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Working With Cabinet Contact Glue in Cold Weather

January 11th, 2010 Leave a comment Go to comments

You cannot use non-flammable contact adhesive in cold whether. Working with flammable adhesive for adhering Formcia and veneer in low temperatures is difficult. It takes a few practice tries before an armature will be able to get the timing just right. The two pieces of material that you are gluing together will need to be at the perfect cure time in order to bond to one another properly.

Contact glue acts a lot differently in the cooler temperatures than it does in the heat. During summer months, when temperatures are above seventy degrees, the adhesive will bond even after setting for an hour. It doesn’t work this way in the cold. For some reason the glue gets a dry type of glaze on top of the surface and the glue will not bond if it is let to sit too long.

Working With Contact Glue in a Cold Atmosphere:


1) Do not spray, brush or roll the glue on to thick because the thicker areas will take so long to dry that the thinner areas my have cured (glazed) to long to really bond well.

2) Use your fingers to test the stickiness of the contact glue. It will be ready to bond when it is no longer wet and not completely dry or glazed over.

The contact adhesive is ready to bond when it is sticky but not slippery wet. Your timing must be perfect when you are working with cabinet or countertop contact adhesive in cold whether. If you run your finger on top of the glue and the surface is super slick, not wet and has no sticky feeling, the chances are going to be really good that the two surfaces will not adhere to one another.

Now, if you are a professional cabinet maker, then you know there are heaters that are used in manufacturing shops that help the contact glue to be workable during the winter months. This article was written for the amateur “do it yourself” enthusiast that wants to do some sort of cabinet repair during the winter months.

Working with contact cement in the cold is tough and you may not achieve much success depending upon what the temperature is. Read the manufactures instructions to get the recommended temperature for the best bonding atmosphere. Practice on some throw away pieces first before you actually start gluing the cabinet or countertop parts together.

Categories: Cabinet Making
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