let's talk glue

[Mick Jeffries]

From the Sticking-This-To-That Letter Box:

Shopheads (I'm talkin' to you, Hempy!)

What's the best approach/product for glueing metal (a nut, let's say) to plastic (an iPhone case, let's say)?

Background: 

Trying to improv a sitch that let's me put my iPhone on a tripod, without buying for some Cool Photo Jojo thing. Seems to me the very simplest way would be to glue a nut onto a hard plastic phone case… it would then always be there, and yet … it's just a nut, so it's not some big bulky thingamajig. Then you could just "spin" your Phone onto the standard screw post of a tripod, big or small.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
M I C K  J E F F R I E S   mi...@mickjeffries.com
graphic designer + writer + presentation specialist + photographer
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ring.859.539.1877 +++ fax. 702.224.2133 +++ www.mickjeffries.com
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[Benjamin Askren]

For bonding materials of low surface energy (like most plastics) urethane glues (like Gorilla glue) seem to work best. The combination of high tack, strength and ductility work well.  A couple notes of caution: 

• urethane glues "foam" while curing, meaning that they create this sticky, gooey foam that seeps out of the joints.  Use sparingly, apply the glue away from the exterior of the joint, and use a solvent for clean up.
• Once this stuff gets on your hands, it's a pain to clean up.  Wear gloves.

- Ben

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[Aaron Arnett]

If it's an option you may also consider welding the nut to a larger washer and then gluing the washer to the case for more surface area adhesion.

Aaron

PS... I assume you've seen the Glif (originally a kickstarter project)? 

[Nikolai Warner]

One time I printed out a iPhone tripod mount on the makerbot. I still needed to use a nut for screw thread. SO! I heated the plastic with a lighter until it was squishy and plunged the nut into it. It cooled and hardened in seconds and became permanent. Voila! 

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NICK! WARNER!
web: http://nwarner.com
voice: 347-7GNARLY (347-746-2759)

[Todd Willey]

I second Gorilla Glue, I used it a few months ago for the first time.
Stains things easily, and I thought it was odd to have to put water on
something I was gluing, but worked well. Just be sure you can get a
clamp around your iphone, etc.

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 4:59 PM, Benjamin Askren <ben.a...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Dave]

--- On Tue, 4/10/12, Aaron Arnett <aaar...@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Aaron Arnett <aaar...@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: let's talk glue
> To: coll...@googlegroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 5:07 PM
>
> If it's an option you may also consider welding the nut to a larger washer and
> then gluing the washer to the case for more surface area adhesion.

Welding a Zinc plated (galvanized) washer and nut is probably not something you
want to do (I seem to remember a caution to welders about welding galvanized
materials.). Thus, you may need to grind away the Zinc first. Or, obtain a
non-galvanized nut and washer.

Would it be good to use a Stainless steel nut/washer? Those won't rust, but
welding to them will be a pain.

Alternatively, you may be able to solder (or Silver solder) the washer and nut
together (although this won't work for stainless steel).

Note that it may be good to use a washer without a hole [1] in it, to prevent the
screw from going through the nut and into the case (and, destroying all kinds of
surface mount electronic parts in the process).

[1] There's probably a technical name for something like this, but I've been
coding all day, and can barely remember my own name (err, Bob? Doug? Sam? Oh,
Dave, that's it!).

> Aaron
> PS... I assume you've seen the Glif (originally a kickstarter project)? 

Dave

[Aaron Arnett]

I always heard them called slugs or blanks...

A fender washer should have a similar virtue...

True, true on the zinc... Grinding would be a good idea... Although I doubt the zinc from a pair of tack welds on a 1/4 inch nut would be enough to even reach you, let alone harm you... :)

I think Nick is onto something though!  +1 for melty plastics

Aaron

[Derek Eggers]

All I can say is please use caution when glueing your nuts to the iPhone.
-anonymous

[Mick Jeffries]

Wow, I've learned So. Much. here.

Let's get all inline-y —

----------
From: Benjamin Askren <ben.a...@gmail.com>

For bonding materials of low surface energy (like most plastics) urethane glues (like Gorilla glue) seem to work best. The combination of high tack, strength and ductility work well.  A couple notes of caution: 

• urethane glues "foam" while curing, meaning that they create this sticky, gooey foam that seeps out of the joints.  Use sparingly, apply the glue away from the exterior of the joint, and use a solvent for clean up.
• Once this stuff gets on your hands, it's a pain to clean up.  Wear gloves.

