Glue for Paper and Cardboard. Paper and cardboard bond well with a starch paste. To make the paste, use potato or corn starch, or wheat, corn, or rye flour. To prepare the starch paste, mix 60 g of corn or potato starch into a cup (200 g) of cold water. While stirring briskly, gradually add four cups (0.8 liters) of boiling water. The starch will gelatinize, forming a transparent, sticky paste. To prevent the paste from separating, add 20–30 g of borax. To protect against mold, add a teaspoon of carbolic water (available at pharmacies) for every liter of paste.
You can also make paste from wheat flour: mix 150 g of flour with warm water to create a thin batter. Then, while stirring, gradually add 0.8 liters (4 cups) of boiling water. To prevent mold, add either carbolic water or 30 g of alum. The paste gains greater adhesive strength if you add 20 to 50% dextrin glue. Dissolve dextrin in an equal amount of boiling water. Dextrin slightly alters the color of the mixed paste. If alum is added, neutralize the acidity that forms by adding chalk (tooth powder) in an amount equal to the alum; the tooth powder also whitens the paste. Store the paste in a sealed container.
Photographic Glue is prepared as follows: in a clean half-liter tin can, add 30 g of potato starch and gradually mix in 100 g of warm water, then add another 300 g of boiling water. Separately, dissolve 20 g of alum in 100 g of hot water. Pour the alum solution into the paste and mix well. After half an hour, add 20 g of tooth powder and a few grains (on the tip of a knife) of laundry bluing, mixing thoroughly. Transfer the cooled glue from the tin can to a glass jar. Make a cover by soaking two or three sheets of cellophane in warm water, taking care not to tear them. Place the soaked cellophane, folded in several layers, over the rim of the jar, press it down to fit the neck, and tie it with twine below the upper edge. The cellophane dries, tightens, and seals the jar, preventing the glue from drying out. Trim any uneven edges of the cellophane lid with scissors. To remove the lid, gently detach it from the rim of the jar.
The glue for photographs should be colorless or white, well preserved (not moldy or separating), and should spread in an even thin layer without acidity.
Glue for Glass, Porcelain, and Faience. Liquid glass, sold in hardware stores as silicate glue or liquid silicate, is an excellent adhesive for glass and porcelain. Mix one tablespoon of this glue with one teaspoon of tooth powder, and apply the resulting mixture to the edges of the break. Join the glued parts and tie them with string. After twelve hours, this glue hardens and bonds the parts securely. This glue is suitable for decorative items that are not exposed to moisture.
Casein Glue for Glass and Porcelain. Mix half a cup of curd made from skim milk with one tablespoon of ammonia. The curd dissolves easily in ammonia, forming a translucent, sticky liquid with good adhesive properties. Make this glue in small batches, as it thickens and cannot be re-dissolved after storage. Instead of ammonia, add 5 g of borax dissolved in a quarter cup of warm water to 100 g of curd. This substitution does not degrade the quality of the glue.
Glue for Repairing Antiques and Other Valuable Items. When valuable items break, dental cement can be used for repairs. Clean and wipe the broken parts with alcohol or cologne. Sprinkle a little cement powder on a glass plate and add a few drops of its solvent. Quickly apply the resulting paste to the edges of the break, join the parts, and tie the item with string. The cement sets in about two hours.
BF-2 Glue is used for bonding items made of porcelain, faience, wood, metal, and some plastics. Do not use it for items made of celluloid, polyvinyl chloride, acrylic (organic glass), or polystyrene. When gluing, thoroughly clean the break line of dirt, dust, rust, and grease, and dry it.
Apply a first thin layer of glue to the prepared surfaces and allow it to dry (do not heat). Then apply a second layer, and when it is slightly dry, join the glued parts and bind them tightly with string or twine. For stronger adhesion, heat the item at 100–150°C for 1.5–2 hours, then allow it to cool to room temperature before removing the twine. You can also glue without subsequent heating, but in that case leave the twine in place for 3–4 days; the joint will be less durable.
Wood Glue. The best glue for wood is carpenter’s glue. To use it, soak a block of carpenter’s glue in cold water for 12 hours. After that, drain the excess water and place the remaining mass in hot water. To obtain a viscous solution, simmer the carpenter’s glue without boiling. Heating above 80°C will degrade the glue’s properties.
You can also prepare a carpenter’s glue that does not need heating before use. Soak a block of carpenter’s glue in vinegar essence diluted 1:1 with cold water. After twelve hours of swelling, drain the excess liquid and dissolve the glue over low heat. In warm conditions this glue remains liquid for a long time, but it may thicken at low temperatures; in winter, add a little vinegar essence to thin it. Determine the amount of essence needed experimentally. This glue bonds various items securely. Store it in a tightly sealed container.
