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I need to fix a Artemide Demetra Parete (Wall) lamp. When it was hit by accident, its arm swung against a cabinet standing next to it apparently hard enough for its cover disk to come off. As you can see in the two pictures, the cover was apparently fixed to the base by six glue spots. For what I can determine the body is made of metal, the cover of glass.

My question is this: what sort of glue (or other mechanism) is used by best-industrial-design-practice in such cases? If it is indeed a glue, it has work with metal and glass, tolerate a heat source close by, and allow removal by repair staff without a hassle.

(Don't pay attention to the white traces visible in the 2nd picture: they stem from preliminary attempts at repairing with perhaps ill-suited material that was at hand.)

UPDATE Four of the six posts are slightly higher. Their tops are metal-colored (without paint), the other two tops are white (like the rest of the body). There are no traces of any alternative material on any post. If there was any such material, it may have come off when the cover fell off, but it would seem unlikely that this happened everywhere at once. There are also two small notches adjacent to the lower posts, perhaps their only purpose was for inserting the cover at the right angle of rotation.

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    I see six posts in the metal part with four of them looking like they are higher. It looks like those four are what the black piece was glued to. Is there some type of alternate material that is pasted on top of those posts to cushion the glass or is it simply that those posts are die cast in the metal a different height/size?
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Sep 1, 2018 at 16:17
  • This does look like kind of a poor industrial design to use this type of unit assembly. My experience is that this type of thing is not uncommon in this type of over priced unit from designers that have little knowledge how to design/build a real consumer product. After looking up the price on Amazon I can see why you are anxious to repair this thing.
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Sep 1, 2018 at 16:27
  • @MichaelKaras You are right: four of the posts are slightly higher. I've updated the description accordingly. Personally, I do like the overall design (shape, etc.) but am also not impressed by the physical implementation. Anyway, I want to put the cover back on in a semi-permanent way that resembles the original arrangement and allows access to the head's interior e.g. when it time comes for changing the LED.
    – Drux
    Sep 1, 2018 at 18:46

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I would repair this by using a flexible adhesive called E6000. This is advertised to be a strong adhesive for both metal and glass.

enter image description here

(Picture source at Amazon Product Page)

The flexible nature of this adhesive means that it will provide some isolation between the glass part and the metal posts. Before using make sure to do a very good job of removing any old glue debris, paint or finger oils. Rubbing alcohol and Q-Tip swabs are my go-to tools for the final cleaning phase.

The E6000 adhesive can bridge a small gap but it also has a tendency to spread itself out around the site where it is applied so make sure to keep you glass plate flat (horizontal) when you set it in place on the posts. This adhesive will hold on tight to non-porous materials and yet remain peel-able for removal. I have even used it to glue magnets to the covers of white board markers so I could stick the markers to the surface of a metal white board.

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  • +1 Can you please also indicate how the peeling could then work. This would involve the application of a solvent, right?
    – Drux
    Sep 1, 2018 at 19:33
  • @Drux - The surface area of the four posts is so small that it should just require a gentle but continuous pull on the cover piece to get it to let go from the posts. It may also be that you you are placing too much concern about removal of the cover. LED light fixture elements are meant to last a long time under normal usage scenarios. Five or size years from now it may be near impossible for you to even find a replacement for the LED. Besides that there is probably a higher possibility of failure of the power converter module in the center and replacement likely even harder.
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Sep 1, 2018 at 19:41
  • Alright, fair enough.
    – Drux
    Sep 1, 2018 at 20:04

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