I have just bought some PVA waterproof adhesive. It seems really good stuff, but specifically says on the tin that it is not good for gluing two 'non-porous' materials together if they are likely to get very wet. (although puzzlingly it says one 'non-porous' glued to one 'porous' material will work alright).
Is there anything I could paint on to non porous materials (say plastic or glass) that would bond the pva to that material to allow it to be made wet? thanks for any advice.
Glue is cheap. I think I'd just buy the right glue. With more information, maybe I can help.
What are you trying to bond?
I want to make some ornamental japanese style garden lamps. using amongs other things bits of plastic and glass glued together.
one problem is that i will use masses of glue (sorry its just my style) and PVA is quite cheap and fairly quick drying which is why i like it. One problem is that high performance glues can get a bit pricey and then that would spoil my rather idiotic fun. thanks.
Epoxy would be ideal: it's absolutely waterproof, and bonds well to both porous and non-porous surfaces.
Sounds sloppy. Perhaps you should consider adopting a neater style. Seriously, though, if the parts you're joining fit together neatly and tightly, you won't need to use so much glue to hold them together.
Trouble is, it doesn't work well on non-porous surfaces, and it doesn't work well for outdoor uses either.
I have more fun doing actual woodworking than playing with glue. YMMV...
No such critter. "Vaguely water resistant" is all you can hope for from a PVA and that's optimistic for a garden lamp.
No.
If you're making outdoor stuff, don't over-use glue and especially not between different materials. Thermal contraction in the winter will split it apart. Re-design it so that the plastic (windows?) are simply located loosely in grooves. If you absoloutely must glue things, at least use a decent epoxy (like West System) and even then you need to protect it from UV by adding an opaque filler to it.
If you want robust "bodger's cement" for outdoor use, use hot-melt glue. Not especially strong, but it is resistant to weather.
If you want strong outdoor glue, try a building cartridge glue (No More Nails, Gripfill etc) but make sure it's a solvent-based one. This will bodge stonework together pretty well, such as holding the tops on Japanese interns.
If you're using one type of plastic for both sides, such as polystyrene, PVC or acrylic, then you might be able to solvent weld it.
General use (household quality) epoxy can be fairly inexpensive, especially if you seek out larger quantities. Some hot melt craft glues might be even cheaper, not to mention very fast.
A completely unsuitable glue is never cheap. If you care about your product, there's a certain price you'll need to pay.
Hmm, IRC PVA gets its strength from chemically reacting with products like wood, etc. It is not going to chemically bond to glass or plastic.
I have to suggest if you could paint something onto glass or plastic that would make a strong glue bond to work with PVA, you'd probably already achieve a strong enough bond with the stuff you painted on that you wouldn't need another kind of glue. Epoxy would be an example of what I mean.
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