Adhesives for Loudspeaker Reconing

Choosing the right adhesives for reconing is one of those jobs that sounds simple, but quickly becomes fiddly if you care about reliability and finish. Different parts of the assembly behave very differently, and no single glue is perfect for everything.

Recone Kit to Chassis (Surround & Spider)

Evo-Stik (red tubes) is a solid general-purpose adhesive and works well for most recone work. We routinely use it to bond the surround to the chassis and, in many cases, the spider as well. For the majority of drivers this causes no problems and gives a reliable, durable bond.

However, some spiders – the yellow bit under the cone – are heavily impregnated with silicone. This makes them far less cooperative with standard contact adhesives. In one case, an very high silicone content meant the glue simply would not bond properly, and in used the spider detached from the chassis

In situations like this, a solvent-based black building adhesive (the type commonly sold at Screwfix or Toolstation) works much better. It can be used for both spider-to-chassis and surround-to-chassis joints, although it is thicker, messier, and less forgiving to work with. It is worth having wipes to hand, as it gets everywhere and sticks to everything.

Many manufacturers recommend a two-part epoxy resin for the whole recone, including the spider to chassis and surround to chassis joints. This is effective and widely available, although in our view it is unnecessary for the surround-to-chassis joint, where we believe Evo-Stik is perfectly adequate. Epoxy resin is more expensive and difficult to work with, so we only use it where absolutely necessary.

Broader industry and DIY experience broadly mirrors this: most reconers use contact adhesives for general assembly, switching to epoxy or heavier solvent-based adhesives only where spider treatments prevent normal bonding.

Dust Domes

Dust domes are deceptively simple. Almost any glue will stick them down, but achieving a neat finish is the hard part.

Precision Devices originally fit dust domes using a very thick superglue gel, typically applied as a substantial bead up to 4–5 mm thick. If you copy this method, the gel is essential – standard thin superglue will run underneath the dome and can wick straight into the voice coil.

If the dust dome has a small folded lip, life is easier. PVA glue works well here, as do clear general-purpose adhesives available from most hardware stores. Many DIY reconers favour these because they are easy to control and tidy.

For dust domes without a folded lip, our own approach differs slightly from some manufacturers, largely based on materials we have available and the finish we want to achieve:

Use thick superglue gel with activator to place a few small dots and accurately position the dust dome

Run a very thin bead of superglue around the edge once positioned

After curing, apply a black solvent-based butyl rubber adhesive over the joint to improve appearance

This final layer flows and settles under gravity, leaving a much neater finish.

In the past we stocked a rubberised black cyanoacrylate gel which combined positioning and finishing in one step. We stopped stocking this due to supplier minimum order quantities and shelf-life concerns rather than performance issues.

The butyl rubber adhesive used for finishing presents its own challenges: it has a very high solvent content, is classed for professional use only, and is increasingly difficult to source. There are some available online, but we have not tested their suitability. The solvented glues are easiest to work with, but also the ones that are for professional use oly.

One-Off Recones vs Regular Work

The reality is that doing a recone neatly often requires three or four different adhesives. If you are only doing one driver, you can easily spend £30–£40 on glues and use less than a quarter of them. Unless you do more recones reasonably soon, much of it may go off before it is needed again.

Buying the full range of adhesives makes sense if you recone regularly. For one-off jobs, compromises are often unavoidable.

If appearance is not critical, a black solvent-based builder’s adhesive can be used for almost everything. It will hold securely, but the dust dome joint in particular will not be a work of art. When using a skeleton gun, controlling bead size and achieving a tidy finish is difficult.

Finishing & Waterproof Coatings

We also supply small phials of B&C waterproof coating, enough for one driver. These are useful for tidying up recones where glue marks are visible – for example if PVA has been used around a dust dome.

This is perfectly acceptable for subwoofers, where the coating will not materially affect performance. On midrange drivers, however, it is best avoided unless the original cone was coated, as it can slightly alter tonal characteristics.

Summary

There is no single “correct” adhesive for reconing. Professional manufacturers, repair shops, and experienced DIY reconers all use a mix of adhesives depending on the joint, materials, and finish required. The best results come from using the right glue in the right place, and accepting that neat, professional finishes often require more materials than the job itself would suggest.

Finally, some manufacturers have specific recommendations, so it is always worth checking the instructions supplied with the recone kit.