machining press fit vs loctite

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dansawyer

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I am building a 'gear box' to drive an astorphotography camera mount. The shafts will be 6 mm steel set in ball bearings set in 3/8 aluminum plate. The large gears will be made of 1/4 aluminum discs with the gear teeth 2mm gt2 belt inside out. The small gears will be 2gt pulleys.
The forces will be small and the rotations very low, less then one rpm on all parts.
My question is: Is it reasonable to machine a close tolerance on the parts and then assemble them with loctite? If so which variant would be best?
 
double check before you machine, many loctite products need a loose fit to bond correctly
 
As Karl said, most Loctite products list the recommended clearances in the specification sheets.
 
benmychree said:
Ease of assembly would be one point in its favor.
Click to expand...

Not really. What could be simpler than just pressing the 2 parts together?

The other method still requires creating a proper fit, cleaning, applying the locking compound, cleaning again, and then waiting for it to dry.
 
ezduzit said:
Not really. What could be simpler than just pressing the 2 parts together?

The other method still requires creating a proper fit, cleaning, applying the locking compound, cleaning again, and then waiting for it to dry.
Click to expand...
Pressing two parts together is one thing, pressing together multiple components of an assembly could be much more complicated.
 
benmychree said:
Pressing two parts together is one thing, pressing together multiple components of an assembly could be much more complicated.
Click to expand...

All the more reason to keep it simple. As soon as you press one item on you can immediately press on the next one without waiting for compound to dry or attempting to hold each in place.

Compound has a purpose: if you do not have the skill to create a press fit, if you're trying to salvage some worn-out/damaged parts, if you made a machining mistake, etc. Otherwise it's actually more work and less reliable.
 
I am a proponent of the loctite compounds. Way easy to machine - no tight tolerance work AND just heat it up to take it back apart.

on small diameters getting the correct press fit to hold any sort of rotating load is difficult.

this one is my favorite

LOCTITE 638

LOCTITE 638 is a high strength, fast curing, general purpose retaining compound.
www.henkel-adhesives.com www.henkel-adhesives.com
 
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