C-Forum

I need help today. Does anybody know a good substitute for vinyl glue for glueing anchors to royal ex boats? I'm outfitting a fleet of boats this weekend for my outdoor education program and am running out of glue.

Epoxy!!!

ya got some maple syrup ?

Vinylbond and similar allow for a one-shot contact cementing application.

You could try a very high quality contact cement like DAP with the red label. But I don't know if it will hold in the long run.

I don't like Vynabond, and I use West G-flex epoxy. But for that and alternatives (like non-bubbling urethane glues) you have to put even pressure on the D-ring pads while the glue sets.

D-ring pads are the ONLY case where you should be using vinyl glue. Sheets of knee padding should be applied with contact cement. Are you using vinyl cement where you don't need to? Are you over-outfitting? For duffer paddlers, I would lay down knee pads, I would put thwarts where they support the thighs from above, but I would NOT put in thigh straps. Only a hazard for those not used to them.

Before you turn to pine sap, do you have acetone? Maybe you could get the Royalex vinyl skin, and the underside of the D-ring pad, tacky with acetone, and then slap them together. Careful, though. Any acetone gets through the vinyl and the ABS disintegrates.

"Red Can" is just the thing for anything that is not going to bear strain (such as knee pads) and generally will do the job even for thigh strap anchors, provided that you follow the instructions and do it on a warm enough day (at least 65 F, but 70 F is even better, and so forth). Sand and clean both surfaces, preferably with acetone. Let it dry completely. Put on a thin coat of glue to each surface, let it dry (on a hot day, 15 to 30 minutes), put on a second coat, let it dry--then put the pieces together. It will take a lot of pulling.

Sta-bond, Vynabond or Mondo Bondo probably are better than Red Can for anchors, but they are expensive and can be hard to find locally. I've never seen a decent hardware store that had no Red Can.

Having said that, nothing I have tried will stand up to a lot of rolling, and I'd be very interested in recommendations on that score.

i have used this for many years and swear by it. buy it!

I've used 3M Marine sealant for sticking stuff onto minicell saddles. It works well when a situation prevents use of contact cement. One of my 3M jobs has held for ten years.

But I don't know how it would work for thigh strap anchors.

Riverken, I think G-flex will work for you, provided that the anchor has sufficient area.

Also, on Royalex, for a really critical anchor, I would skim off the vinyl with a low angle chisel, and then use G-flex. The vinyl to ABS bond is not infinitely strong.

I've had pretty good luck with Goop, and you can get it anywhere. Just don't lay it on too thick or it will take forever to cure.

I suspect 5200 would work well, although I haven't tried it for that. The sailboat repair types are always complaining about how difficult it is to remove anything that's been glued in with 5200. One drawback: unless you get the "fast cure" variety, it takes a week or more to cure. Seems like pretty tough stuff though.

Also second the idea to skim off the vinyl and glue to the ABS substrate.

Goodyear Pliobond is another substitute for vynabond. I've used it for bonding vinyl anchors to Royalex. This adhesive was recommended by the Blue Hole Canoe Co in the late 70's for bonding anchors to their hulls. I still see Pliobond on the shelf of hardware stores. It works very much like vynabond, just follow the directions on the bottle. It comes in a bottle or can with a brush applicator on the cap so it is very easy to use. I used it back in the day before vynabond was widely available.

I only use Vynabond for thigh strap anchors and red can contact cement for saddles and knee pads. The reason is that the parts can be removed if you have to repair the boat or just want to change the outfitting. Adhesives that dry hard are just a big pain to repair and they can cause stress cracks in the inside of the boat.

When it comes time to remove any attachments I suggest that you use Toluene or its equivalent. Never use M.E.K. or acetone. Both of them will quickly destroy your boat. Toluene is much more gentle to your boat and actually dissolves the adhesives much faster. When it comes to removing anchors I heat the pads with a heat gun or hair dryer and pull them off with a pair of pliers as they become hot enough.

Toluene is also the stuff used to thin/accelerate Aquaseal. If you read the label on those expensive little bottles of Cotol the only ingrediant listed is Toluene.

Jim

I use VinylTech 2000 for anchor points, and contact cement for foam parts... The beauty about Vinyl Tech 2000, is that you can use a heat gun to heat the patch up and pull the patch away.

I like that stuff the best so far!!

Good luck