Loose formica on aluminum frame

Tom Althoff · Post by **Tom Althoff** » 28 Jan 2004 5:52 am

I suppose I should be asking this in the Kitchen Cabinet area of the Home Depot website.

I have 3 places on my Sierra Session D-10 where the formica is coming loose. Two on the neck between the pickups and changer and the front face with the brand logo.

Am I wrong to think that the formica has heat activated glue on the back?

Can anyone suggest a procedure for ironing the laminate back in place?

A piece of cloth between the iron and the formica? What temperature setting?

Also... On the front panel the formica is attached directly to the aluminum..a giant heat sink. Since the logo seems to be peel off/stick-on pinstriping tape I hesitate heating up the formica from the front. Would it make sense to heat the aluminum panel from the back so that the glue melts before the logo trim?

Or should I just use a dab of glue/contact cement and forget the heat?

Steven Black · Post by **Steven Black** » 28 Jan 2004 12:43 pm

you might want to use a glue gun to restick the formica, the glue gun will heat the glue up for you so you can put a little behind the formica where it is loose, but if it is loose in the middle and not on a edge then you might have to remove the formica and re-glue it with the glue gun and reclamp formica
until it dries or cools. steveb.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 28 Jan 2004 12:56 pm

I'd pull it loose if I were you and reattach it with "contact" cement.
Erv

Terry Hickey · Post by **Terry Hickey** » 28 Jan 2004 5:39 pm

Tom,
If the area is not so large why not use a cynoacrelate(Crazy glue). It is durable and is easy to use and almost instant setting(no clamps)and also requires no heat.You must be sure of your alignment though as it is fast acting. Bond is excellent if used properly.

Thanks Terry<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Terry Hickey on 28 January 2004 at 05:39 PM.]</p></FONT>

Tom Althoff · Post by **Tom Althoff** » 28 Jan 2004 5:57 pm

I was hoping to duplicate the method used at the factory but I'm not fussy.

I'm going to do a little tugging on the front panel. If it comes off cleanly and easily I may just go with the contact cement method.

If it doesn't seem to want come off easily I'll just do a dab of the crazy glue at the appropriate places and press firmly until it bonds.

Thanks all!

Tommy Mc · Post by **Tommy Mc** » 2 Feb 2004 8:15 pm

Tom, I worked in a Formica shop for a few years. We used spray contact cement for all our custom work. It is the adhesive of choice for formica....can't vouch for it's acoustic properties though. That wasn't an issue with countertops......