For nearly a century, a four-faced, wooden clock had stood in front of Thorpe & Co. Jewelers (Sioux City, IA). However, after surviving natural wear and tear, two fires and a truck smashing into it, the clock needed refurbishing.

Representatives decided to refurbish the clock in plastic and contacted Taylor Plastics (Council Bluffs, IA ), a custom shop that constructs molded plastic drinking fountains, aquariums and point-of-purchase displays.

Instead of simply patching up rotted areas, the clock was rebuilt using a marine board polyethylene. This material resists salt, ultraviolet light and most other corrosive elements. Working from dimensions and blueprints, the original gothic design was manually crafted into the polyethylene. As work progressed, a problem arose with fastening the gold-leafed, aluminum roman numerals to the clock's face, as well as attaching intricate decorative work to the clock's body. Mechanical fasteners were initially considered. However, mechanical fasteners could detract from the landmark's design.

Mike Taylor, owner of Taylor Plastics, selected 3M (St. Paul, MN) Scotch-Weld DP-8005 adhesive to bond the parts. This adhesive bonds low-energy plastics to dissimilar plastics, steel, aluminum, concrete, glass and wood.

Instead of welding studs to the Roman numerals, the 3- by 11/2-inch pieces are bonded to the clock's face with the adhesive. The clock's alligator figurines are made of 1-inch-thick, high-density plastic. To construct the alligators, two pieces of the material were bonded, using the adhesive, with the edges welded together. The adhesive was then used to bond the alligators to the clock body. The adhesive saved a large amount of fabrication time, as well as maintaining the initial structural beauty of the clock.

For more information on adhesives, call 3M Co. at 1-800-362-3550, visit www.3M.com/adhesives.