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Home Forums 68kMLA Plastics bonding — #2
Post #2 by equill
Source Forum68kMLA
CategoryTroubleshooting
Post DateWed, 21 Nov 2007 - 12:34
Original URLhttps://68kmla.org/bb/threads/plastics-bonding.10680/
Post
I've been interested in ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) to ABS bonding for a while, but your question prompted me to look for some clues. A quick Google on 'ABS bonding' netted the information that ABS is soluble in acetone (I'm not completely convinced, despite that styrene is a component. So should the acrylic portion dissolve in chloroform, but ...), methyl ethyl ketone (a solvent in PVC cements), tetrahydrofuran (not for the unprepared) and methylene chloride. I shall give it a go and report back.

If your parts are but cracked, and not separated, running pure solvent into the cracks, and then leaving the parts pressed firmly together for several days, should be very effective. For large gaps, however, some of the same plastic dissolved in the solvent is a better bet as a gap-filler. The only rub at the moment is, 'Which solvent?'

There appears to be a commercial cement for the purpose, which you may care to look at. The makers play very cute about the solvent, however, which turns out to be methyl ethyl ketone 99%, with 0.8% ABS dissolved in it. At least MEK is readily obtainable for electrical conduit joining.

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