spraying contact adhesive

[scuffle]

hey everyone,

Im not holding my breath with this but I thought I would ask
I need to learn how to spray contact adhesive. type of equipment and any special methods etc. any adive would be helpful (even "what not to do" advice)
Im hoping someone here has had some sort of experience with it to help me out.
this is the sort of stuff im thinking of using
http://www.bostik.com.au/construction-t ... geI-0.html

i am gluing sheet metal to a timber door (820 x 2040) so any advice on clamping, rolling, anything would be more than helpful

[Ormsby Guitars]

Chuck it in a spray gun, and spray it. Bigger tip is better. Nothing to it really. It comes out all blotchy, which is how it works best.

[Bruce McC]

Andrew

If you are only doing one door, use a cheap paint roller with short pile.
Spread the contact in a thin even coat and try to avoid as much as possible
going over areas where you have already spread the glue.
Apply contact to both surfaces to be bonded. Allow both surfaces to "tack off".
Get a stack of clean dowels or similar sticks that are wider than the door, lay across
the door and spaced about 200mm or so apart, lay the sheet of tin down
on top of the dowels, align the the tin carefully with the door then starting at one end
carefully remove the dowels one at a time pressing the tin down onto the door.
You only get one chance to get it right.
Throw the roller away when your finished.

[Dennis Leahy]

I agree with Bruce! Although I would place the contact inhibitors 199.5mm apart, not 200mm. :~)

If you can find a set of cheap, plastic window blinds (typically used as horizontal blinds), they work really well as spacers/slats, rather than sticks or dowels. (I have used sticks and dowels, but it is possible to leave behind a tiny splinter, and it could ruin the job.)

Get a "J-roller" (no, you're not going to roll a J to smoke) and once you have lightly positioned the tin and removed all the slats, roll with all your might over the entire surface, starting in the middle and going out toward the edges. HOWEVER, if the laminate/tin is overhanging more than maybe 6mm anywhere, be very careful at the edges, or you'll bend the tin (or break plastic laminate.) One strategy you can use to avoid that pitfall is to lightly roll around the edges, then trim all the way around with a laminate trimmer, and then finally go back and roll the hell out of the laminate.

Another trick: place tape all the way around the item being laminated, so that your laminate trimmer's bearing is not riding directly on that edge (and possibly burning it.)

I hope this is not a "solid" (timber) door, and is a laminated door with a particle board or MDF core, so that the door will not be changing shape in seasonal changes. Oh, and that reminds me, normally, whenever you laminate anything, you should laminate both faces, so if you had planned on only laminating one face of the door, you might consider using something on the other face as well.

File all the edges with a sharp flat fine mill file, and knock all the corners off (file the corners) too! Then lightly sand (round) edges with a sanding block (in this case, probably carborundum sandpaper.) You don't want to make a deadly door (or countertop, or...)

Hope this helps.

Dennis

[Bruce McC]

Dennis mate, sounds like you have worked in a joinery or fabrication shop doing
laminate bench tops, how else would you know about rolling too close to the edges
or putting tape around the edges of the item to stop burning when the bearing
on the trimmer clogs up with contact residue? All good practical advice.

[scuffle]

Cheers guys. This is a new business venture my dad and I are under taking. We are building about 100 doors month for shipping containers hence wanting to use a spray system
Are there any special guns we can get or do we just use cheap ones?

Thanks for the help!

[Dennis Leahy]

Cheers guys. This is a new business venture my dad and I are under taking. We are building about 100 doors month for shipping containers hence wanting to use a spray system
Are there any special guns we can get or do we just use cheap ones?

Thanks for the help!

The contact cement that is on the market now is probably (hopefully) less carcinogenic and downright nasty than the stuff we used in cabinet/millwork shops 30-40 years ago. I know we bought spray grade (it was thinner than the rolling grade), and I think (but I'm not sure) that we added a bit of the proper solvent to it, to thin it further. I seem to recall that the gun nozzle had a slightly larger opening too.

I recommend that you talk to someone knowledgeable at the supplier where you buy the contact cement - or better yet, at the manufacturer - and ask what spray gun and pot to use. I remember that we had dedicated pots and hoses and guns for contact cement - you'll never get them clean enough to use for lacquer, for example. If you're doing 100 doors, and that's it, you'll want to buy the cheapest gun(s) and pot(s) that will work satisfactorily. I would never say that for shooting finishes (such as lacquer), but contact cement doesn't need to look pretty - so you don't need the best spray guns on the market.

For 100 doors, I would definitely go buy some of those cheap, vinyl/plastic "venetian blinds" to use as spacers. It is worth it. Just cut the strings, and Bob's yer uncle.

Get excellent (activated charcoal filter/organic vapor) masks! That is, unless you have brain cells you are willing to donate to "the Great Beyond." I'm sure the horrific stuff I used is no longer even sold, and the new stuff is probably deceptively seemingly benign. Probably smells like a field of lilacs. But I'd still get a good mask, and not breathe any of it.

Bruce brought up a good point about the roller bearing on your laminate trimmer getting gummed-up, slowing, and may possibly even stop spinning. Good to have a handful of the bits, and after they get gummed-up a little, swap for a clean one and toss the gummy one in a small jar of lacquer thinner for a half-hour.

The companies that sell paint to pros have thin hoods, like a long stocking cap (head/hair/neck) protection. Use those. You may even want to buy disposable paper (Tyvek?) suits for a few dollars, as the contact cement will ruin your clothes. Dedicate a pair of old tennis shoes/sneakers to the effort (may need to throw them out when the project is over.)

If you shoot outdoors, stay upwind. If you shoot indoors, open windows and use an exhaust fan (even a makeshift exhaust fan, like a box fan.

That's about all I can remember. It has been a long time - and like a dumbass, I donated a few brain cells to the Great Beyond, and that may be why I don't remember more.

Good luck.

Dennis