Tubies Made Easy...Gluing

As promised, here's the next step in the gluing process after cleaning and stretching(still to come, dont worry).  I would refer to my Disclaimer from the previous post in regards to this.  This is the way I do it, so please again, feel free to add/subtract/multiply how and what you do.  

First thing I do when its time to glue is place the wheel in the truing stand, or other appropriate device.  If you are using a truing stand with adjustable sites, apply just enough pressure to the rim to keep it from moving.  Theres no real reason to do this except it keeps the wheel from moving on me and makes my life easier.

Align the valve hole as a "starting" point for the glue application.  This obviously serves as a reference point for anything wheel oriented, truing, building, tire/tube installation and gluing.

Now its time to get out your brush and glue.  I realize not everyone uses a brush.  Ive gone through a few evolutions in figuring out what works best.  Ive seen different brushes used, fingers(in glove or plastic bag) and various other items.  My reasons for choosing these brushes are that the bristle width is pretty spot on for most rims out there today, and with a little trimming(which i do) I can get the brush to pull and lay the glue in just such a way that works great.  Also, you can reuse these things over and over.  Just take a small cup and put enough paint thinner in to cover the bristles and leave over night.  After some rinsing the next day, its all ready to go again, and again and again.  Then there's cost...THEYRE CHEAP!  A buck or buck and change per brush, so youre not going too break the bank on something thats gonna get used alot.

As for applying the glue to the rim, again different strokes for different folks.  Im not a fan of putting the glue on the rim THEN spreading it around.  I put just enough glue on the brush to spread the distance between valve/spoke holes on the rim.  This comes from gluing over and over and playing with the amount of glue.  Paint the glue on in nice smooth even strokes.  "No Clumps" is the key here.  It uses less glue and also allows the layers to "mate" as you get into the 2nd and Final coat.

Try not to get too clumpy at the spokes holes.  Its super messy, wastes glue and makes for extra cleaning when replacing tires, or truing internal nipples.  Also, DONT be afraid of going all the way to the edge of the rim/tire interface part of the surface.  You want to utilize the entire surface of the rim as there's nothing worse than a tire slowly working itself off the rim then suddenly failing on a tight turn.  If you go over the edge of the rim with glue, just take your finger, or rag, and wipe off the excess immediately.

Once the rim is done, give it a spin.  It probably doesnt really do anything overall but in my mind it helps start the tacking process....just sayin

Now to the tires.  As stated in the previous post(link above on "Disclaimer"), I like to inflate the tire enough so that when laid on a flat surface the base tape is facing up.  Again, start at the valve, that whole point of reference thing.  I take the tube of glue and gently press it until the glue starts flow, and then lay the end of the tube on the tire and let the capillary action continue to pull glue out.  I lay just enough down so that "the run" doesnt happen too fast before I get to it with the brush.  I use short strokes and use the edges of the brush to get the edges of the base tape.  Ive seen too many tires come in where the glue wasnt distributed over the entire surface.  That can lead to the obvious "roll" of a tire which in turn can lead to a bad situation for everyone.

Nice even coating is what youre looking for.

One last point on the tire is to not be shy around the valve stem as well.  This is the one place you dont want and movement as it can lead to tearing of the valve stem from the casing.  Apply the same amount of glue there are you did on the rest of the tire.  

When everything is done, hang the tire on the same hook as the wheel.  I place the valve stem at the top since theres less base tape to have issues with if some air comes out over night and is easily re-glued.  If you only have 1 set of tires/wheels to deal with then it doesnt matter where you hang everything.  This is a good practice if you have multiple tires/wheels and you have to keep track of what tires go on certain wheels.

That concludes this portion of "Tubies Made Easy".  Its looking like Ill be able to do the removing/cleaning/stretching part in the next day or so.  Final Coat and Pulling on will come in a couple days as well.

Thanks for coming by....Boots