Gluing Pink Foam to Plywood

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hello;

What type of glue is best for gluing the pink foam to the plywood ?

Any help would be appreaciated.

Bill

2
  • PL-300 FOAM BOARD ADHESIVE
  • 10.2 filled ounces
  • Provides adhesion of foam to wood, fiberglass panels, concrete, brick, metal, and drywall
  • Permanently joins the foam to substrate without compromising
  • VOC compliant
  • Cartridge
    (Copied that from a web site)

Or any of the foamboard compatible adhesives. Three and a half bucks at most hardware stores.
Some construction glues melt the foam! Make sure that it’s made for the foamboard.

Adhesive caulk (not plain caulk) works almost as well and is a bit cheaper.

You will get many differing answers on this one, and they are probably are all good.

I don’t recomment white or yellow glue. They require air to dry and may require a very long time.

Good luck.

3

Cheap latex clear caulk for everything. I do use WS low temp glue gun when I am in a hurry. (ALWAYS) That also puts blocks of foam together nicely.

4

Art is correct. Latex caulk, the cheapest you can find, will do very well. Just draw a squiggly line over the surface on which you intend to glue the foam board, spread it fairly thin, maybe like mayonnaise, and then place your board. It won’t stick, so you can fiddle around with your positioning. Then, place stacks of magazines evenly over the board, and wait (or is that “weight”?) overnight. It will be well glued, and you can always remove it by shoving a thin metal shim under it to break the beads.

5

I’ve built several foam-based layouts and modules, and have tried just about everything I could get my hands on to glue foam. I’ve found that the best thing to use for foam to wood bonds is SILICONE caulk. The ammonia smell will knock you for a loop, but it’s the best adhesive I’ve found for that particular application.

I use latex caulk to glue down track, wood glue where I’ll be carving through the bond, and while glue for everything else.

6

Thanks for all the input, I will give those sugestions a try.

Bill

7

On my website I show you HOW to use simple white glue. It works. Try it out. Much cheaper then some other methods.

Hope it helps.

8

I have read these responses to your posted topic with considerable interest; I have never had occasion to glue pink foam to plywood - nor blue foam - nor red foam - nor green foam - nor any other color foam; in fact, as I have stated in numerous posts over the course of the past three and a half months, I have never used foam because I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND THE BLOOMIN’ STUFF WHEN I’VE GONE LOOKING FOR IT!!!

9

Bill, I’ve used nothing but Liquid Nails for Projects. It doesn’t eat foam and it’s less that 2 bucks a tube.

10

I do the same here.

11

Elmers yellow carpenters glue for plywood to plywood, plywood to foam, foam to foam, cat to foam… no, wait on that last one.??

12

Want to try an unbelievable adhesive? It’s cheap, easy to use, cleans up with water, holds foam to foam, foam to wood, plaster castings to wood or foam or plaster to plaster. It will hold as good as liquid nail and stronger and more flexable than carpenter’s glue.

Try ceramic tile adhesive. My son experimented w/ it for a school project- I wasn’t home yet and he needed to glue foam to plywood then add layers of foam on the base foam. Kind of sounds familiar doesn’t it. I saw it and thought it wouldn’t hold very well. This stuff worked better than anything else I have previously had used. Since then I’ll use it anytime I need to laminate foam on wood or place those hydrocal castings and small pieces glued between. For large areas, I use a notched trowel this allows for a good initial tack and the trapped air aids in drying. Glued areas weighted overnight are totally unseperable. For small spots, Cast portals, rocks walls, I use a small putty knife or a strip of wood shingle cut as a spatula just for the job being done. You can but the mastic in large buckets or in qt containers. Liquid nails in a caulking tube is easy to dispense and I still use it. But give the tile adhesive a try. It may only be an additional glue for a special use or you could use it as I do. I feel if it will hold ceramic tiles in a shower wall for close to 30 years there must be something good about it.

13

Ditto on the Liquid Nails- my first hollow-core door, I used the stuff, and it works like a charm.