Lid hinge

There is no epoxy left on the underside of the glass on front or back. Did get the two wires disconnected and the lid removed and could finally get the hinges back level (closed position) and that’s good enough for now. Short sessions to keep the mood in check. :smiley: So this is progress. Thanks for the assistance! Family [visit] dinner time! (Technically this is vacation.)

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Just switched Glowfinger on, having bolted the lid back in place. Nervously closed the lid, waiting for something to happen, but all seems well.
I think the effort needed to close the lid given the high friction of the hinges is part of the design problem. They are obviously meant to hold the lid in the raised position, without danger of it falling on your head, but that in turn stresses the bond between glass and hinge plates.
Personally, I would have gone for a frame around the lid, hinged at the back, and with an integral handle on the front.
A glass insert would then have carried the camera as at present. There is already a white plastic strip that carries the led strips each side, so the configuration of the lid would barely have changed.
Just my 2c worth
John :upside_down_face:

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PC-7 is the strongest adhesive I’ve ever seen. Before I had the glass for a shower I built, I used that stuff to glue a curtain rod to a slab of polished marble. When I went to remove it I placed a wood block next to it and popped it a good one with a hammer in a shearing action - it pulled the surface of the stone with it. :no_mouth:

One point is not to squeeze all of it out when assembling, a thin film is all that’s needed. Also, every pic I’ve seen had the epoxy separate from the glass. Sorry I’m late to the thread, but I would also take some sandpaper and rough the surface of the glass for better adhesion.
Has it held for you John?

Design-wise, I think if the lid was drilled before tempering it could just be bolted on like is done with heavy shower doors.

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Hi P-T-L,
So far so good. I’ve been using the laser with no problems, so I’m very hopeful.
Yes, I’d agree about roughing the surface, but in my case, I was taking the easy way out, and not disturbing the rest of the assembly.
My method of pushing the paste in with a palette knife seems to have worked.
Regards
John

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I had to just leave it at my sister’s house in Arkansas and return to my house in Texas. I have the tools and PC-7 now to try to fix it next trip up. I had forgotten the crumb tray anyway! But at least y’all give me some confidence for the fix.

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Well, it looks like we are the next to join in the “Lid Separation Society”.

Obviously the consensus seems to be the PC-7 paste so we’ll go with that. As for application the only real description I’ve noticed was the palette knife method of pushing it between the layers when the hinges have separated but the lid hasn’t fully come off yet (as is our situation). Has anyone found any other ways or is this probably the best way to go about it? Also, are we clamping the glass/hinge combo or have people found it better to simply weight the top when it is closed to sure a relatively flat fit?

Thanks in advance!

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In that situation, I would get some “thick” CA from a local hobby store. It’s not ideal, but should work.

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And now it’s my turn: I went to open my (kickstarter era) GF and the lid just popped right off leaving a smooth epoxy on the hinge and a completely separated clean glass lid. I’m off to the hardware store for some PC-7. (As others have mentioned, GF support gave me “permission” to glue it back myself but can’t offer advice on how.)

Did anyone figure out a good way to clamp it while setting? My current plan is to just put a heavy weight about the same length of the hinge on top and stack something inside press up from the bottom.

Also, I plan on removing as much of the old epoxy as possible to give it a clean start. Anyone have tips on doing so beyond razor blades and elbow grease?

Oh, side note for future readers: the hinge is really hard to move by hand without the leverage of the lid, to the point where I at first thought it had actually seized up and that was the root cause of failure. I eventually used two adjustable wrenches (one at each hinge) and some scrap wood to keep them from hurting the metal and it’s easy to adjust the hinges then.

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Personally, I would use sandpaper to rough up the glass for better adhsion. PC-7 is the strongest adhesive I’ve ever used. Just don’t clamp so tight as to squeeze out all of the epoxy. A paper-thin layer will work fine.

