Gluing Graphite

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jqavins

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This may be an off the wall question. Do any common adhesives - PVA, CA, epoxy - form a good bond to graphite? Yes, there's a rocket related notion behind this.
 
Joe,
I know you're smart. So why you would ask half a question is beyond me.
The answer is of course, it depends. It depends mainly on all the other parameters you've not bothered to mention.....
What are you using the graphite for?

Is it a rocket motor nozzle? (best guess, but never assume)(and you said not this as I was writing)
Are you making a pencil? (uninterupted writing required)
Is it an electrode for smelting aluminium? (high electrical conductivity and long term heat soaking)
Are you moulding gold or some other smeltable metal? ( no off gassing during exposure to heat)

Lastly..... Have you used Google first? :)

https://www.final-materials.com/gb/132-high-temperature-graphite-adhesive
 
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I'm not asking about application suitability because 1) it's a low demand application, and B) I'd need more time to explain it than I'd like to take during the work day. Yes, I googled it, and all I found were things like you've linked above, which are overkill for my application if a cheaper alternative would work, and would make the application too expensive to bother with.

More later, I promise.
 
Superglue. It will soak into the graphite and provide bonding deeper into the graphite. This will strengthen up any microcracks that may have occurred in a fractured area. If not a fracture, the longest set epoxy you can be least annoyed with. This will allow it to soak into the graphite.
If you need long term heat resistance, spend the money on the good stuff or machine a new component.
 
I'm not asking about application suitability because 1) it's a low demand application, and B) I'd need more time to explain it than I'd like to take during the work day. Yes, I googled it, and all I found were things like you've linked above, which are overkill for my application if a cheaper alternative would work, and would make the application too expensive to bother with.

More later, I promise.
Please use
1 and
2 or
A and B........ I'm getting flashbacks to a really annoying wiring diagram my idiot boss did..... :)
 
If it's a low load application, I might use Beacon Fabri-Tac or one of the PVA "canopy glues" if I were looking to do something like this.
 
1) This discussion is nothing so precise or important as a wiring diagram.
B) Sorry, I didn't mean to cause you any grief.
iii) Can't you take a joke? (I stole this gag from the Car Guys.)

Anyway, here's the thing. I'm buying my second set of Apogee flay-away rail guides (BT-70, and I already have one for BT-60). I like the simplicity of the design, and they're cheaper than most of the others. But I was thinking about the spot ringed in red here:
1703024058782.png
The plywood bears directly on the rail. "I wonder," says I to myself, "Is there a way to reduce the friction there. Maybe I could widen the slot and put in a Delrin insert. No, gluing in a piece of Delrin is next to impossible. I wonder if I could glue in a piece of graphite."
1703024216103.png
(Yes, the five minute MS Visio sketch is highly flawed.)

So I asked Google "Can graphite be glued to?" Reply hazy. So I asked the forum. Reply positive.

Now there's needed some detailed consideration, but at least the first hurdle is cleared; I can glue in a suitable low friction material. There's really not any meat there to cut a wider slot into, so I guess I'd have to build up my own boss, or just design my own copy cat guides from scratch. And would there be enough room inside the guide for the built up thickness of plywood and insert combined? Dunno. There's a bunch of work there, if it's worth doing at all. But (I repeat) at least the first hurdle is cleared.
 
Loose graphite is pretty slick.

Why not just use the powder? File the gaps smooth, then, get a rag and some pipe cleaners and burnish the business part until it is silver. You'll probably look a little like a coal miner by the time you're done.

FWIW, I'm not happy with that suggestion, despite my willingness to do it or accept the consequences for doing so. The little wooden tips look a little weak. I might would pre soak the small ends with CA or epoxy resin before burnishing.

My experience is fly-aways tend to get damaged, so perfect optimization for non record shots may be wasted effort.
 
Ok, well that makes more sense. I thought you were trying to salvage something like this... which i wouldn't recommend...
 

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