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-----:How to best glue copper pennies together?
Quickstart:
If pennies are dirty or oily, they can't be reliably glued because the glue may stick to the dirt or oil, but the dirt or oil won't stick to the pennies. While wearing gloves, scrub with pumice powder
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link] or kitchen cleanser powder first.
Epoxy may not be ideal for high strength structural bonding, but should be fine for the usual projects.
Q. Glueing pennies to popsicle sticks without using a hot glue gun? I want to make a cross from popsicle sticks and cover them with pennies. I've done this before using a hot glue gun, but some students are too young and may get burned. Can you help?
Iris GarrardVBS director - Carthage, MS
May 3, 2023
A. Hi Iris.
Although cyanoacrylate (Krazy Glue) would work, even adults frequently end up gluing their fingers together, so I wouldn't use that. Mixing a 2-part epoxy like JB Weld ⇨
should be more fun for them as well as less likely to result in accidents.
Disposable nitrile
⇦ on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil link] or latex gloves are cheap. Kids safety glasses ⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
are roughly $1.25 a pair in bulk, and always a good idea.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
⇩ Similar, related, Q&As -- oldest first ⇩
Q. As a hobbyist I am building/making miniature objects (houses, castles, sculptures, etc.) out of glass, wood, rocks, plastic and plexiglass. Now I am working on a new project. I am trying to glue Canadian pennies together for a while (in order to build a sculpture), but every product I have tried unfortunately has failed. Currently I am a student.
I would be happy if somebody could answer my question.
Thank you for your consideration.
Hobbyist - Windsor, ON Canada
2006
This is a meeting place for camaraderie & sharing, not a free consultancy. So some readers don't engage with anonymous posters.
A. Clean the pennies well before adhering them, try silaprene adhesive ⇨
Toronto, ON, CANADA
A. Dip the pennies in vinegar
⇦ in bulk on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil link] for a few minutes to clean them, let them dry and then glue them together with epoxy resin -- e.g., Araldite ⇨
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
A. Joe
Avoid epoxy adhesive if you want a reliable bond. Copper reacts with epoxy (or more correctly the hardener). Brass and copper can be epoxy bonded but need to be tin plated first.
The best "glue" for copper is solder. You need 60/40 Tin Lead solder sold for electronic work with a non corrosive flux core. It is common and cheap. It comes as a wire and you may need to flatten it slightly by rolling or gentle hammering - it is quite soft. Get your cents direct from the bank and handle them by the edges and you will probably not have to clean them. Cut (small) pieces of the solder wire and assemble the stack. Place in an oven at about 190 - 200 °C (the solder melts at about 185 °C) To separate the stack or to make other shapes, a small hobby blowlamp works fine.
PS. Don't get paranoid about the lead in the solder. It produces no measurable fumes below 400 °C Any fume is from the flux -- don't go sniffing it!
One other fact you may be able to use -- most modern copper coins are only copper over a steel core - they can be magnetised - be creative!
Good luck
Geoff Smith
Hampshire, England
Ed. note: Thanks Geoff! American pennies since 1983 are copper over a zinc core rather than a steel core, so they can't be magnetized. Although epoxy may well be a poor choice for structural bonding to copper, based on personal experience experience I'm confident that it's plenty strong for student projects with cleaned pennies.
Gluing Copper Pennies On Rocks for Garden
Q. I'm looking to glue copper pennies on rocks for the garden. I understand that this keeps slugs and other undesirables away from the garden plants. Problem, I don't know what glue to use. I do know that epoxy reacts badly with copper, so that won't be the answer, also I have never heard of Aldrite before tonight and have no clue as to where to purchase that. Also Silaprene Adhesive is an unknown item for me as well. Last I heard there was a simple type of glue that could be used, unfortunately I was cut off before I could hear the title of it. Soooo, I'm looking to see if anyone can help me find a glue for my rocks, and eventually for my garden. Thank you.
Teresa MisaleHamilton, Ontario, Canada
June 24, 2013
A. Hi. I think either epoxy or Krazy Glue will work fine .... but always clean things first -- grease and oil and dirt don't adhere well to anything. Gluing to some rocks like sandstone might be less successful because the sandy particles may pull right off.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
(this entry appended to this thread by editor in lieu of spawning a duplicative thread)
Q. I want to build a wishing well fountain made from pennies, or purchase a fountain and adhere pennies to it. Do you have any suggestions? ⇦ Answer?
Chicago, IL, USA
May 7, 2016
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