Glueing Plastic

[Mocky]

Hi.

I am trying to glue the white plastic that bread cutting boards are made out of, not sure what it is made out of.
I have tried Construction Adhesive, Sikaflex Pro, Sikaflex Marine, 2 Part Apoxy plus Locktite 406 Instant Adhesive. The Locktite sort of worked but will not stay glued while machining in a lathe.
If anyone has any good ideas please let me know.

Mocky.

[Graz]

Hi.

I am trying to glue the white plastic that bread cutting boards are made out of, not sure what it is made out of.
I have tried Construction Adhesive, Sikaflex Pro, Sikaflex Marine, 2 Part Apoxy plus Locktite 406 Instant Adhesive. The Locktite sort of worked but will not stay glued while machining in a lathe.
If anyone has any good ideas please let me know.

Mocky.

Maybe hot glue gun or use heat gun to melt surfaces together?

[superquag]

I have a sneaking suspicion they're made of a plastic that cannot be glued...
- Came across similar plastic in German photographic equipment, (last Century...) where the composition was a deliberate choice to 'discourage' attempts to repair instead of replace...

[Mocky]

Thanks Graz I thought I might try friction welding to see if they would stay together. I am trying to make some bearing blocks for a project and cannot use steel.

Yes Superquag I am of the same belief.

Mocky.

[Timj]

High or Low Density Poly Ethelene I believe. Difficult to glue for sure. Here is some info that might help - Polyethylene Adhesives and Glue - What are your choices... (http://www.eplastics.com/Polyethylene-Adhesives-Glue)

Cheers,

TimJ.

[gromit]

I worked for a company in the UK years ago and got involved with Corona Discharge to treat the surface of plastics so that they could be glued. Corona Discharge is a blue glow around a wire when you put a high voltage through it, the air surrounding the wire starts to break down and ceases to be an insulator. Pass the wire over the surface and the plastic can be glued. What is Surface Treatment? (http://www.tantec.com/surface-treatment/what-is-corona-treatment-and-how-it-works.html)
Might not be possible to replicate this at home so another alternative was flaming. The plastic component was passed through a flame and could then be glued for a period of a few hours.


Colin

[davidsonsm]

Plastic welding would be your best bet. I've used mechanical in combination with JB Weld. But yeah, it's likely PE which to can't be glued - not from the choice available to Jonny public.

[redrovertdi]

melt together with a soldering iron flowing the joining pieces together

[isuzutoo-eh]

Loctite have a primer available that allows many slippery (ungluable) plastics to be superglued. I can't recall the product name off hand tough.

Otherwise, roughen up the surface to give the glue something to bite.

[michaelp]

Have you tried a Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) based glue like used for plumbing poly pipe.

Also for small machining jobs i visit my nearest CNC machining shop and they have small end bits or offcuts for almost a give away price

[DoubleChevron]

I worked out a while ago it was cheaper to buy a good quality used plastic welder to fix my bumpers than it was to pay someone to do it .......... This leads you onto an exploration of plastic welding (obviously). The welder can only weld certain plastics, some must be glued with specific glues etc..

First you need to work out what type of plastic it is. Once you have, you need to use a "glue system" or a plastic welder with the correct base material as a welding rod to join it.

Identify Plastics (http://www.urethanesupply.com/identify.php)

Have a read here, there is another really good site I found and printed out a while back on identifiying and welding/joining plastics. You local plastic shop will sell the varieties of welding rods that you need.

seeya,
Shane L.

[cummo]

Mocky,

AFAIK the white chopping board plastic is a nylon material. As far as a potential adhesive for nylon material goes a quick internet search pointed me towards "Locktite Epoxy Plastic Bonder" with suitability advice as follows:-
Recommended For

Bonding substrates such as: PVC, polycarbonate, acrylic, ABS, FRP, Nylon™, Mylar™, Delrin, phenolic, aluminum and stainless steel

Not Recommended For


Applying at temperatures below 40°F (5°C) or above 70°F (21°C)
Bonding polyethylene, polypropylene, Teflon™ or other non-stick surfaces
Use in continuously wet areas, prolonged immersion in water or use in potable water systems
There are others as well, but they seem less common and more specialised. Loctite products I would think would be relatively easy to source. Not sure what you're doing, but might be worth trying on a sample.

Cheers

Dave

[Mocky]

Many thanks to all that have replied.
I will have a read of the links for a better understanding.

Mocky.

[Tank]

Mocky, how's it going mate, I had to glue some plastic a while back and to find out what sort of plastic and what glue was suitable it required that you cut a thin sliver (shaving) of the plastic and set it alight. Depending on the smoke colour and how it reacted, this would point to the type of glue needed, unfortunately I cannot find the literature on it. I would advise reading "Identify Plastics" posted by DoubleChevron, good luck, Regards Frank.