Wow, science! Thanks, Ben!

----------

From: Aaron Arnett <aaar...@gmail.com>

If it's an option you may also consider welding the nut to a larger washer and then gluing the washer to the case for more surface area adhesion.

Aaron: My wife ain't learned to weld yet. Useless.

PS... I assume you've seen the Glif (originally a kickstarter project)? 

I hadn't but checked it out. I like this better (but still don't want to buy it): http://www.amazon.com/F-L-Smartphone-Adapter-Motorola-Smartphones/dp/B005LY553M/ref=lh_ni_t

From: Nikolai Warner <nickw...@gmail.com>

One time I printed out a iPhone tripod mount on the makerbot. I still needed to use a nut for screw thread. SO! I heated the plastic with a lighter until it was squishy and plunged the nut into it. It cooled and hardened in seconds and became permanent. Voila! 

Nick, you're still so disturbingly god-like. And we haven't talked in awhile. How disturbing.

From: Todd Willey <to...@rubidine.com>

I second Gorilla Glue, I used it a few months ago for the first time.
Stains things easily, and I thought it was odd to have to put water on
something I was gluing, but worked well.  Just be sure you can get a
clamp around your iphone, etc.

ooga-booga. This sounds the most easy-access to a non-welder.

From: Dave <wa4...@yahoo.com>

----------
From: Derek Eggers <eggers...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 5:50 PM
To: "coll...@googlegroups.com" <coll...@googlegroups.com>

All I can say is please use caution when glueing your nuts to the iPhone.
-anonymous

Aw, BALLZ!

Finally, I feel like there's a C-Clamp lurking in all of this. If I could connect a (appropriately-sized) nut to the solid side of a C-Clamp, well, what couldn't I do? I guess you have to be careful not to squish your phone, but I'm ok with that awesome responsibility…

thanks for the thoughts! I think I may give Gorilla Glue the first shot. 

[Dave Hempy]

I have no experience gluing like that, but maybe look at Gorilla Glue, as others have suggested.

 

Unless this is an old cast-off iPhone, I’d be pretty hesitant to glue/melt a nut permanently.  If nothing else, you can get a cheap $5 plastic case and hack that up. 

You might think about using a small angle (could be plastic for better glue-ability) to glue to the back of the phone, so the nut points down -- that is, camera faces forward on a regular tripod.  Not as cozy to slip in your pocket then…

Maybe use two nuts for portrait and landscape mounting.

 

If you want any little bits or bobs welded up, we have a welder at the space now, and about a half-dozen people have been trained on using it. 

 

FWIW, the Jojo thing you link to looks pretty nice, particularly because it has a hard shutter button, and isn’t terribly pricey.  Using a soft button for taking photos is one of my Android’s few aggravating “features.”  

 

 

HTH,

-dave

--

[Mick Jeffries]

Oh yeah — this is all stuff being done to an iPhone CASE, not phone itself.

I've got two ideas:

1. I'm going to consult the wizards at Chevy Chase Hardware, who are super crafty, imo. (maybe wind up with something Frankensteined out of c-clamps)
2. Then this is really the calibre I'm going for http://lifehacker.com/5305499/turn-a-cheap-iphone-case-into-a-tripod

[timk]

Can't believe nobody's linked This to That yet. Easy gluing advice:

http://www.thistothat.com/

-Tim

[Chad Cottle]

Wow.  What an awesome, albeit simple, website.  Too cool.  Me likey.

Chad

[Mick Jeffries]

ooh! thanks! I've tried glueing a nylon nut onto the iPhone case I have and it … has failed twice. I'll report back when I do further research…

[Mick Jeffries]

I wanted to give some review notes to all you kind folks on the matter of my attempts to create a simple, cheap "tripod-able" smartphone situation. Mine is an iPhone but most of my reflections apply somewhat universally.

The short version of the gluing this-to-that scenario: I failed after several half-hearted attempts. The plastic of the case (a Griffin Elan Form for a 3G) seemed to repel plastic epoxy. 

