Visco with various adhesives?

[DrJones]

Of course water-base adhesives tend to penetrate and ruin visco, but I wonder if other adhesives might penetrate 1/8" green American visco and break the train of fire. I'm only seeking to use a tiny dab of adhesive (instead of masking tape, for various reasons) where the visco enters the small mortar or other device. Assuming the hot-glue gun is unplugged, is there any reason to NOT use a dab of hot glue to fix visco in place? How about Duco-type glues? Better choices?

Thanks

Edward

[SharkWhisperer]

Hot glue works fine. Many use it. Duco makes a variety of household cements, including NC based, most of which i consider essentially useless for pyro construction, though it does have utility in model building, e.g., gluing fiberglass sheeting to flat surface structures like gliders, but flammability probably not a desirable trait for rocket fins and most pyro applications. You might decide otherwise. Duco Household uses acetone as the primary solvent and NC (celluloid) as the "glue". Another source of NC lacquer for ya, in a pinch and at a cost, though zero idea of nitration status--likely low. Is Visco resistant to acetone?

 

Fuse is cheap. So's glue. You can answer queries about specific glue utility by quickly testing compatibility yourself. Your findings will be interesting.

 

Might reinforce fuse holes with sodium silicate solution to reduce burn damage.

Edited March 18, 2021 by SharkWhisperer

[Carbon796]

Duco cement can be useful on the comp side of pyro, rather than the construction side.

[mabuse00]

Hot glue, especially when very hot, can cause a visco to fail when the distance through the glue is very long or the visco is moved around while the glue is still hot.

 

I don't know If it's available where you live, but I use some low temperature hot glue for years now. It stays liquid longer/at lower temperatures, so you can umplug early and reduce the thermal stress on visco and also other things.

[SharkWhisperer]

Duco cement can be useful on the comp side of pyro, rather than the construction side.

At the glue's price-point, what do you use it for besides as a possible (and expensive) NC lacquer substitute?

[SharkWhisperer]

Hot glue, especially when very hot, can cause a visco to fail when the distance through the glue is very long or the visco is moved around while the glue is still hot.

 

I don't know If it's available where you live, but I use some low temperature hot glue for years now. It stays liquid longer/at lower temperatures, so you can umplug early and reduce the thermal stress on visco and also other things.

I've never experienced that fire-quenching issue with hot glue and Visco, but my hot glue sticks are pretty low temp...think cheapest dollar store variety. There's a lot of different hot glues available, with different physical/flammability/fire quenching characteristics, and a comparative chart probably exists someplace that I'm unaware of.

 

But I can definitively say that I've had 100% reliability using a small amount of it (how much do you really need?) to provide a reasonably durable anchor of the fuse into holes in cardboard tubes used for ground effects.

[Kevisima]

I think you'll be safe with most hot glues but I honestly have not tried it.

One thing I can say is so many of us overlook the versatility, economy, and practicality of Elmer's Glue. In this example, it dries fast and will not affect the fuse or base or the tube. Let it dry until it's clear and you've got a solid bond. I even use it to close all types of devices including salutes. The only caveat here is that a end plug will take 3 days to dry completely, but if you're in no hurry, it's great. Also, look on the bottle front for the extra strong version, not the other types available to school children and crafts. Try it. You wont be disappointed.

If you must have immediate results, nothing is better than hot glue for this application with the possible exception of water glass, which can be good once you're set up and know what you're doing.

Again, to be 100% safe, I think using hotglue outside would be a good idea.

[Richtee]

The shitty “small” visco is affected by water based glues. The real .125” fuse is typically not. I had to shellac the small stuff for time fuse in the .45 cal mortar rounds. Annoying.