How to stop Loctite sticking where it isn’t wanted?

[roger61Participant @roger61]

Hi all – I want to Loctite my loco wheels to the axles, but for one axle there are bronze axle boxes also on the axle, and very little clearance between the outside of each axle box and the inner face of the wheel. Because of the crank axle and eccentrics, the axle box can’t be moved along the axle away from the wheel. This is a 5″ gauge Merchant Navy, FWIW.

Can anyone suggest a way of stopping any excess Loctite from bonding the axle box to the wheel (or to the axle)? My only thought is make sure the surfaces I want to stick are very clean, and the other surfaces are nice and greasy. Also to try not to have excess Loctite! Any other thoughts? Thanks!

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Put the glue in the hole. Cure ‘face-down’.

[Brian Baker 2Participant @brianbaker2]

Greetings, A ring of typewriter correction fluid, or nail varnish both work well, or just a wipe round with a trace of grease.

Regards

Brian B

[roger61Participant @roger61]

Thanks for the suggestions. I couldn’t use gravity in this case – I needed the axle mounted between centres on the lathe for wheel quartering.

Brian – nail varnish is a great idea. It stays where it’s put (unlike grease), and a bit of an experiment showed that dry varnish will resist Loctite (620) for at least a couple of hours. Afterwards a quick rinse with acetone removes the varnish but doesn’t kill the cured bond. Success!

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