Gluing steel to plastic Question

[Harry P.]

The problem with using solder, especially the really thin stuff, is that while it does bend easily, it's hard to get perfectly straight sections without little fluctuations in the straightness. Thin guitar string has an inherent stiffness that will make it much easier to keep the straight sections perfectly straight.

Another alternative is thin beading wire, used to string beads for necklaces. I found it in the jewelry aisle at Hobby Lobby. It's a little stiffer than thin solder would be. It's what I used on these custom door panels:

[crazyjim]

Very interesting discussion and ideas.

[gtx6970]

Another alternative is thin beading wire, used to string beads for necklaces. I found it in the jewelry aisle at Hobby Lobby. It's a little stiffer than thin solder would be. It's what I used on these custom door panels:

Excellant idea, plus it can be bought in several sizes / gauges

[Harry P.]

Excellant idea, plus it can be bought in several sizes / gauges

Exactly. In fact I used 2 different gauges on the door panels–thinner on the top piece, thicker on the bottom piece.

[JunkPile]

Exactly. In fact I used 2 different gauges on the door panels–thinner on the top piece, thicker on the bottom piece.

How did you attach the wires?

[Harry P.]

How did you attach the wires?

Very carefully!

And by wicking CA glue along the length of the wire. I take a large sewing needle and use a grinding bit in my Dremel to grind off the top part of the "eye," which leaves an open-ended "U" shape. Then I apply a small drop of CA to the end of the needle... the glue kind of sits there filling the "U"... then I just touch that end of the needle to the wire (on the wood side of the wire, not the upholstery side) and the CA is drawn into the joint. Repeat that maybe 2-3 times along the entire length of the wire to make sure that there's CA along the whole joint.

If any CA was showing, I used very fine sandpaper to sand it off the wood and the wire, and finally I brushed some Future onto the wood to give it a little gloss.

BTW... that needle trick is what I use all the time when I want to have extreme control and precision as to where the CA needs to go.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Wow. Some really trick tricks going on here. Amazing how incredibly MUCH there is to learn about doing this stuff. Cool.

[Skip]

The beading wire is what I was going to suggest while reading through the first page, I see Harry already did so. Some of the beading wire is pretty flexible almost partially annealed.

The other idea that I was thinking while reading through was using a drill bit smaller diameter than the wire, like is sometimes used to "locate" small photo etch details. Drill the original or new trim location clear through the interior panel with enough holes to locate the trim. Super glue from the back side with thin stuff, then use accelerator at each hole working down the trim one hole at a time. Doing it like this might keep the excess CA glue run off and cleanup to a minimum. Sounds like it might be a little time consuming, so is cleanup for that matter.

[CrazyGirl]

Skip , that is a Great Idea and now it got me thinking of the best way to do this with little work ,,, drill holes like you said and slot them a little , mount the trim on scotch tape so the trim is all lined up nice and neat ,, then tape it to the door panel ,, now that the holes are slotted I would use epoxy , it wont run past the trim and onto the paint , Skip , Great great tip/idea , Thanks !!!!