So I did my first set of eva checker rings....They came out ok....A few things though. When gluing them up I used contact adhesive on both sides pressed them together for a few minutes,then on to the next one..After all pieces were glued I used rubber bands to ''clamp'' them over night...After that I sanded and cut them into 1/8'' rings...
The pieces I glued were about an 1'' long so I could cut multiple rings.

Here are the concerns...One,I could still see the glue lines meaning I either used too much adhesive or didnt clamp them tight enough??
Two,the edges where the two different colors meet still feel ''cornered''...I sanded it round but it felt sort of octagon shaped...Does that make sense?

So Im curious on some other methods I should try for a better outcome...Also,a good contact adhesive recommendation...The one I use is good but I think it dries too hard leaves hard lines.

Thanks guys!

Walker

1. Walker, when gluing up the rings, use a round compression clamp to eliminate the glue line.
Basically the compression clamp is simply a split ring, of the ring size that is simply clamped around the ring being glued up and then c-clamped together.

2. When sanding, always use a backing board. If you don't use a backing board, the glue edges can end up not being sanded as well as the rest of the handle.

Roger

gluing eva can be tricky due to the contact cement. you need to make sure your alignment is on before you put each piece together because the contact cement doesn't allow you to reposition. you can draw a template to help with your alignment and put each piece together carefully. billy vivona does quite abit with eva and may have some tips

Thanks for the help guys .
Roger, Im not to savy on all the tools...What do you mean by a backing board?...Kinda like keeping the sandpaper flat like a file,sort of?

John,I might have tried to reposition them too much...I cant remember....I tried not to but its very possible.

YOu don't need a clamp with contact cement, not for EVA or cork. Here's my sale page for my checkerboard jig which shows how to properly glue up a C-board using contact cement: [northeastrodbuilders.com]. Make sure you cut pie shapes out of the same ID piece of material, and you glue the togther lining up the inside hole.

Billy Vivona Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> YOu don't need a clamp with contact cement, not
> for EVA or cork. Here's my sale page for my
> checkerboard jig which shows how to properly glue
> up a C-board using contact cement:
> [northeastrodbuilders.com]
> boardjig.html. Make sure you cut pie shapes out of
> the same ID piece of material, and you glue the
> togther lining up the inside hole.


Thanks Billy..I actually read that,however,I didnt wait for the CA to dry before pressing..oops!
Ill try it again this week....Any tips on why the sanding coming out more octagon than circular?
I hold strips of 150 while sanding if that helps then move to finer grits

Thanks

Sandpaper tends to "float" over hard spots leaving you with a cylinder that isn't exactly round. A more aggressive grit will cut better and might help you get the thing a bit more on side of "round."

............

Copied from SEA KAYAK website:

"Gluing with Contact Cement
Foam pads should be glued to your kayak with contact cement, but not all of these glues are suitable. Some brands have recently been reformulated for safety or environmental reasons. Many are not waterproof and lack holding power. Use a commercial-grade waterproof contact cement. It is flammable, nasty-smelling stuff! Hydrogrip Adhesive, Shore Adhesive, Sea Bond, Sta-Bond, and Shoemaker's "Barge Cement" are all good choices. No smoking in the shop, please!

Contact cement can be pretty unforgiving to work with. You only get one chance to position a pad correctly; then, like it or not, it's stuck. Here's how to get good results"

FOR EVA / Hypalon I have used:
Shore Adhesive is made to bond hypalon
Barge Adhesive will bond almost anything to anything

Tom / Ken thanks guys for your input.

Ken that's a good read and I will check out that shore adhesive.
Im pretty sure the stuff I use is waterproof....Seal All is what its called..I started using Duro spray adhesive for most grips,but now that Im trying checkers I think I need to dump the Seal All and try something else.

I use Weldwood. Cheap and easy to get in any stor, and there is no issue with seams. Red can, not the gel. Tom & Roger answerred abotu the octogon shape. Not sure what lathe you are using, but high speed and use a courser grit - 80 or 100 on the sanding blockto round it out, 120 then 150 down to whatever to finish. YOu MUST wait for CC to dry or it will not lgue. Takes 10 minutes or less.

Be cautious... lots of "rubber cements" are water RESISTANT (not water proof) and are primarily used for paper. Seal All should work work very well (gas / oil /solvent resistant, sets in 2-3 minutes, cures in 2-6 hours and cures waterproof. Heck, I may have to try this cement! Next time I fool with EVA/Hypalon checkerboards I'll give it a go. I too use weldwood waterbased contact cement for cork & wood rings / checkerboards but for softer material I like something that remains pliable under hand



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2010 04:54PM by Ken Preston.

Weldwood is all you need. Bernie Cohen has been using it for 20 years, the Red can not the green can. YOu can turn it right after you glue pieces together too, no wait time. Just make sure th glue is dry before you push pieces togetehr.

Well I went for round 2 last night...I let the adhesive dry before pushing the pieces together..I think its gonna work nicely but well see...I also think the Seal All is fine too...On the first heavily inlaid grip I did with eva (red,black,white color foam) I used both Duro and Seal All on the grip and thought the Seal All left a hard line..The line is on a white eva trim ring,so I thought.....I noticed last night that the white eva is waaaaay firmer than the red or black...So now Im thinking its just firmer eva messing with my mind and not the glue..

Thanks so much for the help guys...Billy Ill also see if the local hardware has Weldwood,in the the red.


W

Certain colors are firmer than others, usually white is the softest of them all. There are some black VA grips that are almost as firm as cork. And yes, the firmness of a particular piec of EVa can play a role in how much you feel the glue lines, but in general Weldwood doesnt' feel like much at all, and I have some grip inlays which have over 200 pieces where I used Customgrip EVA (The Knights), and others that I did with 6mm craft foam which is soft and mushy, and the seam you can feel if you squeeze it.