My son has a plaster fish that sits on his bookshelf. I dropped it this morning and the tail broke off in two places. What can I use to glue this back together so that it doesn’t have a big gap where it is glued together? I’m pretty sure white glue won’t hold, and I don’t want to use plaster because that would make the gap pretty big. Any of you guys or gals ever tried to glue plaster together?
Thanks, and please forgive the off-topic question, but I figured somebody in here would know the answer.
I have found that methyl-ethyl ketone works wonders. My wife painted up one of those ceramic Christmas trees when she was in that phase many years ago, and the base got broken into about three pieces, two very large and one much smaller. I had some goop left over from recently installing the PVC tubing for a built-in vacuum system, and decided that I had nothing to lose. It remains fast and sturdy to this day.
I think selector is thinking you’re working with plastic, instead of plaster. MEK will not work on plaster. It is an industrial stength plastic solvent. Handle with care.
<>I agree that CA (or cyanoarcylate) glue, AKA “superglue” will work best for fixing your son’s plaster casting. Keep the CA glue away from the edge of the break so that the extra doesn’t bleed out and spoil the finish along the crack. You can mix a little plaster to fill any gaps that may have chipped off an been lost, if that is needed, but just be sure to wet the original plaster surface for good adhesion with your patching mix.
Yes, MEK is great on styrene, but it also works on ceramic. I can’t say that it will work on plaster, but it is worth a try. Perhaps a little test to see…nothing ventured, nothing gained. I mean, if it is handy, try it, but don’t go out for it exclusive to contact cement or more plaster.
Warning on Gorilla glue. It will work BUT. you must wet both surfaces and then use VEERRY little. It will foam out the edge and be very difficult to clean off.
Art, By wet you mean with glue or water ? I’ve never had to do either but I agree to use sparingly. I’ve also had it foam out but been able to use an Exacto kinfe and scrape/cut it off.
I use Tacky Glue, a thick and super sticky version of white glue. You can find it in the craft section of Walmart or at any craft shop. You’ll want to use some masking tape or something to hold the pieces together until the glue sets.
I have used Gorilla Glue with great success on gluing cardboard to plastic, plaster to plaster, wood to wood, metal to plastic…
There was a small angel hand broken from a ceramic angel. A thin drop of “GG” was placed on each piece to be attached to each other. The pieces were held in place with some cut-to-size duct tape strips. The next day, what little foaming expansion occurred was easy to trim with a utility knife. This was kind of like setting a cast for a broken wrist. The angel arm extends out from the figure, and you would never know it was once broken.
Another project was to repair a belt loop held in place to dry with a clamp. Any of the dry light tan “GG” that was visible was easily stained with a Sharpie magic marker.
Just enough is the word on “GG” as very little “GG” to be applied is always the key.
P.S.: There is also Gorilla Tape that is a superior solution than duct tape when you need a better sense of permanancy.