Plastic welding

[anto]

Any DIY way of doing this?
How do the pro's do it?

Thanks,
Anton

 

[Delgado]

Many different ways depending on what you want to weld... hot air guns with filler rods, hot plates, funky machines that clamp onto tube/pipe, soldering irons etc..

 

[shenion]

I have ir had two plastic welders.

The first was a hot air gun. Was something like 400 watt and was a bear to use as there was no heat control. It was cheap Chinese junk and dies after a few hours of use.

The second one is a commercial one. Basically a soldering iron with an angled round tip like a coin. It has filler that was like a flat shoelace. You laid the filler down and mashed it in with the iron.

I want to make a speed tip for it. Basically it is a soldering iron tip with an angled flat shoe. In the center of the show is a tube. You feed filler rods in the tube as you move the shoe. Note: takes considerable force to press the filler _into_ the parent plastic.

On my last fix, i just used an old 40W soldering iron, removed the tip and used the blunt end to mash the filler into the plastic. Worked ok, I also used a lamp dimmer to control the heat.

 

[nodeward]

yeh i just use an old soldering iron and some scraps of similar plastic, works okay done a couple of motorcycle patch ups like that it depends on what you want to do and what sort of finish you are after

 

[Wozzaaah]

Soldering iron and offcuts here too. Did the wheel arch moulding on my Mrs' fourtrak and it worked a treat.

 

[the snooper]

Any DIY way of doing this?
How do the pro's do it?

Thanks,
Anton

as you will see from the replys no pro plastic welders here

just bodge it and scarper using whatever you have to hand
i will also hold my hand up and admit to sing the soldering iron
i also have one of the hot air welders with adjustable temperature but have never really used it

 

[graffian]

I always used the hot implement method.
I repaired and painted a fairing for some bloke and when he collected
it he was telling me how he welded plastic flooring. He was amazed
I wasn't using a hot air gun. He got a lester hot air gun out of his van
and stuck a load of bits of plastic together. He veed the plastic and after welding it had a bead both sides. It was really impressive.

 

[anto]

Cheers lads il have to resort to the soldering iron method as its all i have to hand.
From reading other pieces on the net it seems making sure both plastics are the same is crucial.

Once welded will it retain the same strength or will the join always be a weak spot?

 

[Engineer]

The proper way to weld plastic is with a variable output heat gun specifically designed for plastic welding, using the correct filler rods. Its sometimes possible to do a bodge job with soldering iron type methods, but in some cases the joint may fail subsequent to repair, so it may be a good idea to look at adhesives made by people like Wurth for repairing things like ABS car bumpers?

 

[busastars]

I've recently asked about the same thing, I have tried the soldering iron trick in the past and it never has worked well for me, always brittle and end up breaking again.

Then I started google'ing ABS Acetone Lego Fairing repair.

I went down the Acetone route, worked a treat, easy to work with and also its one complete piece not two pieces welded together. Strong, very flexible just like the original piece.

From my research you can buy ABS cement and repair kits but they are just put together versions of the basic Acetone.

Basic how to: Small amount of Acetone in a JamJar, cut up some ABS plastic ( plenty around the home ) ( Old remote controllers etc ) and put this with the Acetone, close the Jar and the next day you have liquid plastic.

Cost, about £5 1L Acetone or £15 5L.

 

[Robotstar5]

I wonder if Mekpak would work?