Hi All, Coming from a mass production factory where Loctite, 3M, Bostic, and many others supply assembly materials and chemicals, I have lived and worked with the "abuse" of language an consequential mis-understandings that can arise for decades. Hence my jaundiced views below:
To pick-up on advantages of assembly with a fluid chemical bonding agent: There is also the situation where the Loctite liquid in an application acts as a lubricant during assembly, which may help some applications assemble "better", and if chemically cleaned will chemically adhere to the components being assembled, thus increasing the shear strength of the joint.
N.B. LOCTITE is a Company name, not a product, as with many other Chemical companies... But we write with a Biro, clean carpets with a Hoover, but we don't light our rooms with a Swan or Edison....
As Loctite et al produce MANY products, as well as "Industrial adhesives": I read this thread as referring to Anaerobic Adhesives, and the title of product gives the game away. They are adhesives, when used correctly. Although they may only provide a few percent extra in the shear strength of some joints, in other joints you go from "zero" to "Something" - which is an infinite improvement if that's what you need. What these liquid products cannot do is correct alignment - as with taper-on-taper assemblies that are badly worn, or 10 thou gaps between wheels and axles. Precision Fitting is the proper Engineering (I mean that in it's truest definition of "problem solving") that should be adequate (because that's why the Engineer that designed it did it that way!). The use of "vibration resistant" and "gap filling" materials" can and does increase the strength of joints, and is used widely by Design Engineers to resolve such problems and make assembly easier and CHEAPER. But please don't confuse a 10 thou clearance bonded with sticky stuff with Engineering, as it is a bodge (However you spell it.). For "Bodge" read "A repair", which may have a long life if performed correctly, but is usually likely to fail after a short lifetime compared to the "proper" Engineered assembly. So if you pride yourselves in your machining and assembly work - and the resulting Models - then you will use liquid adhesives etc. with the respect and caution in their intended applications, which mostly rely upon very precise dimensional control for their strength and durability, as do press fitting, silver soldering, friction welding, riveting, etc. and many other joining methods.
Model Engineering designers may not always follow the "traditional" assembly method - particularly due to scale and strength not always being simple and linear - but anyone associated with making steam plant will be very aware of the laws for following assembly methods correctly where steam is used at pressure. But that does not mean that for other models we should not be responsible in our model making for considerations of Safety, as well as simple personal integrity that we have made "the best we can".
So please use Anaerobic Adhesives wisely, carefully, and as intended for your assemblies.
Sorry to preach, but it seemed a bit appropriate here, although there are some very sensible comments already.
K
