"Really Useful Boxes, Gluing?" Topic

I was wanting to glue some thin steel sheet to the bottom of the inside of one of the "Really Useful Boxes" I purchased. I tried Gorilla Glue but was not very successful. Anyone know a good glue that works on these plastic boxes?

Cheers!

Gallo

I suggest that the polythene is naturally resistant to glue.
If you use abrasive paper to score/key the surface, the stick will be better.

martin

I second the sandpaper; you really need to make both surfaces rougher to key it.

Also, unclear what type of Gorilla glue you were using. GG was originally a Wood Glue (PVA) and I would have thought that was not the Best for polypropylene, (Aa quick Google search seemed to confirm this). There are polypropylene specific glues, but you are glueing to steel so they may not work as well.

If it's a large area, a shoemakers glue might work best as it will cope with the flexible base of the box.

Good luck!

Try contact adhesive and follow the instructions to let the adhesive dry and then apply the sheet, a bit like adding a layer of veneer. You will need to sand the bottom of the box to get a bond. Martin is absolutely correct that the type of plastic they are made out is amlost impossible to glue. I'm told there are a small number of specialist adhesives available, you need something that will bond to HDPE.

I find this helpful, from time to time.

thistothat.com

I have been gluing adhesive-backed magnetic sheets into my Really Useful Boxes for years and have had no problems, so I agree with the above that you merely need to find a different formula for the adhesive you are using. Years ago I tried gluing metal WRG bases into Plano boxes and had all sort of problems, but I wasn't paying close attention to the glue back then.

I use the same system, I glue the sheet metal down with spray contact adhesive as mentioned above. It will hold for awhile, years often. Then it may come lose and I simply reapply the adhesive.

I use Aleene's Tacky spray on mine.

Like YogiBearMinis I also use adhesive-backed magnetic sheets. Magnetic Displays (www.magneticdisplays.co.uk) will also privide sheets to fit any Really Useful box size. not only do they saty put but you can peel them off and re-use (at least once, not done it more than that).
If you like your magnets on the figures they also supply ferro-magnetic sheet, look like the megnetic sheeting just not magnetic but magnets will adhere to it.

Self-adhesive magnetic or Ferrosheet will adhere to RUB and similar boxes provided the surface is clean and flat. I have tried sanding the box bases in the past and it really doesn't improve the adhesion.

I have found that, over time (and I'm talking months, not days), the edges can come unstuck – particularly if they have no figure bases on them. All you need to do is check the box before you transport them and press any edges down again to re-adhere them.

Some 4l & 9l RUB boxes have had less than flat bases and no adhesive sheet will stick well to those. On those boxes I get the double sided sticky foam pads used for attaching mirrors & such to walls. Stick 6-8 around the base and peel off the top film once attached. Then stick the self adhesive magnetic/Ferro sheet to a thick (2mm is good) card panel the same size as the base and put that onto the sticky pads. I have some that have been stuck down for over 10 years and none have come loose yet.

Tiny Tin Troops ( tinytintroops.co.uk ) also sell Magnetic & Ferrosheet to fit A4 and RUB 4l & 9l boxes.

Tony of TTT

I use acrylic latex caulking, its cheap and it works well enough

I would suggest Hot Glue. It will bond strongly to both LDPE and HDPE, as well as sheet metal. I have Hot Glued 500+ LDPE plastic Army Men figures to MDF, using both High and Low Temperature Hot Glue. I game with them, using 2"/50mm MDF laser-cut squares for bases. I've had Army Men figures stuck to MDF bases for 20+ years, with very few failures (<10 out of 500+ figures).

If you want/need more working time, use High Temperature Hot Glue: it stays molten much longer (much hotter, too -- be careful!). This will have a working time of 30+ seconds.

Otherwise, use Low Temperature Hot Glue: working time of around 15-20 seconds, realistically. The Low Temperature stuff will not soften your plastic boxes, at all. The High Temperature Hot Glue might soften and deform your plastic boxes. Cheers!

Thanks to all of you for chiming in. I'm continuing the project and am busy scraping and removing the old Gorilla Glue from the back of the steel sheet. I'm using a blade scraper and rubbing alcohol. There are probably better solvents for Gorilla Glue, reading on internet rubbing alcohol was recommended but so far, it's not that effective.

Since the Gorilla Glue stuck so well to the metal I'm thinking that the suggestions made, that I sand and roughen up the floor of the Really Useful Box is probably a good idea. I will try the same Gorilla Glue (Clear) again. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Cheers!

Gallo

RUB are made from Polypropylene, not polyethylene. Polypropylene is more structural and polyethylenes have greater flexibility.

There are hot melt glues that claim to bond both types of plastic (though not the same ones) but not always easy to get hold of.

Most of the industrial adhesives for these types of low surface energy plastics are expensive and some are toxic. Not really designed for small jobs like we need.

I use double sided carpet tape

I've used DuraLink-35 to secure individual magnets to the inside of plastic storage boxes. It's a silicone based sealant. Works like a charm. I would suggest using some kind of construction adhesive out of a caulk gun that is designed to adhere to multiple surface types.

If you're wedded to steel sheets why not bolt them in place with a small, shallow headed bolt at each corner?

Success!

I was able to glue the steel sheet to the floor of the Really Useful Box. Clear Gorilla Glue worked fine but it was necessary to sand the floor of the plastic box to roughen it up. I used bricks to "clamp" the two surfaces together and allowed the project to cure overnight. It is really on there good this time.

Thanks to all for the advice! I will be moving many of my based 15mm Boer War figures into the box. The RUB is an 11 liter or (litre) clear plastic box with a plastic clamp-down lid. I used cardboard and sheet steel to make 3 layers for figure storage. The bottom 2 layers have slightly less than 1" clearance. Fortunately most of my infantry figures for this war are shorter than that. The three layers are snug when the lid is clamped down so nothing moves. The figures with magnetized bases, once arranged on the sheet steel floors of each shelf. do not move, even if I literally shake the closed box.

I plan to put the taller figures (cavalry, etc.) in a similar box that has two shelves instead of three.

Once again thanks for the advice. I glad to report that it all worked out so well!

Cheers!

Gallo

To put one shelf into a RUB I use some round pillars that come from the insides of till rolls. These are hot glued into place. Very successful. The shelf sits on six pillars, four at the corners and one halfway along each long side. Reduces the usable area of the bottom layer slightly, but it can take the weight of my 25mm infantry and cavalry with no problem.

I use these to add a 2nd layer to 7 litre boxes
link

I used pop-rivets to secure a metal plate to the bottom of some plastic clamshell lid box.