Gluing aluminum to glass

[David Nebenzahl]

Got a question regarding an upcoming repair job: how to adhere an aluminum strip to glass.

Client has a glass shower that had a metal channel attached to the bottom of the door (glass) that had come off. I made a new channel out of aluminum angle and glued it on using [something I picked up at the hardware store: don't remember exactly what].

It didn't hold. I need to reglue the strip. What do y'all suggest?

The stuff I'm thinking about is that special goop used to stick rear-view mirrors to windshields. Amazing shit. I put such a mirror on my van, and the stuff sticks like crazy. It comes in really little packages; wonder if you can get a bigger tube of it?

Or epoxy?

Actual experience with your suggestion gets you extra points ...

[LouB]

No experience but...

or has over 700,000 "hits"

[David Nebenzahl]

On 7/20/2009 10:52 PM LouB spake thus:

Well, you see, Lou, the reason I posted this question here instead of just Googling it is that I don't want to wade through those 700,000 hits. I figure I'm ahead if just one or two people here can tell me what they have *actually used* to glue these things together.

[JIMMIE]

Maybe this will get you a little closer. I had a problem gluing glass to glass in kind of and arts and crafts project and finally got it to work by etching the glass. My sister in law was big into etching glass at the time so she did it for me and I dont remember what she used. This ws about 25 years ago.

As far as the mirror glue goes I think its just super glue and the trick is in the primer that comes in the kit.

Jimmie

[Lefty]

Some of the shower door companies such as Basco use a double-sided sticky tape for exactly that purpose. Maybe you could buy some from them as a replacement part if you can't find something similar at the hardware store?

Lefty

[LouB]

Makes sense to me. Now all you need is to have a few folks with actual experience show up. BTW I have always figured that the hits that count will be in the first 10 or so - often the first 5. Please post back with the solution.

Lou

[sligoNoSPAMjoe]

There are two that come to mind. Double faced foam tape and silicon based adhesive. In both cases you will want the industrial stuff not what you are likely to find at the local box store. You might find something that will work at the local box store, it will not be the cheap stuff.

[Jim Yanik]

"Lefty" wrote in news:r6idneTZSNEwGPjXnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

use a silicone glue,or contact cement.

[Pavel314]

I worked in a lamp glass laboratory years ago. We used hydroflouric acid to etch glass but it's dangerous stuff.

Paul

[sligoNoSPAMjoe]

Follow up to my original question. The mirror glue is great UV activated stuff but it is also not flexible and when working with long areas with different coefficients of expansion, it will not work.

[dadiOH]

Silicon caulk. All my windows have applied "muntins"...they are attached with silicon, have been for 14 years.

The mirror glue is basically cyanoacrylic but (generally) two part. Should work OK if the channel and glass are in close contact, no idea how it does with water.

If the glass/aluminumare too sloppy a fit for cyanoacrylic I think epoxy could work. I'd still use silicon.

[charlie]

i would make that non-acid cure silicone caulk, as the acid cure will attack the aluminium.

you can get it at ace hardware, but not the big boxes. look for something called crystal clear or such. if you rough up the glass with wet/dry sandpaper it will bond a LOT better.

another possiblity is vhb tape. i used some on a glass-steel interface outside in the phx area, with good success. it's sometimes used to hold on car windscreens so i used it to restick the rear glass window in my vette ragtop back on (glass/reinforced cloth interface). i used 3m 4910

when you use this product, you only get one shot at it. it's REALLY hard to remove, and you can't reposition the objects after they touch.

regards, charlie

[Phisherman]

The key here is to have absolutely clean surfaces on the glass and mating metal surfaces. Scrape off all the old glue, sand if needed. An epoxy such as JB Weld will work fine. It should be good to go in

24 hours.

[aemeijers]

And we have a winner! The glass and channel has to be super-clean for anything to hold up. Bottom of the shower door means there is years of soap residue soaked into both parts. Clean with acetone or similar, after scraping any residue off. Scuffing up the mating surfaces to provide fresh surface to bind to can't hurt. I'd stop by local glass shop and ask them, or maybe even carry the door in there. Their labor fee may be less than the wasted material, if you have to buy a big container for a single job. I've seen handles glued to glass doors that held up for over a decade, so there is stuff out there that will work.

-- aem sends...

[Nate Nagel]

I'm thinking the black stuff that is used for glued-in windshields is the right stuff to use. Nasty, horrid stuff and yes it does require squeaky clean surfaces and I believe a special primer to get it to adhere. probably made by 3M. I believe it comes in caulking tubes.

also, not adhesive at all, but glass setting tape might work - used to hold car windows (the ones that roll up and down) into their channels.

nate

[JIMMIE]

I thought thats what it was but wasnt sure. I also found a supermarket type spray cleaner that would etch glass, unfortunately I found out the hard way. I left some on a mirror too long. I think the name of it was SENSATION.

Jimmie

[RicodJour]

Someone mentioned 3M 4200, which is almost as strong as 5200 but sets faster - it still takes a long time to cure and there are better choices is you have to get the shower back into service ASAP.

On of your main concerns will be preventing mold from taking hold, and for that reason I'd stay away from foam double-stick tape.

R

[mike]

Considering acidic soda pop is stored in aluminum cans for months and years at a time, I wouldn't worry too much about it. That aluminum oxide layer on the surface will hold up just fine.

[Jim Yanik]

aemeijers wrote in news:j5SdnXXVqbWbofvXnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I suspect that the thermal expansion rates of aluminum and glass differ enough that JB Weld will not hold.

[George]

Usually when the coefficients of expansion are so much different you want a little give otherwise the bond will break. RTV silicone would work well for this application.