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How strong is solvent welded plastic?
smart51 - 15/11/08 at 04:09 PM

I've just made a headlight cover out of perspex which I "glued" together using solvent welding fluid. I'm fairly pleased with the result but I don't want to try breaking it to see how strong it is. How strong is solvent welding usually?

Echidna - 15/11/08 at 04:24 PM

Could you provide the brand of this fluid?
Are we talking about chemical or mechanical bonding? The first is better of course!

r1_pete - 15/11/08 at 04:25 PM

If the solvent and perspex are compatible, and the solvent has actually desolve the perspex to 'weld' it together, you'll probably find the perspex will break before the joint, it is very strong.

COREdevelopments - 15/11/08 at 04:51 PM

i used it to glue my spud launcher together as it was made from drainage pipe. it never came apart except for the screw on end cap which shattered after a fair bit of use,

rob

mr henderson - 15/11/08 at 04:54 PM

Basically the same as welding, need to ensure plenty of contact area and compatible materials

smart51 - 15/11/08 at 05:19 PM

The fluid is called poly-weld. It says acrylic on the bottle and to be fair, it seems to have done the trick.

mr henderson - 15/11/08 at 05:29 PM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
The fluid is called poly-weld. It says acrylic on the bottle and to be fair, it seems to have done the trick.

Well, Perspex is acrylic, so that would seem to be ideal

John

[Edited on 15/11/08 by mr henderson]

Lars - 15/11/08 at 10:01 PM

WOuld this sort of suff be strong enough to change the in/out-let of a car radiator?

Peteff - 16/11/08 at 10:41 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Lars
WOuld this sort of suff be strong enough to change the in/out-let of a car radiator?


I doubt if the radiator will be acrylic, you need something like JBweld or Araldite industrial. There's also Devcon which should do it too, try googling round.