How to Glue Steel to Wood

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Things You'll Need

  • Wood

  • Sandpaper

  • Painter's tape

  • Newspaper

  • Steel

  • Epoxy glue, polyurethane glue or cement glue

  • Wood clamps

Be sure to find the right glue and apply it cleanly on your project.

When a project you're working on requires gluing steel onto wood, you will find that simply using wood glue will not do the trick. Building supply stores have dozens of different types of glue and it can be difficult to know what to use. Find the right glue for your project and make sure it goes on clean and holds your project together the way it should.

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Step 1

Sand any glue, paint or bumps on the wood. Make the gluing surface even and slightly coarse to provide a nice gripping surface for the glue.

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Step 2

Cover any steel surface that will be showing with painter's tape and paper. Cover any surface where you do not want glue, but be sure to keep tape off any surface that should be glued down.

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Step 3

Use a glue that is designed to hold multiple surfaces. Epoxy glue adheres to steel and wood, as does glue polyurethane. Both of these take a few hours to set, allowing you to place the steel on the wood and move it within a few minutes. Cement glue is a strong, flexible glue that also works for gluing steel to wood and sets quickly, so be sure to place the steel carefully on the wood to make sure it goes where you want it to.

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Step 4

Apply the glue lightly to the wood. If you are covering steel over a large area of wood, apply more glue in the center and a lighter amount towards the outside to keep glue from seeping out. If you are applying steel along a smaller surface of wood, use a very light coat of glue that will not ooze when you set the steel onto it.

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Step 5

Place clamps on the wood and steel to hold it in place as it dries.

Step 6

Let glue dry completely and remove clamps, tape and paper.

Tip

If you do get glue marks on the steel, avoid scraping them off as this may leave scratches. Use a solvent to soak the glue and try to remove it.

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