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[bbdave]

I am looking to glue discs of acrylic together  for my wtc end caps and not sure what to use any ideas.?


Dave

[Howard]

Hi Dave,
 sure this came up not so long ago, may be wrong but think the answer was Acetone or Acetate.
               Regards Howard.

[tigertiger]

There are special glues for acrylic. Bostik Hardplastics is one.
Do a google search, as there are some tricks to butt jointing acrylics and there are you tube vids for this.


When I worked in a plastics factory, I thing the glue we used had chloroform in it.

[TailUK]

I am looking to glue discs of acrylic together  for my wtc end caps and not sure what to use any ideas.?


Dave

Chloroform (which you can't get anymore) and Dichloromethane were the main glues for acryllic.  Dichlor is readily available as "Plastic Weld" which you can buy by the litre on fleabay.  Trouble with Plastic Weld is that it has no gap filling properties and if you glue the ends of a sealed container your'e liable to get little tiny cracks in the edges of the acryllic running at right angles to the edge.
These are stress fracture caused as the fumes saturate the the plastic in the closed container, added to this is the chance that the thin Plastc Weld  won't give a water tight join.
  The solution is fairly simple, firstly you could use a glue called Tensol 12, there other Tensols but this is about the easiest to use. Tensol is a lot gooier (sp?) then PW and as a result fills potential leaks, it also give of slightly less fumes so if you air the job as its setting the stress fractures are reduced considerably.  Tensol 12 is also on fleabay.
Or you can make your own!  If you put about a eggcup full of Plastic weld in a screw top jar (don't use a plastic eggcup!) and bung in scrap acryllic broken up small it will disolve in the PW and give you a thick liquid which works very much like Tensol, not suprising though as that is how they make Tensol.  HTH

[bbdave]

Ok does this mist the surface or keep it clear?

When display units are built the bond is clear is that the same stuff

looking at tensol 12 on ebay it says  indoor use plus i'll be gluing  the shiney faces together not edge bonding.it says not for laminating


Dave

[TailUK]

Ok does this mist the surface or keep it clear?

When display units are built the bond is clear is that the same stuff

looking at tensol 12 on ebay it says  indoor use plus i'll be gluing  the shiney faces together not edge bonding.it says not for laminating


Dave

I've glued up several layer of acryllic with Tensol 12 quite sucessfully and without misting.  They say it's internal use only because it has no anti UV properties.  Sunlight breaks the bond down over time but I shouldn't have thought that would be a problem in a submarine and it takes months.  The way I was taught was to pour a small pool of glue towards one edge then lay the second piece down at a shallow angle.  By gently lowering it into position you push the pool of glue across the surface and any air bubbles with it.  then just leave it.  Applying clamps or weights are a sure way of getting stress cracks.  You could look into the other Tensols but most of them are 2 part glues with no gap filling capacity. 
Another option would be to start with thicker acryllic.  Try your local plastic stockist or a sign making company who may have offcuts of 10 or 12mm acryllic.  Or if you need really thick stuff your local sport center may have a broken Basketball back board, they are usually 25mm.
Tensol 70 is mostly used for display cases as it's a lot thinner than the 12.  You mixed the 2 components and then apply it by capillary action and it gives a very strong joint.  It could be used to laminate your pieces but you have to use the same method. Flood the face with glue then lower the second piece at a shallow angle to avoid air bubbles. The problem is it's less good at "levelling" surface if they are slightly wavy you could get voids.

[bbdave]

Ok I'll give it a bash my discs are 4mm hopefully being laser cut as I type


Dave