An honest review of Formoa 063: Pros and cons - Forgeway Ltd

If you are considering using Formoa 063 but are not sure if it will be a good fit for you, you’re in the right place.

For those who don’t know who we are, here at Forgeway we manufacture over 3000 tonnes of adhesive products every year. One of our most popular adhesive products is Formoa 063.

You may think this article is biased seeing as we manufacture the product. So we asked the help of one of our customers to give us some feedback for our article too. We asked him what he loves about using Formoa 063, and for some feedback on the things that he doesn’t particularly like. 

This article will also discuss what the product actually is, the pros and cons, and where you could use it. 

By the end of the article, you will have a greater idea of whether Formoa 063 is the right adhesive option for you.

What is Formoa 063?

Formoa 063 is an MS polymer-based sealant that can seal and bond a variety of substrates such as plastic, GRP, and most metals.

It has a tensile strength of 2Mpa, which means each squared millimetre of 063 can withstand 2Kg of force. In simple terms, it’s strong enough to hold lightweight materials in place. It has an elongation-at-break score of 480% (meaning it is flexible). 

We developed Formoa 063 to have a skin-over time of 16 minutes. This means it takes 16 minutes for the adhesive to develop an active ‘skin’. This skin is available to bond the substrates for a maximum period of 30 minutes after the initial skin-over time.

What are the advantages of using Formoa 063?

• Good strength as well as sealing properties – A lap shear strength of 2 Mpa is strong enough to safely hold lightweight materials (like flooring or panels) in place. The gap-filling capabilities and flexibility make it an excellent sealant.
  
  

• Primerless – You don’t need to use a primer to achieve a strong bond. You will still need to clean the surface to ensure there is a strong bond though.

• Good adhesion to plastics – Formoa 063 bonds particularly well to plastics such as ABS, PVC, and acrylics. It bonds very well to metals too.

• High grab – The high viscosity means it is able to hold the substrates in place without extra support while it cures.

• Excellent ‘stay-white’ properties – Highly resistant to yellowing and degradation when exposed to UV. 

• Easy to clean – It has a shure hardness of 60 so you can easily wipe off any dirt or grime and keep the sealant clean.

• Colour matching capabilities – You can match 063 to any colour you require.

• No health risks – Formoa 063 is very low risk and will only cause health risks if ingested.

What are the disadvantages of using Formoa 063?

• It isn’t a structural adhesive – 2Mpa is strong, but it still isn’t a structural adhesive. So if you need a very high strength adhesive to bond heavy-duty materials, Formoa 063 won’t be a good fit for you.

• The high viscosity can be difficult to work with – If you are used to working with lower viscosity sealants, it may take some adjustment to get used to 063. The high viscosity means you may struggle to gun the glue out and get a good finish.

• Formoa 063 can’t bond to all substrates – Glazing applications and low surface energy plastics are particular examples of where Formoa 063 won’t be a good fit. However, you can use specialist surface activators to overcome the low surface energy plastics problem.

• It won’t help prevent stress cracking – Some adhesives are designed to help prevent environmental stress cracking (ESC). Formoa 063 isn’t one of them. Whilst it won’t increase the threat of ESC, it also won’t help prevent the threat either.
  
  

Where can you use Formoa 063?

Because Formoa 063 is suitable for such a wide variety of applications, it is difficult to say where you can use it. It is suitable for any sealing or bonding situation as long as it doesn’t require a very high strength bond. 

However, we can give some examples of where our customers use Formoa 063 to help you determine whether you could use it too.

• Sealing up the outside and inside of commercial vehicles
• Bonding floors down on trailers
• Bonding and sealing of motorhomes and caravans
• Bonding of floors in static caravans and cabins
• Bonding and sealing the interior and exterior of luxury yachts
  
  

We asked the yacht manufacturer for further insight into what they think of Formoa 063.

Formoa 063 from a customer’s point of view

You’ve heard what Formoa 063 can and can’t do from us here at Forgeway, but what do our customers think?

We asked Shaun from Princess Yachts for his opinion on Formoa 063. 

What do you like about using Formoa 063?

When we asked Shaun what he likes about Formoa 063, he said there were three main reasons. 

1. “It gives instant grab to the panels we are bonding.” 
2. “It’s primerless. And whilst we still use a surface activator when bonding powder-coated metals, using 063 saves us so much time.”
3. “It’s not only a sealant, we can use it for bonding too. The high strength means we can use it in semi-structural situations.”

What don’t you like when using Formoa 063?

All in all, Shaun is very happy with our product. But in his words “there is one thing that can be challenging when using 063. The viscosity gives us a very high grab, but it can make it difficult to work with and get a good finish.” 

Shaun advises anyone who doesn’t like using a highly viscous sealant to either undertake some training or look for an alternative.

A summary of Formoa 063 from a customer’s perspective

“Formoa 063 is an excellent product for sealing and bonding that does exactly what it says on the tin (or foil pack like we have it in). It has very good ‘stay-white’ properties. And even as a semi-structural adhesive, I have found it to be an excellent product to use.”

Shaun, Princess Yachts

Is Formoa 063 a good sealant for you?

The answer to this will obviously depend on your application and specific requirements. If you are looking for a sealant that can bond – as well as seal – and doesn’t require much surface preparation, Formoa 063 would be a good option for you.

However, if you want a stronger adhesive or a sealant that is easier to use, you may want to look at alternative options. You can find other MS polymer adhesives which have higher strength if that is what you are looking for. 

Or, you can explore the possibility of getting a lower viscosity sealant by looking into the use of silicones.