I was on a deadline so I had to get some results fast. So in the cheap-fast-good modality, I had to move from cheap-good towards fast-good. ("good" not being optionable)

1. I "auditioned" a Joby Gorillamobile because I had to had to had to have something right away. I don't really like those Joby things. They seem super plastic-y and I've had no trouble popping them apart accidentally. I could barely keep from throwing up in my mouth a little bit over the fact that what I bought cost $39.99 . Insane. It worked fine, but what a ripoff, especially when you consider that they're getting away with selling individual products based on your device. (yes, separate expensive products for the iPhone 3G and the 4!). http://joby.com/gorillamobile/3g/
2. The same day, I fired up that Amazon Prime nag offer of a FREE month so that I could order this generic plastic cheapo ($4.60) and have it overnighted for $3.99. It had gotten really mixed reviews (mostly about its — hello — cheapness) but I have found it to be eminently suitable. Yes, one needs to be gentle with it, but it holds my phone (any smart phone b/c it's basically a big plastic clamp) and has a tripod screw. Win. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042J6VUS/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00
3. As a final fallback position, I also ordered the appealing i.Trek SupaMount, which arrived today. At $18.95, it was more than I was ONCE willing to pay, but increasingly seemed like it might be worth the money based on user reviews. I haven't used it yet, but I predict that it winds up being my favorite. It's built of reassuring steel (or maybe aluminum) and it's simplicity of approach appears to be … awesome? It's got TWO tripod mounts, set 90 degrees from one another. I like that. I haven't used this item yet, but it's certainly streamlined in a way that I can dig. It's essentially a vise, so it's usable with ANY smartphone (and I guess capable of breaking any smartphone if you accidentally crank it down too much) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LY553M/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Final note: some people mentioned that one that grew out of a Kickstarter project… the GLIF. I didn't like that one. $20 for a model-specific "shoe"-type mount that might likely become obsolete as soon as you decided to get a new phone.

Thanks to everybody for their suggestions here. Feel free to ask questions! I'll post back if my field test of the SupaMount yields any interesting data. (good or bad)

Final note: a question is begged here: is there no one manufacturing a cheap hard-plastic case for the world's most popular smartphone that has a tripod nut simply, discreetly machined into the side? If not, let's somebody here collaborate with me, CAD something up, and RUSH to market, motherfuckers.

Mick

[timk]

Oh hey, did you consider a rubber band design? None of these are what
I have in mind, but the first is the closest:

http://macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2001/03/23/qt_authoring.html?page=last&x-order=date
http://kazza.id.au/2011/04/jigsaw-madness.html
http://iphon-king.blogspot.com/2010/10/nearly-free-iphone-tripod-adapter.html

Side view:

||
/----||-
| O ||
\----||-
||

Where a rubber band is wrapped around a block or something attached to
the tripod, and around the phone, in a kind of U shape. Like you were
coupling pipes.

-Tim

[Dave]

--- On Fri, 4/20/12, timk <theat...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: timk <theat...@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: let's talk glue

> To: "Collexion" <coll...@googlegroups.com>
> Date: Friday, April 20, 2012, 12:45 PM
>
> Oh hey, did you consider a rubber band design? None of these are what

Ah, the mysterious rubber band. It exhibits a strange temperature effect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_band#Thermodynamics

Note, though, that most rubber bands are made from natural rubber,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber

and may be prone to both Ozone cracking and strain crystallization:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_cracking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strain_crystallization

:-)

> I have in mind, but the first is the closest:
>
> http://macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2001/03/23/qt_authoring.html?page=last&x-order=date
> http://kazza.id.au/2011/04/jigsaw-madness.html
> http://iphon-king.blogspot.com/2010/10/nearly-free-iphone-tripod-adapter.html
>
> Side view:
>
>      ||
> /----||-
> | O  ||
> \----||-
>      ||
>
> Where a rubber band is wrapped around a block or something attached to
> the tripod, and around the phone, in a kind of U shape. Like you were
> coupling pipes.
>
> -Tim

Dave

[Mick Jeffries]

tim: the rubber band man! 

i did dream of a rubber band holder, in fact, but the dream was hazy and beset by unicorns… i had to go with the commercial product to avoid being gored.

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[timk]

If your rubber bands wear out, get more! Just ask these guys:

http://hackedgadgets.com/2008/01/16/disintegrator-rubber-band-gun/

Rubber band vulcan cannon, twin barrels, 40 bands fired per second.

-Tim

[Mick Jeffries]

AW YEAH.

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