On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 00:52:07 -0700, in Tõ VinceF wrote:


What is the best kind of glue? I want something strong and reliable, but
as clear and 'invisible' as possible.

For gluing glass or metallic (such as the mirrored backings on the flat crystals
you might be using) to something porous, like wood, probably your best bet will be
any decent epoxy. The trick to invisible is simply don't use more than needed.
It doesn't need to squeeze out from behind the crystal. Hot melt glues (glue gun
type) is also reasonably good, but tends to be messy to use really cleanly. Some
super glues, the gel types, are fine on wood, but I generally prefer epoxies,
especially if the wood is one of the more exotic oily types. And the E-6000 craft
glues, a somewhat rubbery tough evaporation drying glue is also remarkably strong
for this type of joint. "Goop" is another glue that's essentially similar to the
E-6000, which you might find in your hardware store in one of several "flavors",
sold for automotive trim repairs, shoe repairs, or others. If using epoxy, be
sure you've got the two componants measures so they're as close to being the same
amount of each resin as possible. And the longer setting versions, two hour and
up, tend to be stronger and perhaps easier to use for multiple glue joints, than
the quick 5 minute types. Hughes company makes a couple epoxies especially for
jewelry use, Epoxy 330 and Epoxy 220, that are both excellent. The first is more
colorless, the second somewhat amber in color, but a stronger joint and slightly
slower setting. Either would work very well. But even hardware store brands like
Devcon 2-ton, or others, should work just fine too, for this use. Whichever glue
you use, be sure surfaces are clean, or you're only bonding to the layer of dirt
or grease, etc.

Also, with various crystal types, if you want bright reflectivity, you'll want a
type that has a mirrored backing on the crystal. Flat ones or facet cut types are
available like this, sometimes called "foilbacks". The reason is that glue
changes the optics of the back glass surfaces if they're not backed like that, and
pretty much destroys the ability of back surfaces of the crystal to reflect light
back to the viewer. So the foil backed types avoid this problem, and remain fully
bright and reflective, if this is the effect you want.

HTH

Peter Rowe