Water-resistant wood glue can be made from curd. To nonfat curd, add an equal-parts mixture of silicate glue and ammonia and mix until a sticky mass forms. Adjust the glue’s consistency by increasing or decreasing the amount of the dissolving mixture. This glue swells in water but does not dissolve; it is used for bonding furniture parts. Over time, the glue will lose its properties.
Filler for Furniture and Floors. To conceal small defects in furniture, use a filler made from sifted wood shavings and an adhesive solution. Sift the shavings and mix them with a hot solution of a block of carpenter’s glue or with liquid silicate glue. Silicate-chalk or casein glue can also be used. Add the shavings to the glue while stirring until you obtain a thick filler.
Before use, warm the filler made with carpenter’s glue slightly in a container placed in hot water. After applying the filler to the repaired item, allow it to dry for a week; then sand it with sandpaper and varnish. For a large crack in furniture, do the following: place a piece of paper over the defect and press it down firmly to get the outline of the defective area on the paper. After removing the paper, trace the outline with a pencil. Cut a piece of wood in the appropriate shape from suitable timber, slightly sanding the bottom to a cone shape. Clean the defective area of dirt and dust, moisten it with hot water and hot glue.
Coat the prepared piece of wood with hot glue and place it into the crack, securing it with a weight or small nails. The next day, sand the repaired area, touch up the color to match the wood, and varnish or polish it.
If a part of the furniture has come unglued, disassemble the parts that need gluing, remove old glue residues, and wipe them with a cloth soaked in hot water. Coat the parts with hot carpenter’s glue and put them back in place. Secure the parts temporarily by tying them with strong twine or driving in thin nails. If the wood has dried out and a gap has formed between the tenon and the mortise, glue a small piece of gauze onto the tenon, join the parts, and secure them temporarily. After drying, trim the protruding ends of the gauze. Hot carpenter’s glue bonds wood best; alternatives include BF-2 glue or casein glue as described above.
Prepare a sugar-lime solution by heating 120 g of sugar dissolved in two cups of water for an hour while stirring, then add 30 g of slaked lime. After settling, drain the liquid. Place pieces of carpenter’s glue into the sugar-lime liquid. After twelve hours, drain the excess liquid that has not been absorbed by the glue (it can be reused), and dissolve the swollen glue over low heat. The resulting syrupy liquid has excellent adhesive properties and remains liquid at any temperature.
Mix the liquid glue with sifted wood shavings to form a thick paste. Use the paste to fill defects in wooden furniture parts. If the legs of a chair or table have become loose, remove them from the mortises. Clean the tenons and mortises of old glue residues, coat them with wood filler, and reinsert the legs. Bind them temporarily. After one to two days the glue fully hardens.
After filling defects, sand down any glue drips. Sugar-lime glue does not rot or mold and can be used without heating after long storage.
Fill gaps in a dried wooden floor with a filler made from equal parts sifted chalk and wood shavings, mixed with a liquid mixture of natural linseed oil and a thick glue solution, taken in equal proportions. For making floor filler, use only warm carpenter’s glue solution. You can wash the floors after filling the gaps in 10–12 days.
Repairing Rubber Items. Rubber items should be glued only with rubber glue. Clean the area around the damage with a file or sandpaper, and wipe the cleaned area with gasoline. The patch should be slightly larger than the damaged area. Clean the patch and wipe it with gasoline as well. Apply glue to both the patch and the damaged area and let it dry thoroughly. Then apply glue a second time and let it dry again. Glue the parts only after the glue has dried. If the patch is applied with wet glue, gasoline vapors will prevent a secure bond. Place glued rubber items under a small weight. Trim the edges of the patch on the front side. Store rubber glue in a container with a tightly fitting lid. Dried rubber glue can be dissolved in high-grade gasoline.
Celluloid Items are glued with acetone or nail polish remover. There is also a special solvent for nitro lacquer available for purchase that can be used successfully for gluing celluloid. Apply the solvent to the edges of the break and, without allowing them to dry, join the parts. You can make celluloid glue at home by dissolving washed and dried film in acetone or nitro lacquer remover. Use 15–17 g of film for every 100 g of solvent. The celluloid items to be glued must be clean and dry.
Repairing Plastic Items. Dichloroethane serves as the adhesive for polyvinyl chloride items and acrylic (organic glass) products. Since using it at home is difficult, have polyvinyl chloride items repaired in specialized workshops.
Items Made of Carbolite are glued with BF-2 glue.
Filler for Aquariums. Heat small pieces of glass strongly on a gas burner or stove and then throw them into cold water. This makes the glass brittle so it can be crushed into glass powder. Sift the crushed glass, and mix equal parts of cement and oil varnish. Apply the resulting sticky mass (filler) to the glued parts of the aquarium; the aquarium can be filled with water after ten days.
Instead of cement, dry zinc white can be used in the same quantity. If the filler is too thick, thin it with oil varnish. Prepare the filler just before use, as it thickens quickly.
