larry
Larry
Conrad Hoffman
Diamond
- Joined
- May 10, 2009
- Location
- Canandaigua, NY, USA
IMO, the surface prep is more important than the epoxy, though you want something decent. Here's one guide, but there are many:
Surface Preparation Guide
They tend to recommend rather nasty chemicals and if you don't have a lot of surface area, knurling and welding will be more reliable.
Surface Preparation Guide
They tend to recommend rather nasty chemicals and if you don't have a lot of surface area, knurling and welding will be more reliable.
DavidScott
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
- Location
- Washington
Permanent Loctite may work for this application if you only want the "glue" in the joint and not as a fillet around it as well. I don't think any glue will compare to welding for durability though.
Gordon Heaton
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Location
- St. George, Utah
OK, the stuff we use, recommended by LocTite, is EA E-20HP Hysol, part #29314.
I'd not recommend using ordinary 'permanent' LocTite because in my experience it isn't very permanent on 304 to 304 joints. Besides, that stuff requires pretty close fitting parts.
thermite
Diamond
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2011
Agree a "mechanical" bond is more safely predictable for SS.
Otherwise? My "go to" is a firm called "Chemical Concepts"
Industrial Adhesives - Acrylics, Cyanoacrylates, Seaming & More | Chemical Concepts
.. mainly 'coz "Lord" sized spacer ball adhesives are in their line and I get stuff fast.
They have competition. Zillions of firms in the bonding game.
Keep in mind that most 'poxies can easily be taken apart with nothing more scarce than ignorant HEAT, and SS is rather good at taking heat, so... wot's the application want most?
cyanidekid
Titanium
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2016
- Location
- Brooklyn NYC
not enough surface area for an epoxy bond to hold on to, sounds like Gordon's stuff is a good bet, but you are never going to get "never comes apart" with adhesive.
what quantity you doing here? if you are doing large enough runs (1000+?), a furnace brazed joint is an option, but you would probably have to sub that out. you can torch braze in house more likely, but the cleanup might wipe any savings from the lower skill level needed. It could be neat and strong especially if you use a preform disk in the hole.
for sheet to sheet joints in metal the epoxy I use lately is WestSystems GFlex 655, seems really good with decent surface prep.
what quantity you doing here? if you are doing large enough runs (1000+?), a furnace brazed joint is an option, but you would probably have to sub that out. you can torch braze in house more likely, but the cleanup might wipe any savings from the lower skill level needed. It could be neat and strong especially if you use a preform disk in the hole.
for sheet to sheet joints in metal the epoxy I use lately is WestSystems GFlex 655, seems really good with decent surface prep.
thermite
Diamond
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2011
Discoloration, too? "maybe.. just "maybe".. a fast shot of resistance weld could need less post-weld polishing?
See rivetless handle attach, high-end SS and laminated cookware that eliminate the notoriously hard to clean bacterial host traps around rivets.
Milland
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2006
- Location
- Hillsboro, New Hampshire
If this is a reasonably large job (thousands of assemblies) then you might look at friction welding the parts together. An old lathe and some fixturing might be enough given the materials and small size, and once a few parameters are set it should be fairly reliable. A pull or twist test after welding would be enough to confirm compliance.
Gordon Heaton
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Location
- St. George, Utah
Munruh, I just looked more closely at your photo. Is that going to be used as a handle, as in torque applied to the joint? If so, I don't think any adhesive is going to work for very long, because as cyanidekid said, there isn't enough surface area. If that's what you're doing I think you need at least a knurl-and-press, unless you can square, key or pin the joint to take the torque.
Another question: how deep into the 1/2" material are you drilling?
Another question: how deep into the 1/2" material are you drilling?
HuFlungDung
Diamond
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2005
- Location
- Canada
I'd recommend trying Loctite 262. Needs at least .002" clearance fit for assembly, mainly so that you can work the air out of the blind pocket. Properly clean the parts oil free. Allow to set up or bake at about 150°F for fifteen minutes to quick set it. I've been doing this for years, gluing a 304SS tube into an aluminum block. This assembly is used in stripping leafcutter bee cocoons out of styrofoam nest blocks. There is a fair amount of friction on this tube, and they never work loose for thousands of cycles. Even destructive testing and trying to pull this out is not possible without lots of heat, enough to set the loctite on fire.
The drawback is that the initial clearance means you cannot guarantee absolute perpendicularity between the parts.
The drawback is that the initial clearance means you cannot guarantee absolute perpendicularity between the parts.
Gordon Heaton
Titanium
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Location
- St. George, Utah
1,000 of them
DavidScott
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
- Location
- Washington
The way to control the gap size is to relieve the 1/4" rod the gap amount leaving tight fits at the top and bottom of the hole. This will give you an accurate gap for the best adhesive strength and alignment of the parts.
The slip fit Loctites would be a lot easier to use but are not quite as strong.
I was hoping for something faster than tig weld.....
