Hi there! I am making my gaming board and experiencing some difficulty, and am asking for advice from anyone making a board out there. I am making my board in 3 parts, and I am making them by using Elmer's glue mixed with water, to stick sand onto a wooden board. My first board went great, and was very good looking in the end; everything stuck on and stayed on. My second board however, is not going so well. I put down my glue, and then the sand and waited 24 hours for it to dry. When I bumped the extra sand off, there was little patches where no sand stuck at all. Furthermore, with my first board after I got the extra sand off; that was that, the rest of the sand stayed. With this board the sand just keeps coming off, no matter how much spray adhesive, or spray glue I put on it. PLEASE HELP! Thx.

Perhaps the layer of sand is too thick? Also, the first layer should be stuck down with undiluted glue. Also might want to upgrade from elmers to mod podge or tacky glue if possible. Only spray the water/glue mix after the sand was afixed with straight glue. And those patches happen. Its normal. Just reapply sand in the thin areas.

17 minutes ago, AldousSnow said:

Perhaps the layer of sand is too thick? Also, the first layer should be stuck down with undiluted glue. Also might want to upgrade from elmers to mod podge or tacky glue if possible. Only spray the water/glue mix after the sand was afixed with straight glue. And those patches happen. Its normal. Just reapply sand in the thin areas.

Im also at a point where im about to glue a first layer.

How do you apply a pure glue layer? Will PVA glue work?

PVA is great. I do small to medium sections at a time. Don't go to big, as the glue will start to dry and lose its stickiness. Squirt it on, and use a cheap paintbrush to spread it around evenly. Then sprinkle your grit (sand or dirt) on, and wait for it to dry before you apply more to the patchy areas.

12 minutes ago, AldousSnow said:

PVA is great. I do small to medium sections at a time. Don't go to big, as the glue will start to dry and lose its stickiness. Squirt it on, and use a cheap paintbrush to spread it around evenly. Then sprinkle your grit (sand or dirt) on, and wait for it to dry before you apply more to the patchy areas.

Great, thanks for the advice. Ill start with 12/ 1 foot inch squares.

After the PVA and sand is dry, shake/brush off any excess sand and give the whole board a thin coat with watered down pva . Be carful to only brush lightly or use a sprayer as the water will soften the orginal glue. This way the sand will have a bit of a coat of glue over it to stop the ever annoying sand falling off your table problem.

Also, what environmental conditions are you doing the work in

If its too cold, or too humid, it does funny things to glue

Another small question if I may, is PVA ok for sticking thin (2-3mm)MDF onto MDF base? Making some raised areas and wondered if PVA is good enough?

Should be fine.

It would take some effort to damage a gaming table.

You may get a ding or two, but to lift off a piece of MDF that has been glued in place would take some special effort and wouldn't be an "opps dropped my model" moment.

Maybe a uff up the areas with sandpaper to help glue bound?

Isn't Elmer's glue a PVA glue?

26 minutes ago, NukeMaster said:

Isn't Elmer's glue a PVA glue?

Yes

@JonnyTrash had a great formula for sand—bit of sand, bit of paint, and some acrylic sealant (caulking). It could be hard to match the color to the sand that’s already on the board, but so far I’ve been having success using that mix. Once it’s down, it stays down.