Acrylic bonding

Hi,

I think, you can try ALCOHAL to get the result you want.

Fourmdev

Be specific....

Use ALCOHOL to bond acrylic to acrylic.

Fourmdev may think, he has to drink some alochol for bonding acrylics

Please get help from Henkel:

Sponsored by Henkel Corp. World Leader in Adhesives, Sealants & Surface Treatments

For best results a solvent, such as methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), is used to "solvent-weld" the pieces together. When done properly, the joint disappears as the two pieces physically/chemically join together.

However, MEK alone won't fill in gaps very well. For rougher surfaces, you need to use a premade mixture of solvent and acrylic, such as IPS Weld-On (or similar) clear acrylic glues. Here's a great demo review from TAP Plastics and a supplier for Weld-on products:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT6Ow_cBTps

http://www.ridoutplastics.com/adandcem.html

Good luck,

Bert

Dear Guest

Please try Chloroform carefully without inhaling the fumes; it could knock you unconscious.It is instantly effective in joining two acrylic pieces.Most model builders use it.Take a small quantity of chloroform in a bottle and using a cotton swab, apply on both surfaces forming the joint and hold steady for a couple of seconds to get a permanent bond.The joint becomes invisible instantly.Please take care to replace the bottle cap immediately to avoid evaporation and also possible spillages on the work area.It should be available in a diluted form at the drug stores sold in small retail quantities.

D.Ramakrishna Naidu

You can us Dichlo (Dichloride Methan, not 100% on the spelling*) Howerver, Chlorofrm is better, or so i've heard anyways. Dichlo is what modelmakers normally use joining acrylic, Chloroform is what we used to use, most people have stopped using it, as it is no good for your health.

Hold the pieces of acrylic togeher, apply dichlo with a brush on the joint, from top down, and you will see the fluid "soak" into the joint. (if the crylic is seethrough)

Bish bash bosh, its stuck, dichlo sets allmost instantly, and leaves an invisible joint. Dichlo "melts" the acrylic togehter, so don't put a second coat on, as this will only melt the joint you have allready made.

The same proceedure applyes to chloroform. Chloroform knocks you out though, dichlo only makes an infertilising fume. Ventilation, or a spraymask is a good idea.

Thanks for your confirmation. Any thing other than chloroform will be safer. The use of chloroform is so widely prevalent in India by the "Cottage" industry making a large variety of acrylic products, I got the impression that that's standard procedure and unfortunately, there is no control or effective regulation on this use/misuse.

Regards

D.Ramakrishna Naidu

The bonding of 2 acrylics with cholroform is 100% safe if you do it with a proper way.
Here is how professionals do it

They get a 5mm syringe with the needle in the end and suck a small amount of chloroform for a bottle and close the bottle.

The needle is a ver small opening and so there are no fumes. This is why it is safe.

If you put chloroform on a cloth, a lot of fumes will produced from the contact with air but inside the syringe with a tiny hole of the needle there are no fumes.

Now you place the 2 acrylic pieces and join the surfaces you want to bond. You use some tape to hold the pieces in the right position.

In the join line between the 2 acrylics you inject the chloroform. You will see it while it is spreading between the 2 surfaces.

Let it for 2-5 minutes. That's all. Remove the adhesive tapes you used and ou have the combined piece you liked.

This is how pros make acrylic tanks and other things. This is also how we work with acrylic. 100% safe, very fast.
There is a special type of chloroform. In my local market costs 75euros per lt +shipping (about 25euros). We use it all the time and lasts for long time. To give you an example for a 20lt tanks we used only 5ml.
You can search it in your local market or - if you do not find - we can send you 100ml for 12eur + 10eur shipping with ELTA post office and tracking number.

my email is ftie-enterprises@biohydrogen-power.com
Thank you, be good boys and work safe.

Any acrylic solvent that evaporates quickly will work. And Super glues are acrylics.

Methylene chloride is available at paint stores and boat builders supply houses. Chloroform must be special ordered through a pharmacy. In the USA you will need a doctors prescription. Caveat: Solvents are flammable.

With any of these you will improve the early strength by warming the joint with a lamp or hair dryer.

Bobguz

www.tapplastics.com TAP Plastics is the coolest store in the world. I don't know what it's called but they have exactly what you need - you put the pieces together how you want them, load up a syringe of a solvent-type stuff made especially for joining 2 pieces of acrylic and squirt a few drops into the joint - capillary action pulls the adhesive into the joint and in a few seconds you will think it was always a single piece of plastic.

This is what I use, I got it at Post Apple Scientific Inc. on the web.

No license to buy.

1 Dichloromethane, Methylene Chloride, Lab, Amber Glass Bottle, 500mL - Single UnitPAS-C-3571-0500-01-L $10.12

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subtotal $10.12 Tax Total $0.00 Shipping: UPS Ground $8.86 Grand Total $18.98

ChazL

Have you tried customer Service at: Air Prodcts; Rohm&Haas; Dow; Bayer? Henkel's Loctite?

Methyl Methacrylate (Acrylic) bonds well with solvent type adheisives that contain Styrene monomer. If you want an invisible bond choose one that is very thin and clear. Be sure your joint is very flat, smoothe and clean. Application is best done with a bottle with a syringe needle type tip. Clamp the pieces together securely, but not so tight that the acrylic gets cracked or crazed. Wherever you bought your Acrylic should be able to also sell you the adheisive. If not, check out this website www.glurguru.com .

Google 'master Bond 40'

I would make sure that your edges are very smooth and flat. A machined edge would be best using tooling specifically for plastics

If you work in a humid enviroment I would use IPS Weld-on 4, it is water thin and you will need to use a bottle with a syringe type applicator. If you apply solvents to acrylic in a humid enviroment they have a tendancy to blush ( leave white marks on the material ). Weld-on 4 is slower bonding and is less likely to leave marks. Otherwise I would use Weld-on 3 it is a fast bond acylic adhesive.

To apply have your applicator bottle filled 3/4 full; squeeze out most of the air and invert the bottle releasing just enough pressure to cause a slight vacuum in the bottle so you are not dribbling solvent all over the place. Assuming you are gluing a right angle, place a peice of chip board ( the back peice of a legal pad) under the bottom peice a little way away from the edge you are gluing so if you accidently get to much glue in the joint and it goes over the edge it will not wick under your work leaving a mess. Place the other piece on top of your base peice exactly where you want it to be. while holding your second peice run the applicatior of glue along the joint squeezing just enough glue into it to make the joint clear. hold the two peices together for about 2 minutes; the joint should be strong enough to hold at this point. Allow 2-4 hours for a no stress joint or 24 hours if the joint is going to be stressed.

Most plastic supply companies will have applicator bottles with the syringe for less than $6.00 the glue is around $8.00 and will last a long time if you keep it closed tight. be sure to put any left over glue back in the can immeadiately after use to get the most for the buck.

you might consider bending the plastic using a heat strip you can purchase a your plastic supply company as well .

Good Luck

Jack Mester

Another option would be to use a UV cure adhesive, if the acrylic is clear. If you use a clear adhesive the bond should be invisible. You also have the luxury of adjusting or repositioning the two parts after assembly without fear of the joint hardening prematurely. A quick 1-2 second blast of high intensity UV light will cure the adhesive.

Regarding NOT TO BE VISIBLE:

I do not think, this is possible. However smooth you make the edge of joint, it becomes visible.... it becomes reflective like mirror.

The joint will not be some thing similar to what you get if you bend the acrylic. You can minimize the joints, by hot bending