I have a front panel for a PC that has broken. It's normally secured to
the metal chassis by driving screws from within the chassis into 3/4"
plastic posts that attach to the very front face of the front panel.
Two of those posts have been sheared off at their base.

I've superglued them, but I know that won't hold against any shearing
force, which they're bound to receive. Is there some product I can glob
onto the base of the posts to secure them?

That epoxiputty stuff sort of looks useful, but the only application I'm
reserving for that is to make a suppository for Billy Mays.

Grinder wrote:
I suspect that the plastic for most inexpensive case parts is plain old
styrene -- the same stuff that was used for plastic model planes and such.
As such, some of the cement that is used for plastic model construction
might well be a candidate. It does not so much glue the pieces together as
it does dissolve the surfaces allowing them to fuse together.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

"Grinder" <grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote in message
news:kZf8k.224389$yE1.124586@attbi_s21...
I was using Epoxy Putty long before Billy Mays ever heard of it.

I use some of it to adapt the one inch intake of a pump to the 1/2"
NPT PVC fittings I use for water cooling the computers in two back
bedrooms. I have used it to make custom waterblocks. It comes in
handy for green sand casting pattern adjustments/build ups.

I would just replace the original posts, with a couple of gobs of the
epoxy putty formed into posts with a little more substantial base.
Screw some wood screws in and out a few times while it is curing.

Or get a dowel the size of a machine screw you would want to use,
then loosely mount a matching nut on the dowel. Form the epoxy putty
gob over the dowel and nut. (Make sure the dowel can turn freely)
Put some waxed paper up to the mounting holes on your case and
press the part of the dowels sticking out through the waxed paper.
Now you just press fit everything together as you want it. Once it has
cured up a bit remove the dowels.

If the tubes Billy is selling are the same size as the ones I usually get,
then that isn't a bad price. (Which probably means I've been paying
too much.)

Luck;
Ken

On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:05:36 GMT, Grinder
<grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote:


I've never used epoxiputty, but have often used regular
epoxy on the base of studs to reattach them. If the sides
of the stud are also split out, tightly wrap thin (I use
CAT5 network cable wire with the insulation stripped off)
wire around it from almost but not quite the bottom of the
stud, up to the top then put the epoxy on. For this
application I usually use Devcon (quick set or ~ 5 minute?)
clear epoxy that comes in a double-barrel syringe at the
local hardware store.

Grinder wrote:
I ended up using an epoxy from the makers of J-B weld. The posts were
in good shape, other than being snapped off at the base. Since they
were very close to the sides of the front panel, I was able to glob a
fair amount of epoxy in there as well.

Thanks for the comments--especially Ken. I had pretty much assumed that
putty was a gimmick, but might try it now.

http://paint-and-supplies.hardwarest...ge-140913.aspx

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:16:57 GMT, Grinder
<grinder@no.spam.maam.com> wrote:

I'm amazed how stingy they are to provide only 0.2 oz. in
the above link. Normally I find 1 to 4 oz products at the
hardware stores.

Grinder wrote:
The latest Consumer Reports has a brief article about Mighty Putty
(the Billy Mays stuff), Devcon Plastic Steel, Loctite Sumo Glue, and
Elmer's Ultimate. All worked well, but the last three worked better
than Mighty Putty and were cheaper. However the plastic used for PC
case front panels is almost always ABS, and it's best bonded with
solvent, such as lacquer thinner, carburetor/throttle body cleaner, or
PVC pipe glue. If the plastic post didn't sheer off flush, you can
reinforce it with some thinwall metal tubing (brass, aluminum, steel
from a hobby shop or real hardware store) epoxied over it.

"larry moe 'n curly" <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:fd0972a5-f0f0-4a9b-b02f-83005cfe8e73@v26g2000prm.googlegroups.com...
---------------------------------------
Those "last three" are simple Epoxy glues, the Epoxy Putties (and
there are plenty of them besides this Mighty Putty) are not just glue.
There are a number of different formulations used in auto repair, for
instance. There are a number of formulations used in the plumbing
field. It is a common and useful aid to Marine repairs. Some use
metal fillers, some plastic. "QuikSteel" is a well known example.
http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Serv...xy%20Putty.htm
http://www.andax.com/epoxy-putty.aspx
http://epoxygator.com/
http://www.tsground.com/
http://www.dawginc.com/secondary-spi...pair-putty.php
http://www.verick.com/data_maintenance02.htm including Titanium Putty.
http://www.parkeryamaha.com/browsepr...utty-2oz..html

As for Billy's Putty:
http://www.diylife.com/2008/01/08/bi...under-the-sun/

The stuff I've used has always worked.
--------------------------------------

On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:07:57 -0500, "Ken Maltby"
<kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

While this might be true, the difference isn't very
significant. If the area to which the epoxy is applied is
thoroughly cleaned first (rubbing alcohol will do fine) any
generic epoxy should suffice, and has done fine for many
repairs I've done.

One thing to consider is you don't actually want an epoxy
that becomes *very* hard, because it's bonding two parts
that flex. The greater the difference between the epoxy and
the parts, the more likely a stress would separate the bond
between them.


For me it comes down to cost and convenience. Any decent
larger hardware store should have something that works and
doesn't cost much. With extreme repairs what I find works
better than a certain type of epoxy is to put fiberglass
matting over the first layer saturated in epoxy. This is
seldom needed for a simple case bezel stud repair, if the
force were enough to make a difference then it would tend to
break off the other studs before the newly repaired one. On
that thought, I suppose if someone were being really
thorough they might went to reinforce all the studs while
the bezel was off, at least others molded in such a way to
have a similar vulnerability.

"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:hh3j641ulqp41hq2db1942k9n04k2u04hh@4ax.com...
There are of course plenty of ways to address such a job,
each might have it's own advantages and disadvantages. A
lot can depend on the tools and practices your experience
has left you with, i.e. what's on hand. What's "convenient"
certainly is effected by that.

You could epoxy putty a bolt and form the putty to match
the required standoff height.

You could epoxy putty a standoff and form the putty to match
the required standoff height.

You could use epoxy putty to add some real reinforcement
to the stressed plastic parts, (even Billy's Putty should work for
that). It would be somewhat easier than epoxying fiberglass
mat, for many. ( Any first grader knows the basics of working
with the putty, it is just like modeling clay.)

Or you could do it in any number of other ways, using
whatever materials and tools that work for you.

Luck;
Ken