Bonding polycarbonate to polycarbonate

[Ian Curtis]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have experience bonding polycarbonate to itself? I have tried thick CA (superglue) and this stuff called SCIGRIP 16 which I was told was recommended by the guy at the counter at TAP Plastics. The thick CA is pretty lousy, and the SCIGRIP 16 works alright, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a better option...

Thanks!

[CalTran]

As it would turn out, loctite sells a polycarb adhesive readily available at a local Walmart. I'll get the exact name tomorrow when I have the tube in hand. Works great, dries in five minutes, sets in an hour and cures over night.

[dsherw00d]

Is it this stuff:
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/13/...tic-Bonder.htm

I'm interested as well and didn't know they made a product that could work.

[Dr Theta]

Might want to try to get in contact with someone from 1714 MORE robotics. They make their entire robot out of the stuff.

[Akash Rastogi]

Ian, I've used this stuff for projects at home as well as the Loctite one, both work exceptionally well. Both this and the Loctite require the applicator gun.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Devcon-Pla...er-ii/15632453

Use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHMykiX_YEQ

[CalTran]

Yeah, I think it was the epoxy plastic bonder. I didn't know that an applicator gun was necessary. Our team usually just squeezes our epoxy out onto a plate and use a spoon or fork or pop-sicle stick to mix the stuff. I think the plastic bonder actually came with an applicator stick though.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Ian, I've used this stuff for projects at home as well as the Loctite one, both work exceptionally well. Both this and the Loctite require the applicator gun.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Devcon-Pla...er-ii/15632453

Use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHMykiX_YEQ

That mixer gun is genius. Having taught many people to use epoxy, I've had plenty of people tell me that "that stuff is garbage! doesn't stick at all!"

Does it dry fairly clear? Being a see-through structure I have been fretting over how to make the joints not look like garbage. I've asked Pinecone as well, will report back what he recommends being from the land of plastic.

[bhumudar]

Another option is to heat the sheet with an acetylene torch and bend it on a vice. My team used this method on our robot last year for one of our components. Although this only really works for certain applications. If you don't need absolute precision, then this is a great way to go.

[protoserge]

The Loctite plastic bonder doesn't work well for polycarbonate sheets in my experience.

You want Methylene Chloride. It can be expensive, but you don't need a lot to make the bond. You will need a syringe to put drops of material along the surfaces to bond.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5686551_glue...ate-sheet.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_6635889_glue-lexan.html



http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/119/2120/=ldfxxn would need some additional chemicals added to the mix to make it easier to work with.

I've had experience with Weld-On #3 such as this: http://www.eplastics.com/Lexan_Polycarbonate_Glue

[DELurker]

A lot of very good information about using polycarbonate can be found here: http://www.curbellplastics.com/techn...e-makrolon.pdf

They have all sorts of information about bending, heating, forming, gluing, melting, folding, spindling, mutilating, and abusing polycarb.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by stinglikeabee

The Loctite plastic bonder doesn't work well for polycarbonate sheets in my experience.

You want Methylene Chloride. It can be expensive, but you don't need a lot to make the bond. You will need a syringe to put drops of material along the surfaces to bond.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5686551_glue...ate-sheet.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_6635889_glue-lexan.html



http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/119/2120/=ldfxxn would need some additional chemicals added to the mix to make it easier to work with.

I've had experience with Weld-On such as this: http://www.eplastics.com/Lexan_Polycarbonate_Glue

Methyl chloride works great, but it's really nasty stuff. I wouldn't reccomend using it without proper ventilation and personal protestive equipment, such as a respirator. Read up on exposure to it before considering using it.

[kevin.li.rit]

I would also second methyl ethyl ketone/Methyl chloride.

[DELurker]

I would strongly suggest reconsidering MEK and Methylene Chloride unless you have a really well ventilated area to work in and respirators to use.

http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?m...8&code=SLM2677
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927358

I have actually worked with both and found that I was especially sensitive to the vapors from each (ie - above the norm). You may want to look at a clear urethane adhesive or something similar.

Of course, I have to ask... for what purpose are you adhering these two parts together? Is there an opportunity to use a mechanical fastening instead?

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Ian Curtis

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have experience bonding polycarbonate to itself? I have tried thick CA (superglue) and this stuff called SCIGRIP 16 which I was told was recommended by the guy at the counter at TAP Plastics. The thick CA is pretty lousy, and the SCIGRIP 16 works alright, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a better option...

Thanks!

For the record I ended up using the SCIGRIP stuff because I never got a chance to run over and investigate something else between work, FIRST, and life. It actually worked pretty good when clamped in place and allowed to set, but I will definitely investigate other welding options in the off season as I'm not super happy with the way it looks.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[High Voltage]

The best adhesive you can use is a product called Channel Bond, it's specifically made for Polycarb to Polycarb bonding and it's a one part system so no need for a gun, tips, cardridges etc., you just pour back in the container when you're done. Using a Weld-on 3,4, 16 won't do it right. I bond huge polycarb faces for electric sign faces and this stuff works wonders. You can also use it to bond acrylic to polycarb. The only place I know you can get it is here, it does ship hazmat ground uness you can find a place that has it in stock so you can avoid the hazmat shipping fee

http://www.thesignsyndicate.com/foru...-now-shipping/