Dear Edith,

Thank you for your question on how to bond decorated horses to your fireplace shelf. Sounds like you are creating a real southwestern/cowboy living room!

As for which type of bonding agent or glue you should use to adhere them, due to the fact that we don’t know what the horses are made of or how heavy they are we’re gong to do the best we can and give you a few different options.

1. We suggest you use an instant glue, the chemical name is ethyl cyanoacrylate. Of all our recommendations, this is the most rapidly bonding adhesive. It works best on smaller surfaces, using a very small amount of glue. It bonds instantly with a colorless and transparent bond that is very strong. It was originally created for non-porous surfaces, but there are gel versions are now available for porous surfaces which is probably what you’ll need.

2. There’s always the possibility of using epoxy. It is an extremely tough and durable synthetic resin that comes with in two parts, that when mixed together bond a wide variety of materials in relatively harsh conditions. Though we don’t think this is the best option for this project due to the fact that it may have problems with combustion problems. Seeing that is will be used over a fireplace, unless you never plan on burning a fire in it, we don’t recommend using this adhesive.

3. If your horses are made of plastic, then you may want to use plastic cement. It is used to join polystyrene plastic. The way that it works is by dissolving the areas it contacts on the two parts of polystyrene being joined together, and in these dissolved areas the molecules from the two parts mix together. The only issue here is the fact that if the horses are plastic, and the shelf isn’t this won’t work for you.

It seems that you’ll probably be best using an Instant Glue (ethyl cyanoacrylate) to finish your project. The sheer fact that it dries quickly will make it easy to use as you won’t be able to use a clamp during the drying time.

We hope this helps!

Hugs and Hammers,

Jane

I've used that stuff before, it's great! I used it to put up casings around the doors inside my home. Though I did put a few nails in to hold it in place until it dried.

>>if you glue them you have to worry about the flammability of the product, as well as the permanence.

That's exactly what I was wondering about as well.