How to Glue Anything to Anything

One time, in an interview, I was asked, “What’s the connection between all the styles of crafts and projects you feature on ManMade? What makes them of a kind?” After thinking for a second, it occurred to me that most of the things I’m interested in involve a similar process: take some materials, cut them up into different shapes and sizes, and then put them together in a more interesting way. Sometimes we do that with joinery, or hardware, or a sauce, but often, that work involves the magical power of…. adhesives.

When you’re working with a single medium, the decision (more or less) made for you. Working wood? Use wood glue. Attaching leather? Opt for contact cement designed for just that task. But what happens when you start to mix your media?

Our friends at Makezine have come up with this exhaustive and super handy chart that will help you adhere almost anything to anything. James Burke says,

For years I wondered why all my beautiful small-scale models kept falling apart. I underestimated the most important factor: adhesive. You can glue almost everything with super glue — but some materials just won’t stay together. Is it possible to glue rubber to glass? Will plastic stick to wood? Once you mix several different materials, it can get really confusing. For those moments it’s convenient to have a handy table that gives a quick overview.

Handy and quick, indeed. Print it out and hang it over your bench and get back to making. 

Get the full resolution version at Makezine. And don’t forget this DIY classic, which I’m happy to see is still up and totally unchanged since I first discovered it more than ten years ago: ThistoThat.com