OK, thanks!

Uh, well duh. They use 3M Flashbond 30 water based contact. Don't know why I couldn't remember that. Age or something! He said they have both green and neutral colors, and for some reason the green holds better. Then they also use the 3M 77 for securing some of their foam props. They use both neoprene foam (which they use the contact cement for) and some kind of industrial foam (he wasn't sure what kind of foam it was but it looked like it might be a very firm multi foam of some kind) that they use the 77 on.

My foam test with scott foam and the water based contact seems to be holding just as well as the evil-smelling weldwood gel kind I had been using. It was easy to use, but did take a bit longer to dry and I had to put the pieces together and hold them for about 10 minutes to cure. It dried with a bit of a green tint, so it might be better to try the neutral color to see how that looks if you're not putting a skin on the puppet.

Hey I have used "Green" Contact Cement by LePage.  To speed up the drying process use a Hairdryer it works great speeds things up.  I will be doing a glueing workshop at my show on Monday at 9PM EST.   

Daryl H

We recently made a "glue box."  It is a large cardboard box with a portion of two sides cut out.  One side goes against a window, which we open when we are gluing. It has a large filter (a/c heating type filter). I have a large box fan in the window. 

This very effectively draws the fumes out of the room.

Another great glue that I have been using is the "Foam Fusion" from hot wire foam factory. It's solvent-free so it won't melt the foam over time and the hot wire tools will cut through it. It's available in a variety of sizes, depending on your expected usage. I've linked the 8oz bottle:  http://hotwirefoamfactory.com/product.php?productid=16200&cat=249&page=1

Another great glue that I have been using is the "Foam Fusion" from hot wire foam factory. It's solvent-free so it won't melt the foam over time and the hot wire tools will cut through it. It's available in a variety of sizes, depending on your expected usage. I've linked the 8oz bottle:  http://hotwirefoamfactory.com/product.php?productid=16200&cat=249&page=1

Thanks for sharing....... I wondered how that glue worked.

Billy D.

Liquid Nails Latex Neoprene Contact Cement
    * Non-flammable strong professional grade
    * Long open time, fast dry
    * Water and heat resistant
    * No shifting can be done once contact is made
    * Low odor

Has anyone used this? I ran across it and was curious!

Since my sewing skills are non-existant, I've glued my puppets together using "Lepage Pres-tite Contact Cement" which is a 230 ml tin for the large areas and "Loctite" Super Glue for the small areas.  I've would have used the 'Lepage" glue for the small area's but it drys kind of sludgy greenish and I find that although it drys very quickly, its not the best for asthetics if your off the mark in its application on the material.

Is there any disadvantage to using a glue gun other then getting burned... Alot   Will the foam seems undo in a few years? Lately I've been using a glue gun because I don't like the smell of the contact cements and I work indoors with no ventilation.

I am not a fan of glue gun really but a lot of folks use them.  My reason for not liking glue gun, is the process of repairing something.  If something fails or needs to be replaced you have this big glob of glue to deal with.  This really pertains more to the fabric part of things and not as much the foam itself. On the foam I have found that it slows me down. For me the foam seems to keep the glue hot and thus I have to hold the seam while it sets. With contact cement I slather each side then move on to something else for about 15-20 mins then come back and slam the two pieces together and it is done. 

As far as longevity of each, I think glue gun might last longer depending on the environment you store in.  Contact cement does get old over time and looses it's holding power. When I say over time I mean 8-10 years.  Just had to re-firb some pieces that the seams where popping on.  I still used contact cement to fix them. Really at the 8-10 year mark, you should be retiring the puppet and building it new.  I mean really now... how about that favorite shirt you have... you know your wife is right.... it should be thrown out.

Hey I have used "Green" Contact Cement by LePage.  To speed up the drying process use a Hairdryer it works great speeds things up.  I will be doing a glueing workshop at my show on Monday at 9PM EST.  

Daryl H

Thanks, I gave Green contact cement another try with hairdryer and I love it. Even used a can that was years old and it worked, had to dry it longer but I love the way it holds and made a thin, not too stiff seam. I am using hot glue less and less.  In Texas it gets so hot that it will come undone on me. Also I have to remake my puppets a lot for ever changing scripts and I hate glued on hair that cannot be changed so I use those long doll needles and baste the hair on so I can rip it off later. Really appreciate your encouragement to keep trying to use the less fumes product.

I'm a big fan of using Barge for L200 foam construction, recently I saw a friend of mine mixing in MEKP. He said it made the Barge 10X better. I'm a little weary on trying this. Has anyone used this technique before?
thx
 

Not I, but this would make me leary... "a high explosive similar to acetone peroxide" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_ethyl_ketone_peroxide

Yeah, I use it as the "kicker" for fiberglass molds but it's always in small amounts, 7-15% depending on the cure time desired. It's well known in the industry to be hazardous even in small quantities. My friend mixed in about 15-20% into his Barge. The negatives may out-weigh the positives in this instance. thanks for your feedback.
-s

I am a chemist,I used to work in toxicology and pathology. We use EPA website to find the side effects of chemicals. My favorite is Hazardous Substance Database  http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?HSDB
Put the chemical name in the search, if result comes up click on the chemical name, then on the left side choose Human Health Effects.  MEKP Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide is also called 2-BUTANONE PEROXIDE CAS 1338-23-4. Chemicals have many different names so we use the American Chemial Society CAS number to help us find synonymn names for the same chemical. And the health effects for this one are really bad, severe eye hazard, blindness, some died from ingestion.  I would not have this chemical in a house where children lived no mater how good it worked.