speaker cabinet - covering adhesive

[S&L]

Hi All,

I have just taken position of a nice pair of adlib speakers that are in a shocking cosmetic state and I need an appropriate carpet to ply adhesive. I also have a couple of old subs with vinyl covering which is brittle now and pealing.

I'm looking for an adhesive for each (or one adhesive taht will do both well?) and wondered if anyone has had any successful glueing experiences?!

[ramdram]

Contact adhesive as in Evostik:

 

http://www.bostik.co.uk/diy/brand/EVO-STIK

 

You could try a tiny piece of carpet to a piece of ply; buy a small tube sort of thing and test the result.

 

A word of caution...as in all these systems it is wise to follow their method statement/instructions to the letter. If they say let the glue dry off for 15 mins before mating the surfaces then do just that.

 

If you make a mistake and try to realign the carpet then you will see just how good the bond was...

 

HTH

[Mixermend]

Probably easiest to use a spray type adhesive - find the sort that carpet fitters use?

[bruce]

Something like http://www.screwfix.com/p/evo-stik-carpet-spray-adhesive-500ml/84881 ?

[Simon Lewis]

If it's a whole pair of cabs that need re coating, then I prefer using the original Evo Stick contact adhesive and a spreader. Use it outdoors or in a well ventillated place. The water based versions seem to be about as strong as the glue on a post it note...

[Whizzzy]

For the vinyl covering use a PVA adhesive, something like Unibond. Either work inside a warm room or go outside on a nice sunny day as this helps to soften the vinyl and allows the PVA dry a little quicker. As PVA takes a little time to dry it means that it gives you more working time to sort out joins and corners etc. The down side is that you may need strips of gaffa or masking tape to hold things in place for half an hour or so whilst it dries. However once it has dried you will get a much better bond to the wood surface than with any contact adhesive. PVA also allows you to get glue right to edge of any join as it can be easily wiped off with a damp rag.

 

For carpet covering use a contact adhesive; I use both Thixofix and a spray. Spread the liquid adhesive onto the cabinet and allow it to almost dry and then use the spray adhesive onto the surface of the carpet. When that's well on its way to drying position the carpet onto the cab and press them together. Using these sorts of adhesive doesn't allow you any working time as once the carpet is put onto the cab then that's it, it's stuck, so make sure you get it positioned correctly in the first instance. If you prefer you can use the spray adhesive on both the cab and carpet surfaces however it gets quite expensive to do it this way as you will get through quite a few cans of the stuff. However don't do it the other way round and use Thixofix or Evo on the cab and carpet surfaces as it's very easy to apply too much to the surface of the carpet and then it soaks through and will be seen on the finished cab. If this happens it is very difficult to rectify. Both the cab and the carpet surfaces need to be coated with the adhesive as applying it to only one surface doesn't usually give you a strong enough bond. With carpet it does take a few attempts to ensure that enough adhesive has been applied to get a strong bond but at the same time not using too much as it can come through the carpet material and look a mess.

 

Needless to say if you are working with any contact adhesive either work outside or in a very well ventilated space! It's good fun covering cabinets and very self satisfying if you do a good job. Good luck.

[Jivemaster]

Vinyl goes on with a water based adhesive inc copydex and PVA, Carpet goes on best with original solvent smelly Evo-Stik.

 

The migrating solvent of evo-stik will ruin vinyl -don't try it it's messy.