Adhesive suggestions?

[dema]

I installed some T nuts into the sides of my cabinet and the rotating control panel, and I have the design working to where I can run a screw all the way through to the center and lock the panels into place. However, there is a bit of give in the T nuts that I worry will cause them to jimmy out of their screw holes with play.

What adhesive would you recommend to seal the t nuts in place? I don't want anything that will expand when drying because that could throw off the way they line up. A guy at Ace recommended Pliobond, or a product like that, but I don't know if that's best for the job. What would keep the t nuts in place, and avoid expanding to the point where it adjusts them in the screw holes?

Thanks for your help.

[tivogre]

I'd use 2 part epoxy.  I would also drive 3 machine screws into the MDF at the "v" spots on the t-nut (where the sharp folded down spots were folded from).  This will keep it held in AND keep it from ever rotating.

be careful with the epoxy to put it ONLY on the flat part of the t-nut.  That will keep it away from the threads;  some will work in around the shaft if there is any gap.

[dema]

I might give the machine screws a try on the inner part of the cabinet, but unfortunately I can't on the outer one because I routed enough to make the t nut sit flush to the cabinet. I already hammered them all in, because I wanted to see if everything lined up properly before fixing it permanently. I was figuring if I used an adhesive around the outer edge of the t nut that it would secure them in place well enough, and I wasn't sure that popping them out again was the best idea.

It's taken me so long to get to this point, and to finally get these rotating control panels locking effectively without any give or issues, that I'm terrified gluing them in place will change the alignment and require me to redo this section yet again.

[Timoe]

I used Gorilla Glue from home depot.

[dema]

I used Gorilla Glue from home depot.

I would use gorrilla glue, and I have some on hand, but the stuff expands like crazy and I'm sure it would cause the t nut to shift enough to where it would misalign the t nuts.

[Luckydevil]

if you tape them in place and check on them every half hour for the first couple hours, they should be fine.

maybe even use a small amount of superglue to hold the tnuts in place and use the gorilla glue.

[PetitMorte]

with gorilla glue, you'd want to clamp them in place pretty tightly.  That way it wouldn't move out of place.  Gorilla does a great job of bonding metal to wood.

[DrewKaree]

if you tape them in place and check on them every half hour for the first couple hours, they should be fine.

maybe even use a small amount of superglue to hold the tnuts in place and use the gorilla glue.

You're not familiar with Gorilla Glue

It'd laugh at the tape used to hold it in place and continue expanding!

Liquid nails will work for this, and any squeeze out can easily be removed.  IIRC, something like Vaseline will allow you to easily remove it from places you don't want it to stick.

[dema]

Yeah, I've used Gorilla Glue for other sections of the cabinet. That stuff expands like crazy, to the point where it's only helpful when you don't need to be neat with it.

They should change the name from Gorilla Glue to Gorilla Poo, because even the smalled bead expands to the size of a large primate turd.

[jedi27]

I've used liquid nails for all of the areas in my cab where metal and wood need to be bonded.  The stuff works very well, and dries within a day or so.  I have not noticed any expansion at all either.

[Timoe]

I used gorilla glue for my tnuts on two different CPs.  A total of 6 joysticks, a total of 24 t-nuts.  After expansion, I cleaned only those tnuts that needed it with a damp rag before drying.  But the expansion did not push the tnuts out of alignment at all.

My tnuts had teeth on them and had to be hammered into the wood.  I am almost confident that I could have skipped on the glue.  I will skip this step on my next CP.  But then, I'll be laminating over the tnuts with formica.

 

note: when using gorilla glue on tnuts, use only the smallest drop under the lip.

[dema]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm going with epoxy into the recessed holes around the t nuts, which should give it enough hold to keep it in place with the prongs doing the rest.

[elvis]

Dunno if it helps, but someone on these forums recommended this site a while back:

http://www.thistothat.com/

It helped me immensely on a few home projects a short while ago, both arcade related and otherwise.