The Assembly (Rigid) Market can be defined rather roughly and includes the subsequent types of uses:

 

 

 

In carpentry, and in particular in the furniture-making industry, polyvinyl acetate dispersion adhesives have long superseded the carpentry adhesives based on animal proteins that were used thousand of years ago. Condensation resins (urea, melamine, phenolic and resorcinol-formaldehyde resins) have made likely the development of new wood -based materials such as plywood, chipboard and plastic-coated composites for building construction.

 

Melamine-formaldehyde resins are used in conjunction with unique papers for manufacturing ornamental boards for laminating wood for furniture creation. Polyurethane (PUR) adhesives that cure by exposure to dampness are currently of budding importance for the manufacture of chipboard, due to the fact that they symbolize formaldehyde-free alternatives to the aforementioned polycondensation resins. In addi-tion, they are being more and more used for bonding wooden construction elements. As with adhesives in many areas of expertise, wood adhesives are also tending to become 100% systems -they combine simple application with swift curing. Hot melts have proved particularly useful as adhesives for assembly work and for joining decorative edging. The application of PUR hot melts, which cure via the influence of moisture, is very much on the increase for the structural joining of timber and for bonding wood with a number of other materials. This type of adhesive involves two different curing mechanisms: the solidification of the hotmelt on cooling means that the components are rapidly affixed. The chemical curing which then follows, involving the crosslinking of molecules, leads to high-strength joints.

 

What was all the fury in the mansions of 19th century? Fishbowls and aquariums. In principle though, this was quite a messy hobby. Candles underneath the tank provided heating and lighting, yet most of the fish did not outlive winter. The aquariums were sealed using window putty. However this material aged quickly, becoming brittle and eventually leaking. Since the late 1960s, aquariums have consequently been sealed using silicone sealant adhesives..

 

 

Credit to silicone, proud owners of goldfish can contentedly look at their finned friends from all angles. But this has not always been the case. The elementary aquarium was introduced to the public at large in 1851 at the London World-Exhibition. The windows were held in place with a cast iron frame. Until the late 1960s, most aquariums were built based on this theory. The windows were fastened to a metal frame using window putty. The product, made from 85% calcium carbonate and 15% linseed oil varnish, is a sealant that has been in use since the 1700s. While the product is definitely watertight at the creation, over time it becomes fragile as linseed oil oxidizes in the air, thus leading to leaks.

 

The disadvantages of a framed aquarium, however, were not restricted to window putty, which began to disintegrate over time and was rendered worthless. The metal frame also meant an obstruction of the line-of-sight. When gazing at the fish, nothing should prompt the beholder that the glamorous marine world behind the window is fake. The only alternative was aquariums made totally of glass.Yet there was a catch again: although these designs were frameless, they accommodated a most of 20 liters (about 5.3 US gallons).

 

Luckily, late in the 1960s the first silicone sealants provided the solution to the problem. Using the invisible material, the aquarium’s windows were fixed into place and efficiently tightened at the same time.