gluing O-rings

[Greg Bender]

Which adhesive is best for reinstalling O-rings back into my vacuum chuck heads? I had to knock down the sharp edges on the divider between the o-rings, it was leaving marks in the bottom of my bowls.

[Brice Rogers]

If you REALLY need to glue the O-rings, throw out using any adhesive that gets hard/brittle.

I think that the best adhesive is probably silicon rubber (RTV). Urethane would be another alternative.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Greg,

I used vacuum pumps professionally to service MR scanner magnets. We didn't glue them in rather lubricated them with a silicon grease. Some of the O-rings remained in the magnet. The vacuum pump system wasn't permanent so we had to tear it down each time after we were through. Whether permanent or temporary, the O-rings were just greased.

In fact, here's what we used: http://www.skygeek.com/dow-corning-9...FZKCfgoduLgHiA

[John Keeton]

While they are round and certainly rings, they aren't the kind of "O-rings" Ken is talking about. They do need to be glued and I use silicone rubber to glue my Holdfast vacuum chuck rings. It doesn't take much as you will need to remove them someday to replace them.

[Mike Goetzke]

HoldFast recommends this:

Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over 4oz

I have used it and it works fine.

Mike

[Ken Fitzgerald]

While they are round and certainly rings, they aren't the kind of "O-rings" Ken is talking about. They do need to be glued and I use silicone rubber to glue my Holdfast vacuum chuck rings. It doesn't take much as you will need to remove them someday to replace them.

Thanks for educating me John!

[Greg Bender]

Thanx for the info, familiar with Ken's approach to oring lube having used it daily at work. Silicone was my first thought but wondered if there was something that would facilitate future easy removal when they get nicked.
John, thanx for verification that silicone in controlled doses will work.
Mike, where might one look for the Aleene's Tack-it over..... Amazon had it of course.
Thanx to all and here's wishing you a great Christmas.

[James Combs]

I use adhesive backed craft foam from Walmart(the link is Amazon but Walmart has it also). Easy on, easy shaped, easy replaced and cheap. My vacuum chucks are made from MDF and/pr old MDF cored cabinet doors and PVC fittings or PVC pipe depending on the size I want. First I make the MDF backing plate using a Beall 1-1/4-8tpi Spindle tap(also available in 1"-8tpi) reinforcing the threads with thin CA then screw it on the lathe spindle and round it and cut a groove for the PVC. Glue in the PVC, true up the working/sealing end, stick on a piece of craft foam, trim the inside and outside diameters with an Xacto knife with the lathe spinning leaving about and 1/8" of seal on the inside and the outside then its ready to use. If the foam gets in bad shape I peal it off and if I have to, clean off any excess adhesive(usually not required) then reapply another piece of foam.

The first pic is of some of my chucks, some use foam, others not depends on what is being chucked. The right most chuck is somewhat of a general purpose chuck in case one of the others just doesn't fit right. The second pic just shows the difference between a press-wood door(not recommended) and an MDF door. The MDF is much denser and more stable.
IMG_7881.jpg IMG_7896.jpg

[Greg Bender]

James,
That is exactly what I did originally but had an absolutely super deal on the HoldFast system for a killer price and could not pass it up. I took the o-rings off because the wall between the two o-rings was leaving a mark in the finished interior of my bowls. I chamfered the leading edges and it seems to have solved my problem. Now I need to eliminate the leaks from putting them back with only the existing adhesive. Thanx everybody,
Greg

[Bill Boehme]

Greg,

I used vacuum pumps professionally to service MR scanner magnets. We didn't glue them in rather lubricated them with a silicon grease. Some of the O-rings remained in the magnet. The vacuum pump system wasn't permanent so we had to tear it down each time after we were through. Whether permanent or temporary, the O-rings were just greased.

In fact, here's what we used: http://www.skygeek.com/dow-corning-9...FZKCfgoduLgHiA

Hey, thanks for that information. About 50 years ago I had a tube of that Dow-Corning Silicone Grease and parsed it out very miserly and it lasted for about forty years before I finally used up the whole tube.

[thomas prusak]

How about spray 90 adhesive?

[Bill Boehme]

How about spray 90 adhesive?

Sure, if you don't mind the mess of getting it all over your chuck.

[John Raine]

Hi all.
I use Trex board cutoffs for the backing plates on my homemade vacuum chucks. They take threads very well, and allow no air to pass. (Oops - here in western Canada, Trex is a brand name for composite decking boards - lots of small cutoffs available when someone is building a deck.)

Happy holidays,
John

[Jeffrey J Smith]

[QUOTE=Bill Boehme;...parsed it out very miserly and it lasted for about forty years before I finally used up the whole tube.[/QUOTE]
Bill - no need to parse it out - go to just about any dive shop (or look online if you're landlocked) and you can get a tube. It's used for o-rings on regulators and seals on uw camera housings, etc. Nikon used to sell it privately labeled for their Nikonos underwater cameras.