Anyone try using E6000 glue? http://eclecticproducts.com/products/e6000.html It has some characteristics in that it can be stretched 700% before breaking (silicone like) yet when used as a thin film, it can bond 2 quarters together solid. I believe it is also waterproof. As for epoxy, I do not believe it makes a chemical bond to Acrylic and other plastics which I know many brush handles are made from. All you will get is a mechanical bond. Make sure to roughen up the knot and handle to get the best result. This is probably why you can still free the knot with heat. the base of the knot and the handle expand at different rates and allows the epoxy to disconnect. Some websites suggest E6000 bonds to acrylic but I do not find that explicitly stated on the website. It does dry clear. Any thoughts?
FYI, I used a hot glue gun to affix a knot to an aluminium handle, a few weeks ago. It was very fast, watertight, and it is holding tight. I tested it by tugging, twisting and rocking, fairly hard. It didn't budge. I also soaked the head in water, for over an hour, and no water seeped through, even when stood on end overnight. Just food for thought.
There is probably no reason that E6000 wouldn't be a good adhesive, but the material data safety sheet is full of warnings about exposure to skin and eyes (though, this may be a "grain of salt" situation). http://eclecticproducts.com/downloads/sds-e6000-clear-english.pdf I use 2-part epoxy (golf shafting epoxy, to be specific) for my re-knotted brushes (because that is what I have). I use it for golf clubs and the only time the bond was weak was when I mixed the glue poorly (golf club heads were flying everywhere on the driving range). Typical 2-part epoxies will break down with heat at about 350F degrees. So, it takes a lot of heat to degrade the bond. I use a propane torch on steel golf shafts and a 2000 watt heat gun on graphite shafts. It usually takes about 3-5 minutes of heating the hosel of the club head to get the bond to break (depends on the glue; quick-set or 24 hour cure). So, that would be asking a lot of a shave brush handle and a knot. I don't plan to re-knot any of the brushes that I redone and if I do I will destroy the knot by drilling it out. While it is true that you should roughen the bonding surface before you apply it, I think it will still hold like crazy even if you don't do much prep. The knot bases of most handles that I've seen are not polished, so, I think epoxy will stick pretty good. If I do plan to try to save a knot then I will use a glue that I know that I can remove or degrade with a small amount of heat (steam, etc.) or a chemical that won't harm the handle or knot (Goof Off?). Seems like hot glue would be enough or maybe plastic model cement.
As for hot melt glue, did you try hot water? That might loosen it Recently I used the E6000 to glue a toy together. It was a plastic toy with a cloth that came off from the plastic. It grabbed nicely. I originally purchased the E6000 to glue velvet into a telescope tube to act as a flocking material (light absorber). With variations in temp and differential heat expansion, it should work out nicely.
Is epoxy much better as far as OSHA is concerned? This is Devcon's MSDS for one of their HomeDepot sold epoxies: http://www1.mscdirect.com/MSDS/MSDS00015/00261115-20070808.PDF Seems pretty bad too.
@Fly2High, agreed, I don't think it is. Like I said, you have to take a lot of MSDS information with a grain of salt. Seems like their safety warnings are for eating, drinking, or bathing in the material.
The E6000 sounds like it may work well for you, and it has so many more applications. It sounds like a good adhesive to have around.
Yes, I tried hot water soak. The water coming out of the tap is very hot, and I soak the entire knot. It didn't loosen up any. I guess for fun, I can take a stick of the glue, and put it in some boiling water, to see if it melts.
That sounds great. I too have some hot melt but from what I recall there are so many versions of hot melt that I would expect some to be better at certain things than others. My only real gripe I have is the glue I have used tends to be stringy and heavy. Weight here is not an issue but the stringiness could be in that it gets on everything. I will keep the option in mind though. thanks for the suggestion.
I think a lot of commercial brushes are glued with hot glue. That is why the double boiler method of removing knots works. It gets the glue warm enough to let go of the knot. You would never try to shave with water that hot though, so the knots don't loosen.
Yes the strings are annoying. The brush I put the knot in was a B400 by Tom, so, it was glued from underneath.
