Users of Loctite 480 for Lathe Work

Hi Guys,

This is a follow up post to concentrate on specific details from an earlier generic post.

For those that use Loctite 480 to fix / aid fixing stock to a lathe face plate or mandrel I would appreciate any help over what you guys do to clean surfaces and any other procedures associated with its use.

My take at the moment is to clean...but with what?

Apply a thin ring or rings to afford atmospheric moisture to trigger setting / cure.

Use a heat gum to pop a release. (Will this leave a residue and can a chemical remove it if so or??

Chris

Edited By Chris TickTock on 18/07/2020 09:44:41

480 is just Superglue. Acetone will remove it. Brake cleaner works well for cleaning oil and gunge off metal without leaving any deposit.

The really good thing about the 480 "PRISM" variety is it will stick most kinds of plastic such as motorcycle bodywork and car bumpers etc that most other superglues will not grip on to. Probably not that useful for lathe work but handy to know if you crack some plastic bodywork.

Edited By Hopper on 18/07/2020 10:01:11

I would not apply it in rings as you can trap air between two concentric rings and that may stop the work being pushed back flat, radial beads or just a few evenly spaced dabs is better.

Meths

Isopropanol.

Dave W

I've got it in my bone-head that Alcohols like Meths and Isopropanol don't have much effect on Superglue. I feel an experiment coming on!

I buy cheap pound shop superglue for this job because it comes in tiny dispensers, use once. Superglue goes off slowly after being opened, and I soon got fed up with bother caused by old glue. Stuck tops, weak joints etc.

Superglue has four disadvantages compared with Shellac: it grabs instantly allowing very little time for items to be adjusted; if joints are moved while setting their strength is reduced severely; correctly made joints are super-strong when they need to be broken later; and removing the residue requires solvents. On top of that Loctite 480 might be too good a glue for this purpose! It's particularly strong and designed to not peel (though only rated to 82C). So in this application, I feel one is paying extra money for a glue that makes the job harder to do. I suggest cheap superglue is better for making temporary joins. I reserve the good stuff for permanent joints.

Dave

I quite often use Loctite 460 to fixture work on the lathe or the CNC router. I normally clean each side with acetone and 2000 grit wet&dry. This works really well and I have no problems with adhesion - just used this method to attach a 5 inch steel plate to the faceplate for facing.

Where lighter cuts are being taken, I quite often will add a layer of masking tape to one side (or both) before applying superglue - to make it easier to remove.

As Jason says, don't apply it in rings, unless you have grooves in your faceplate/mandrel to allow the air out.

ro

What a good idea. Why didn't I think of that!!!

Hi Ro, appreciate the post. Any reason you go for 460 over 480?

Chris

Hi Chris, I meant to type 406 instead of 460!

the main reason I use it is because I have loads of it around from trials I have done for work. It’s really strong and of such low viscosity that it doesn’t seem to affect alignment at all.

in reality though, any low viscosity cyanoacrylate should work just fine, and I have used the pound store variety in a pinch before - although as I didn’t trust it’s strength I limited the DOC.

don’t forget about accelerator as well. A quick spray round the outside will ensure that you don’t have any uncured glue left to fly off at you.

Cheers Ro

Chris

The question was about cleaning the surfaces before gluing. Meths works for me, I'm sure isoprop or acetone would too.

Getting the residue off is another matter! That's where two layers of masking tape help.

Also if you can conveniently take the "chuck" out of the lathe with the work attached, I have found that boiling them in water for a bit can loosen the glue from all the surfaces. Probably the same if heated in the oven. Almost any superglue will do the job if fresh, 460, 480, poundshop, B&Q, whatever.

I have tried using shellac in the form of copiously applied carpenter's knotting, allowed to dry then place the work on it under a little pressure and warm up. Never really worked for me, I'm sure you can get shellac flakes still but superglue is more available. The original name of the method was a "wax chuck" which suggests that sealing wax was used, but that's even harder to get these days I suspect.

Now go and try it out Chris and tell us how you get on.

Ruined my breakfast - I failed to the read the question. I was a very little boy when first taught how important this is. In one ear and out the other...

Dave