How to glue melamine to plaster of paris?

jdjedjohn

I want to glue cast plaster of paris forms to melanine coated plywood sheets. I assume I'll have to seal the plaster first and perhaps prepare the melamine in some way. What glue will stick to melamine? Should I use something like liquid nails, or a tile-all adhesive. It would be useful if the glue had some 'joint filling' properties.

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jdjedjohn. It's wonderful to have you join us and many thanks for your question on gluing melamine.

Melamine is exceptionally slick, so most adhesives struggle to bond well to the surface without a bit of preparation first.

You could try using Liquid Nails, but I’d recommend abrading the area first with some 80-grit sandpaper to create scratches and key the surface. That will give the adhesive a much better chance of holding properly.

A polyurethane construction adhesive would also be a good option, especially if you’d like some gap-filling properties. Something like
https://www.bunnings.com.au/selleys-310ml-white-flexiseal-fc-polyurethane-construction-sealant-and-adhesive-white_p0130869 would work well.

I wouldn’t recommend tile adhesive in this situation, as it doesn’t have the best properties for adhering to a smooth, non-porous surface like melamine.

You probably don’t need to seal the plaster first, although sealing it can help bind the surface and reduce dustiness. Painting on some BondCrete would work fine if you wanted to do that.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell