ray c.

I am reglueing the vertical stabilzer to the fuselage. Which glue is recommended for this task. CA or Epoxy, and thin or thick CA or 5min or 30 min epoxy.

Thanks for the replies

Ray

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

Can't go wrong with epoxy.

However.... what plane? Foam or wood? Can you brace it up? Did it have triangle blocks supporting it? Did it fit in a groove? Was it supposed to have brace wires?

And, if it happens to be a fiberglas fuselage with poly resin, epoxy might not be the proper adhesive.

Good luck,
Dave Olson

Antique

My Feedback: (4)

30 min epoxy.

Live Wire

Let us know what you are working on It helps.

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

He told you, vert stab to fuse... (just poking fun)

But what would help, would be to know what plane / size of gluing area / with or without 'post', etc. (also asked)

The more info, the better we can judge an answer..

ray c.

Sorry for the lack of details. The plane is a low wing 40 size. Similar to an ultra sport. The stab basically came loose from the fuse. It has "quarter round" or "triangular" stock attached securely to the stab on both sides but came off the fuse when the stab came off. Hope this helps. At this point most people are pointing towards the 30 min epoxy but some people are making good arguments for the thin CA. I am a newbie to this hobby so I don't have much building experience. My building experience comes in the High Power Rocket area.

Thanks again.

Mike_Mc

White glue and a hair dryer. Just kidding. 30 minute epoxy is good but I have a short attention span so I almost always go with 5 minute epoxy.

Are you saying the vertical is glued right to the top of the horizontal with only 1/4-round to support it. If that's the case it's going to come off no matter how you glue it. You can add a couple vertical dowles from the stab into holes you drill into the horizinal/fuse. I need the guy that always draws the great images to help me with a diagram for this one.

Mike

jrpnde

As for the choice of CA or epoxy, epoxy will offer greater strength for bonding that type of joint. And, in regard to 5 or 30 minute epoxy, go with the 30 minute or sometime called slow cure. Just remember that neither epoxies will achieve full cure in 5 or 30 minutes. After the gluing operation, check the cure of the unused epoxy after 5 or 30 min. it will still seem tacky. 30 minute will give you a longer pot life (time before it cures to the point that you can no longer work with it) and will ultimately be a stronger bond that the 5 minute. You should let either cure at least overnight...so there's really no reason not to go with the slower cure stuff.

CAPtain232

My Feedback: (40)

30 MIN EPOXY

Mike_Mc

OK, now you guys got me wondering. Why is it so important to use 30 minute instead of 5 or 15? Besides the handling time I mean.

Mike

Stick Jammer

30 min epoxy gives a stronger bond than quick setting for two reasons. First, the slower the epoxy cures, the stronger it gets and two, the longer it takes to set up, the more it can soak into the wood before curing.

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

Agree with Stick Jammer! For joints like this, NEVER use CA. It's just too brittle and it will most likely fail. 30 minute is absolutley the way to go.

By the way, you DID remove the Monokote or other covering on the fuse before you glued on the vertical stab, right? Any glue needs bare wood to wood.
Dennis-

ray c.

Thanks for all of the replies. Just FYI I did go with the 30 min epoxy. From all input I thought the absorbtion and strength of the 30 min was best. I do hope the weight won't be a factor. I didn't use an excessive amount so I should be ok. The covering had been stripped from the plane so it was a wood to wood joint with a base of at least an inch tapering to 1/4 inch over a 4 inch run. Thanks for the help this forum is great for new guys like me.

Ray

Mike_Mc

Thanks for the info on the 5 15 and 30 minute epoxies too.

Mike

jrpnde

Stick Jammer is absolutely right. There are more types of 2 part adhesives than we'll ever use in this hobby. Besides the cure time of different epoxies, the materials are also different. One part is the resin. The other is the catalyst (hardener). The 5 and 30 min. epoxies are different materials. In almost all adhesive systems the longer cure ones offer the most ultimate strength. Not always but mostly. So, why not use the one with the most strength and workable time? If you did a wood to wood glue job and allowed full cure time, it should hold.