Liquid Nails
- Thread starter goatman
- Start date
I've use the Liquid Nails product before, but couldn't really see what the advantage was over plain old Elmer's wood glue. Am I missing something?
Billk,
I did a quick test with the Liq. Nails and Elmers wood and white glues to see which one I would use. The Liq. Nails holds forever to anything that it is attached to and VEEERRRYYY hard to remove if you change your mind and decide to modify the layout in any way. You have to cut it out to remove track and cork and I have not found a way to remove it from the track. IMHO it would destroy a foam roadbed if one needed to rearrange something. It is also not very user friendly to apply out of a caulking tool unless you have verrrry moist and smooth glue coming out of the tip. If it starts to clump up you need to smooth it down quickly. It just seemed to be too much of an effort for a simple task.
I was able to remove the track and cork roadbed that I laid on my Homasote base by wetting it liberally with water with a couple drops of liquid detergent. Not much peeling on the Homasote and I could cover what was done with a coat of latex paint.
Elmers is my choice. Using the white because it is cheaper.
I did a quick test with the Liq. Nails and Elmers wood and white glues to see which one I would use. The Liq. Nails holds forever to anything that it is attached to and VEEERRRYYY hard to remove if you change your mind and decide to modify the layout in any way. You have to cut it out to remove track and cork and I have not found a way to remove it from the track. IMHO it would destroy a foam roadbed if one needed to rearrange something. It is also not very user friendly to apply out of a caulking tool unless you have verrrry moist and smooth glue coming out of the tip. If it starts to clump up you need to smooth it down quickly. It just seemed to be too much of an effort for a simple task.
I was able to remove the track and cork roadbed that I laid on my Homasote base by wetting it liberally with water with a couple drops of liquid detergent. Not much peeling on the Homasote and I could cover what was done with a coat of latex paint.
Elmers is my choice. Using the white because it is cheaper.
David - I read somewhere that the yellow "carpenter's glue" is waterproof, while the white is water soluble. The person who wrote this used white for all his track laying for the simple reason that if he had to change anything, he could wet it down and remove things easily. It sounded like a good approach to me. Here's what he had to say:
Starting on layout # 3 I found the best way (for me) was to put the track together first. As I put each piece together, I solder it, then spray track with a brown primer. When dry an hour, it is easy to scrape paint off the top of the rails. Then I move the track enough to put white glue down, lay the cork, more glue on top of the cork, and set the track in it. This way everything can be lined up. Once sitting overnight its stable. Then when you add ballast and glue it, the track is just as good as nailed with the benefit if you want to remove or change the track, just wet it well, after soaking 1/2 hour its free.
cheers
Val
Starting on layout # 3 I found the best way (for me) was to put the track together first. As I put each piece together, I solder it, then spray track with a brown primer. When dry an hour, it is easy to scrape paint off the top of the rails. Then I move the track enough to put white glue down, lay the cork, more glue on top of the cork, and set the track in it. This way everything can be lined up. Once sitting overnight its stable. Then when you add ballast and glue it, the track is just as good as nailed with the benefit if you want to remove or change the track, just wet it well, after soaking 1/2 hour its free.
cheers
ValOne place I could see using Liquid Nails, EZNails, or whatever, is gluing the foam to a plywood base. But for gluing anything to the foam, unless you were 110% sure you never wanted to remove it, stick with something less permanent. (Pun not intended).
Originally posted by spitfire
.... I read somewhere that the yellow "carpenter's glue" is waterproof, while the white is water soluble.
Val, When I did the trial I soaked both the carpenters and white for about an hour. I will grant that there was more scraping under the carpenters but it did dissolve almost totally except for where I had put just a glob without spreading it out much. And the scraping was not any worse than under the white. I used a thin, narrow putty knife. I was kind of suprised also as I thought that it would have been harder to remove the carpenters glue.
Ow OW OW!!! Now ya got me thinking bout spellin and lookin at painful icons! My 1st cousin is in Ames, an MMR.
David & Bill...
I'm with you guys!
I made the mistake once (after reading about it in a MRR article) of using Liquid Nails to glue down track & roadbed...what a nightmare!
I do like it however, for glueing foam to wood, & for glueing together layers of foam.
I'm with you guys!
I made the mistake once (after reading about it in a MRR article) of using Liquid Nails to glue down track & roadbed...what a nightmare!
I do like it however, for glueing foam to wood, & for glueing together layers of foam.
You are right Charlie. It is going to take something this side of an earthquake to tear apart a wood-to-wood bond or the foam bonding with the LN stuff. It does have a place in model railroading but I firmly believe that is NOT for holding track down.
My Wedensday night guy used something from a caulking gun to hold his track down.
1) Stuff oozes up between the ties and over them.
2) Can't take turnouts up when then fail. If you use non-soluble glue on the track, don't glue the turnouts -- keep them held down by the rail joiners on the next track. (spike if you have a long sequence.)
1) Stuff oozes up between the ties and over them.
2) Can't take turnouts up when then fail. If you use non-soluble glue on the track, don't glue the turnouts -- keep them held down by the rail joiners on the next track. (spike if you have a long sequence.)