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Add me to the list - both joints failed, very early model GF from the presale days. Mine has been sitting idle in a climate controlled shop for years now because the time I had to work with it during the original sale evaporated by the time it actually arrived a year later. It probably has less than 10 hours on the unit. And the help guy giving me “permission” to re-glue it - whoever came up with that line for customer no-service needs to be fired. Or at least moderately flogged.

The PC-7 is new to me but I will try it. Should it not prove to be a long-term solution, 3M DP420 is an adhesive originally developed for aerospace that can be ordered off Amazon now. I can’t see a good way to get that back hinge flat to re-glue it that doesn’t involve taking it off, will re-read the posts here for tips. Post more detail if you have lessons learned!

So my right hinge has been an issue for a while now. I was able to always manhandle the lid closed. Of note, I don’t use the laser much. Last night I decided to cut out a nice mylar stencil for my grandsons to use on a pumpkin. To my surprise, when I went to shut the lid, the front handle popped off as shown in several other posts in this thread. I see PC-7 is the solution of choice. My concern is this. My gut tells me to take the whole lid and hinge off (haven’t checked to see what is possible yet) to make a nice clean job of it all. What I’m concerned about are all the posts regarding alignment and possible issues if I do that. Can someone tell me what I need to be careful with to avoid any alignment issues if I do choose to take it apart to do a proper repair? I can see now from the photos provided that it is not really a matter of right hinge or left hinge, but just like the handle on the front, the adhesive is applied all the way across the back hinge and really, it is just one big hinge. Thanks all

Small update (I’ll add comprehensive post with photos later).
I thought about this a while, and decided I wanted this to be a one-time repair. Not something I might have to go back to and redo later. So…
I decided the best way to do that was to remove the lid completely. I don’t recall seeing any posts that referenced doing that.

In a nutshell, you have to remove the four 11mm nuts that attach the lid to the hinges. More importantly, you have to disconnect the cable that connects the electronics from the body to the lid (camera and lights). This is easy to do, but if you aren’t familiar with these types of cables, it could be nearly impossible to do without destroying the cable. The cable is stuck to the back of the body, but it is just a piece of double-sided tape that holds it. Be careful when prying it off and don’t use anything sharp (a spudger tool works good here). Once you have the cable disconnected and the four nuts off, you can easily remove the lid. From there, well it is too much detail to explain without photos, so I’ll do that later. I took photos of every step.

Good news is, my machine is back together. The rear hinges have never been stronger and the handle on the front is solid as a rock.

One last thing. I talk to the folks at PC Products about using PC-7. They said that would definitely work but recommended their Super Epoxy product instead, which is what I used and it was super easy to mix and use. More to follow soon, I hope

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You can also use dental floss to “saw” through the double-sided tape. Just thread it behind the fitting and then saw it back and forth. It will cut through the tape really easily.

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Definitely a good option. In fact, probably the best option. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that. I use that to get through double sided tape all the time.

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Here is the link to buy the hinge repair bracket. I will definitely solve the problem. New GLOWFORGE Aftermarket LID Hinge Repair Bracket, All Metal Construction | eBay

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The ebay seller has sold about 50 of these brackets and has 100% buyer satisfaction

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I purchased the hinge repair. One of my hinges is still attached to the glass. There is no where to find out how to remove this hinge. I’m afraid of breaking the glass and without both hinges off this beautiful hinge repair kit is useless. Does anyone know how to safely remove the other hinge?

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Use a heat gun to heat up the bracket. Keep the heat away from the ribbon cable and plastic parts. Use a plastic splunger tool to gently lift up on the hinge bracket while heating it. Lift on the ends of the bracket and work your way to the other end.
Don’t use metal tools.

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I’m having this issue now. Do you recall what type of Super Epoxy glue you used? Do you think Gorilla Glue would work?

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Sorry for lack for the lack of response. Since my laser lives a state away, I rarely get to use it and so out of sight, out of mind.

To follow up, the PC-7 epoxy has worked wonders. I didn’t even do a very good job of applying or prepping and it’s been holding solid for a long time now, even across a range of temperatures.

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