3M Fastbond 30NF

[JohnF]

I've been researching covering systems. I'm drawn to the idea of low VOC technologies and if I could feel safe covering/finishing on the dining room table with my kids/grandkids watching - all the better.

Oratex and Stewart Systems are two such choices - both having many examples of success.

In my research of Stewart Systems I learned that many like the EkoBond glue; a waterborne neoprene based contact cement. I also read a bunch about the 3M FastBond 30NF contact cement with some people opining that it is the same. The color choices, smell, and MSDS contents supporting such.

Although I ran across many that say they use it and all claim success what I couldn't find was technical data to support it as a replacement choice. I did find one post where a gentleman performed a comparative peel test.

DISCLAIMER: STC holders are held to a standard that does not allow them to modify the formula. Cabinet maker suppliers concentrate on a performance standard. Do not take my data as an indication that your bottle of glue will in any way perform similarly. If you choose to venture away from official airplane products decide on the performance standards you desire and test for yourself.

Okay, so I bought a bottle of 3M FastBond 30NF in natural. I couldn't find a strength standard specifically but from gleaning through many conversation I found that EkoBond has a peel strength of 6lbs for a 1 inch width strip. (from Jason of Stewart Systems in the Stewart Systems forums) I learned that the strength of EkoBond tested that passed the FAA testing requires a 1 inch glue overlap of fabric on fabric. (The STC and from Stewart Systems forum and youtube videos) I couldn't find anything about how strong the overlapped glue joint needed to be but I found that the FAA requires new medium fabric to pass a test where a 1 inch strip must support greater than 65 lbs.

I set out to do some experimenting. The first picture shows a 1 inch overlap glue joint - the fabric is PolyFiber Medium-3. I wiped it clean figuring this would be the worst case scenario.

The second picture shows the test fixture, a 2x4 that I wrapped and glued the fabric around. I cut it into 1 inch strips prior to gluing the last face so that I could use that face for peel testing. The overlap joint better survive the peel testing.

The third picture show how I tested peel strength. The square was used to verify that I was close to 90 degrees. The board is clamped to the lab bench . I pulled up on the fish/luggage scale. Oh yeah, I tested the scale against my trusty digital kitchen scale with calibrated water bottles. It showed a 5 gram difference and in playing I found it had 5 gram granularity.

Results: For peel I was indeed able to get 6lbs. It hovered between 5.7 and 6.3 (ish as it was pretty tough to pull and watch) I tried to capture a video but my phone camera had a real tough time capturing the digits on the blue screen. I ran the test over and over until I could get one picture to show you all. #4