UHMW

Re: UHMW

Hank Knight

John,

Not much sticks to UHMW. I've glued it to wood with some success in the past with West Systems epoxy, but I have little confidence in the strength off the glue bond. I Used UHMW for drawer glides for a drill press stand I built 4 years ago and the glides have held up remarkably well. I used some super strength contact cement I ordered from MSC Industrial Supply. I don't recall the name of it. It held fairly well and I added some flat head screws in to secure it the event the glue joint fails. I countersunk the screw heads so they wouldn't contact the drawer runner. It has worked very well under heavy load for 4 years and shows no sign of coming apart. The drawers glide effortlessly on the UHMW glides. I would do it this way again for drawers that carry heavy loads. Here's a photo:

One recommendation: regardless what glue yo decide to use, be sure to rough up the glue surface of the UHMW with some fairly coarse sandpaper to give it some "tooth" for the glue to bond to.

Re: UHMW

Garthinsandiego

Agree. You may have greater success buying adhesive backed UHMW strips from an industrial supplier such as MSC or McMaster-Carr. Believe I've seen it listed is some woodworking tool supplier catalogs, but don't recall which ones. I've applied some to the base of my circular saw to avoid marking the material being cut. Been there a few years now with no sign of peeling.

Re: UHMW

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

"I've seen it listed is some woodworking tool supplier catalogs"

It's sold as "Slick Strip" in thew stores (clicks and bricks)

UHMW needs to be flame treated to glue  *LINK*


https://theepoxyexperts.com/flame-treatment-plastic-substrates-adhesive-bonding/

Re: UHMW

TomD

They sell PSA versions of UHMW, but I have no idea how easy they are to get. They use them on drift boats, so they must be rugged once installed. If you live in the west you might be able to find a builder.

Flame treatment is where I go on plastics. I have parts I glued to my boat 30 years ago, but in my case not UHMW. The Gougeons who probably developed the technique for epoxies, did testing and what it showed was that where there was a liquid cleaner and glue, as with PVC, the glue was a far better surface treatment than flame treatment. I don't know if there are such products for UHMW, I haven't come across them.

LV also sells a PSA teflon strip. I have used it in some situations, like on a plane sole where I needed runners. It is pretty durable.

Properly designed, it is amazing what wax will do for you.

That gorgeously executed drawer Frank shows, is not the be all and end all of runners. One option is to have (I forget the same), a runner that will double the width on the bottom of the drawer, sorta like the bottom is a frame and panel. You may get mechanical wear regardless of how slippery the drawer side may be. But widening the bearing will reduce the psi on the runner.

UHMW tape

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

There is psa backed UHMW tape. I have several thickness in my shop. It works great for shimming the runners for sleds and such to fit tightly with minimal drag in the miter slots. I've also used it on saw fences to minimize friction. It sticks well to smooth wood. My tape came from McMaster Carr.

Lee

Re: UHMW

William Duffield

Lots of useful info on UHMW properties and appropriate adhesives can be found on this site:

http://reltekllc.com/adhesivesforuhmw.aspx

Woodcraft carries adhesive backed UHMW tape in two different widths:

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/slick-strips-3-4-width-1-32-thick

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/slick-strips-3-width

The also carry UHMW blocks in various dimensions that will require other methods to bond to the substrates.

Re: UHMW

JohnV

Thanks everyone for the information. Looks like the sticky tape will do just what I need.