Alan Surrey
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Where can I buy the substance I know as Dum Dum?
The tin I have had for decades has dried up and right now, for the first time in years, I need some.
It is automotive putty. A black substance that can be worked in the hand like plasticine or blu-tac but more flowing than either, more like glazier's putty in that respect. It seeks - flows into the tiniest spaces - and then it stays there, preventing moisture from passing through the space and unlike glazier's putty, it never really sets solid. Once you get it on your hands you probably need Swarfega or maybe an amputation to get it off. It is generally used to make a water tight gasket. If you were to insert a screw where it could be rained on (and this is what I am doing with my car's scuttle) you would want to make a little gasket of Dum Dum and place it under the washer. As you tighten the screw it compresses the Dum Dum gasket under the washer and the Dum Dum flows one way into the threads of the screw - no water can get through that way now - and the other way, it becomes compressed out to the edge of the washer so no water can get through underneath the washer either: practically a perfect seal! You can put a blob of it on top of the screw head once you have finished and that makes it an even more practically perfect seal, though it does make it harder to remove the screw next time.
I suspect it is known by a different name now.
Hope you can help.
The tin I have had for decades has dried up and right now, for the first time in years, I need some.
It is automotive putty. A black substance that can be worked in the hand like plasticine or blu-tac but more flowing than either, more like glazier's putty in that respect. It seeks - flows into the tiniest spaces - and then it stays there, preventing moisture from passing through the space and unlike glazier's putty, it never really sets solid. Once you get it on your hands you probably need Swarfega or maybe an amputation to get it off. It is generally used to make a water tight gasket. If you were to insert a screw where it could be rained on (and this is what I am doing with my car's scuttle) you would want to make a little gasket of Dum Dum and place it under the washer. As you tighten the screw it compresses the Dum Dum gasket under the washer and the Dum Dum flows one way into the threads of the screw - no water can get through that way now - and the other way, it becomes compressed out to the edge of the washer so no water can get through underneath the washer either: practically a perfect seal! You can put a blob of it on top of the screw head once you have finished and that makes it an even more practically perfect seal, though it does make it harder to remove the screw next time.
I suspect it is known by a different name now.
Hope you can help.