Fastener supplier offers adhesives too

The new range includes super glues (cyanoacrylate) contact adhesives and anaerobic locking and sealing compounds that provide a strong, secure bond between a wide range of materials including metal, rubber and plastics. The super glues are suitable for a wide range of applications including glazing, electronics and engineering. The AD-TAC contact adhesive is suitable for general purpose applications such as wood lamination. The coloured locking and sealing adhesives are best suited for bonding metallic fasteners such as screws, nuts and studs. 'Screwlock' is for non-permanent bonds on fasteners of 6mm or less, 'Nutlock' is ideal for larger fasteners of between 6 and 19mm, while 'Studlock' is for the permanent locking of fasteners of 25mm or larger. The range also includes adhesives for sealing pipes, gaskets and close fitting cylindrical assemblies. Anixter Components Headline: Trailer maker cuts costs with adhesive [no pics] Advanced adhesive tapes are helping a trailer manufacturer optimise long term reliability while cutting costs and saving weight. Mansfield-based SDC Trailers turned to adhesives specialist 3M after deciding to replace mechanical fasteners on its trailer bodies with adhesives. "Our trailers used to be constructed using hundreds of pop rivets and other mechanical fasteners," explained Tony Sturgess, chief design engineer at SDC. "Not only did that mean a lot of labour content, drilling all those holes, but you also had to ensure they were all weatherproof. We were sure we could find a better approach, so we started to explore a range of alternative methods." SDC's solution was to develop a novel 'snap-lok' aluminium plank system, consisting of custom designed aluminium panels that can be clipped together to form a strong, rigid structure without the need for rivets. "Obviously, we still need to weatherproof our designs, particularly at the roof joints," explained Sturgess. "We explored the use of double-sided adhesive tapes for the job, but the products we tested suffered from environmental degradation over time. In use, they began to stretch and creep, which just wasn't good enough." So SDC took its problem to 3M. As Sturgess commented: "All the roof bars on our box vans and curtain siders are now bonded using 3M High Performance Acrylic Foam Tape." According to Sturgess, SDC has started working with 3M on a range of other applications for adhesive tapes in trailer production. "So far, we've seen some impressive results on tests using new construction methods in the lab," he continued. "Now we need to work to replicate these on our production lines. We're also looking at introducing some automated dispensing equipment to cut even more time out of the manufacturing process." 3M Headline: Adhesive solves ski boot problem [pic on server] Italian Olympic skier Giorgio Rocca used adhesives on a pair of damaged ski boots before winning the gold medal at the Men's World Cup event at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. The boots were specially designed to mould securely around his feet at half a size shorter than his normal shoes, making ski manoeuvres easier. A run in a brand new pair proved uncomfortable, with potentially worrying implications for Rocca's performance, so emergency action was required to repair his old favourites before the second and final leg of the competition. The boots play a critical role in transferring commands from the skier to the ski. It is common for the inner shoe of the boot to be cut close to the foot contours, to save space yet allow for good blood circulation. The multi-purpose 'Araldite' adhesive used by Rocca has excellent bonding strength, is fast curing and easy to apply.