Composition for Strengthening Knife Handles. Melt 100 g of rosin, 25 g of powdered sulfur, and 40 g of clean sifted iron filings. Heat the mixture and pour it into the handle hole of the knife, then insert the hot knife and allow it to cool.
Filler for Damp Walls. Apply filler to damp walls on a hot summer day, when the walls contain relatively little moisture. To prepare the filler, melt 10 kg of bitumen or asphalt. Add 1 liter of kerosene, 5 kg of fine sifted dry sand, and 5 kg of crushed and sifted brick powder to the melted bitumen. The filler should be hot; exercise caution when working with fire. Coat not only the damp areas on the walls but also the nearby dry areas. After coating, nail dry plaster or plywood sheets to the walls; these sheets can also be coated with asphalt filler on the inside.
Filler for Stoves. To prevent stove filler from cracking under high heat, add 5% (by weight) of crushed asbestos fiber to the regular clay mixture. Make the fiber from unusable asbestos gaskets by soaking them in warm water and kneading by hand until a paste is formed, then add it to the clay.
Iron Filler for Stove Doors. Mix 1 kg of clean sifted iron filings with 20 g of powdered ammonia, 100 g of slaked lime, and 100 g of liquid glass (liquid glass, if not available for purchase, can be found in hardware stores as washing silicate or silicate glue). The dried filler withstands high temperatures.
Filler for Securing Iron in Stone. Mix 100 g of clean sifted iron filings with 300 g of regular gypsum and 5 g of powdered ammonia. Dilute the powdered mixture with table vinegar to form a paste and use it immediately. The hardened filler securely holds metal inserts in stone items.
Garden Filler and Tar. Melt 0.5 kg of bitumen (sold in hardware stores as boot tar) with 100 g of turpentine, and add 400 g of dry sifted ochre to the mixture. Pour the filler into a tin can where it will harden. Before use, gently heat the filler over low heat. Store garden filler in a sealed container.
Garden tar differs from garden filler in its greater viscosity and is used for sealing wounds in living wood. Prepare garden tar by melting equal parts of paraffin and bitumen over low heat; for every kilogram of the mixture, add 250 g of sifted dry ochre or clay while stirring. Use it warm.
Soldering. For soldering, use a tin-lead alloy in a ratio of 1:2; this alloy is called “third.” The tool for soldering is a soldering iron made of red copper. In household conditions, electric soldering irons are mainly used. Treat the soldering area with zinc chloride (pickling acid). To prepare pickling acid, add pieces of metallic zinc to a glass container with technical hydrochloric acid (available in hardware or chemical supply stores). Be cautious when making pickling acid with zinc, as hydrogen bubbles form during the process. Gradually the acid becomes saturated, the bubbles stop forming, and the zinc stops dissolving; this indicates the end of the reaction.
The soldering flux used is ammonium chloride (sold in block or powder form); do not confuse this with liquid ammonia. Clean the soldering iron; if it is not electric, clean the tip with a file. Begin soldering by applying pickling acid to the area to be soldered. Heat the soldering iron on a stove or gas burner. The soldering iron is sufficiently hot when it melts a piece of solder—”third.” Draw the cleaned hot soldering iron across the ammonium chloride, which will smoke. Then touch it to a piece of tin so the tip becomes tinned. Pick up a piece of solder on the tinned tip, draw it across the ammonium chloride, and apply it to the parts that have been coated with acid. The solder will spread and form a joint. When soldering with rosin, dip the cleaned and heated tip of the soldering iron into rosin, which melts; the tip will pick up a drop of solder that can be transferred to the joint and drawn along the solder seam. Heat the parts being soldered with the soldering iron before applying the solder. To prevent the metal from cooling too quickly, place the parts on a board.
Before soldering, clean the parts to be joined of grease, dirt, rust, and other contaminants. After soldering with acid, wipe the seam with a damp cloth and then dry it thoroughly. You can also wipe the seam with a soda solution; soda neutralizes the acid and helps prevent rust at the solder joint.
Soldering Aluminum. Soldering aluminum is more difficult than soldering tin, copper, or brass. Heat the parts to be soldered and wipe them with asbestos, sanding powder, bits of solder, and rosin. Sanding removes the oxide that forms on aluminum and prevents the solder from adhering. Cover the cleaned aluminum surface with a thin layer of melted rosin and solder to prevent oxidation. Once tinned, soldering aluminum can be done by the usual method.
Solder Paste. Solder paste makes soldering small items, wires, and other electrical and radio connections easier. To prepare the paste, melt the solder and pour the liquid metal into a dense cloth, then roll this bundle on the table. As it cools the metal breaks down; sift the solder powder, and remelt and crush any larger pieces. Mix the powdered solder with an equal volume of glycerin to create the paste. Apply a small amount to the soldering area and work it with a hot, previously cleaned soldering iron.
