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Andy, all, there has been some discussion and comments about adhesive. Is there any way we can do a survey page on all the different manufacturers of Adhesive. I think it would be great to see which ones perform perfect and which ones don’t.My last 2 jobs, I used Tech Products adhesive, problems with both. The first, and I was not alone, had problems curing correctly, and the last I had to purge over 1/2 of the tube before catalyst came out.
Doesn’t some fab manuals say you HAVE to use their adhesive for warranty, but then in the next paragraph say seams are not covered? Twas the night before ………. uh…. I won’t go there, Dave is too good at it!
KC
Kelsey, I think it is fair to say that no one that I know has had a problem with Integra Adhesives. That being said, what else needs to be said?
Kelsey, are you talking about the clear adhesive you are using on Avonites Metallic Series, if so, who is the manufacturer of that product, I know it’s not Tech Products.
Norm…. I just feel it is fair to let everyone respond before claiming it is the best. One persons experience is just an opinion, but many becomes a factual result. I have had about 4 or 5 tubes of Integra arrive damaged, the small catalyst tube broken off. I have had to eat 2 of these.. but that is just part of it sometime. My distributor said I did not tell them about it soon enough. Do I think there can be more of a secure bond between the 2 tubes, sure.. or they never would have broken. So it goes…..
Norm, off the top of my head I do not remember. The first trouble I had, a lady from the manufacturer called me and apologized for the inconvience, which I thought was great. Andy knew them when I told him about the trouble. Maybe he can recall. Yes it was the clear I used on the Avonite Goldmine. before I put the tip on, I purge the tubes to get equal flow from each. This time I had to empty over 1/2 the tube before the catalyst came out. I know it was just a manufactuing error,,, but. I have to say though… My Avonite (Tech Products) rep goes way beyond what he should to remedy any problems or concerns i might have.
kcwood wrote
Norm…. I just feel it is fair to let everyone respond before claiming it is the best. One persons experience is just an opinion, but many becomes a factual result. I have had about 4 or 5 tubes of Integra arrive damaged, the small catalyst tube broken off. I have had to eat 2 of these.. but that is just part of it sometime. My distributor said I did not tell them about it soon enough. Do I think there can be more of a secure bond between the 2 tubes, sure.. or they never would have broken. So it goes…..KC,
I am suprised you had a problem with Integra tubes, They added a stronger piece of plastic tot the back end to make it real solid. Whenever I had a damaged tube, they just send a new one at no cost. Don’t know if that applies to everyone, but I have never had an issue.
Acrybond (out of business) used to send me bad tubes all the time and they didn’t want to hear about it. Plus they wanted me to pay to ship it back to them. BS
As for a page to test the glue, I love it and hate it. I think to be absolutely fair you would have to do a controlled test by a lab to really see the true results. I think overall opinion matters, but how much. Look at the BETA max and the VHS tapes. The Beta was better by far, but the VHS won out because of popularity.
I buy Integra because of the great product, the excellent service and the people that stand behind it. Plus they are regular guys that don’t shove their products down your throught.
However, I am willing to listen to whatever you have in mind.
Andy, All the problems was last year, so maybe they have fixed it. I just wanted to be as subjective as possible about any product. . That is all. I just figure if there was a factual survey and say Tech Product guys read it, then they would not sell what they are? Rugby switched to Integra and has ‘zero” problems.
Information is good. It is a great tool for anyone to make their own decisions.
When I started at Tech Products a few years back we were buying our glue through Avonite and I believe Gruber was private labeling it for Avonite. Then we started to buy from them (Gruber) directly to save some money and delivery times. We experieced a few problems along the way and some higher ups decided to change to ACS. Well they had a few defective batches a while back and then they recently sold their glue line to ITW/Plexus which is what we are currently selling.
I have been recently investigating our options and polling my fabricators to determine their adhesive of choice and what I have found is that there really is only a few true adhesive manufacturers out there along with some repackagers. And most of the fabricators prefer Integra and usually because they have no troubles with their glues.
We do not mandate that our customers purchase the adhesive that we sell and I have a few customers who only use Integra. My life would be much easier without glue problems anyway.
One thing that is taught at the Avonite fabrication class is to purge the tube, purge the nozzle, run 2 smaller beads and then take a popcicle stick (or similiar item) to spread the adhesive to give it one more opportunity to mix and cure properly. While this is less important with acyrlics it seems to help more with the polyesters.
We are still investigating our options and are selling Integra to some large users out of our TN location. I have spoken with the Integra people (they are great) and are still considering a possible switch.
I am curious to hear what you guys have to say.
Chris
Chris,
I have used a lot of different glues and I know you are
hearing this from a lot of people here but I have been using Integra for a
while now and we have had no problems. It is great to have one less thing to
worry about and one less thing to slow the job down. They make a great adhesive and they are great people to work with.Shane
Chris, I get my product out of Nashville, I have yet to get any Integra, but then I am just a small user. My last 2 orders came with glue from Plexus, both orders had glue problems. Take that percentage and I bet Tech had more problems than just me. My first call to Matt about problems was answered with , I know, you are not the first to call, and then someone posted here about their problems. Thing is Chris, any problems you all have been faced with, seems to have never happened with Integra. I believe Avonite is the only company that says use popcicle sticks to mix with. (?) Is this because your glue does not mix well in the tip, or has trouble binding together? One could perceive that? KC
KC,
You are right that some manufacturers will not stand by their warranty if you dont use their glue. As far as I know there are only two left one of which I am sure you can figure out. My distributors down here for all but those two materials use Integra already. The only time I had a failure in a top (in eight years) was when I used the glue from the sheet manufacturer, had to remake the top. Repairing was not possible. Ever since, Integra only! With the popsicle stick on Avonite, that is due to the nature of the material not the glue. It seems that you have to wet the area completly with the adhesive, even if the pressure is enough to spread the adhesive over the entire glue surface it leaves shadows (glass series it is more evident). Sample chips from laminate distributors work even better because they are the proper width for the 2″ build up, plus they are free.
John
I hate to sound as stupid as I am, but what is the problem with using the manufacturers glue?
Is it cost? Is it quality? Are there going to be warranty issues if there is a way to check the glue?Tom
For us we buy directly from Integra by the case so we have whatever glue we need in stock plus some distributors charge quite a bit for a tube. The problem with some other adhesives is the consistency of the quality, even though you may purge the tube and see activator and adhesive now, a few pulls later there might not be activator. That was the problem we were facing with other glues. I really dont know how they can tell whos glue you use other than if they see the cartridge laying in your shop other than Corian’s. Theirs seems to not cure to the same hardness and to be more opaque to match each sheet, thats why they have 80 color adhesives.
John
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