Glueing plastic with super glue + Bicarb of Soda

[Mike Busby]

I am a computer tech by trade - yeah i know what has this to do with wood but bear with me -. Having 400 odd laptops at the last school I worked at I had to do the odd cosmetic repairs to things like batteries and shrouds around monitors. Now your average laptop plastic case hates superglue as do a lot of plastics and just won't join together without some outside help.

Here is my tip. Set up your join however you can by clamping etc until you get an almost perfect fit. Dribble in some superglue and then reach for a pinch of Mum's BiCarb of Soda and sprinkle in onto the superglue. It will set like concrete (and about the same colour) in less than 1/5th of a second. It gets hot - dammed hot so don't have any superglue on your fingers when you reach for the bicarb.

I have used this to repair reading glasses frames, plastic boxes and a few other small items. It isn't water proof so it isn't much good for pump housings and the likes but for things like a cover on a Router, drill case, small plastic boxes etc it works well.

You can sand and file this and also drill it if needed.
I found this tip while wading through an old TV Tech website from the USA a couple of years ago.
The added bonus is that with a couple of different texta coulours you can usually come up with a fairly close match colour wise to what you are repairing.

[crowie]

G'Day Mike,
That's brilliant, cheap & easy.
I've used Devcon Plastic Welder http://www.itw-devcon.com.au/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=51&Itemid=75
a lot [a 2pack expoxy] for lots of plastic repair jobs,
but you solution is so simple & cheap.
I'll be forwarding the info to a few friends, thank you.
Cheers, Crowie

[chrisb691]

Good tip, thank you.

[FenceFurniture]

Bewdy Mike, excellent tip. Worth a five star rating.

[ravna]

Great one Mike ...plastics have always been the bane of my life.

[rrobor]

My problem with this would be lifespan. Spending my life fixing domestic electronics superglue was our pet hate. It was often used by people to bomd plastic and all seemed well at the time. A few months later though and the plastic started to deteriorate, turn white and crumble away.
Am I going to try it ? Sure I am, but the test piece will sit in the workshop for some time.

[crowie]

my problem with this would be lifespan. Spending my life fixing domestic electronics superglue was our pet hate. It was often used by people to bomd plastic and all seemed well at the time. A few months later though and the plastic started to deteriorate, turn white and crumble away.
Am i going to try it ? Sure i am, but the test piece will sit in the workshop for some time.
let us all know your results please.....

[FenceFurniture]

Mike...you must surely be able to answer the longevity question?

[Mike Busby]

Lasted at least 14 months on a couple of projects and still going strong. I haven't noticed any breakdown yet.

The TV Repairs where to old bakerlite Radio cases, TV Shrouds and Knbs so I would say it lasted a fair while. Mostly my repairs where due to kids dropping their $3000.00 brand new laptops and spliting battery caes and the like. Mr B Will Fixit did fix it and saved some very upset parents a heck of a lot of money having to fork out for items not covered by warranty.

Superglue Gel and BiCarb works a treat too. I'm not kidding about teh heat though. Gets hot enough to raise a small blister if your not carefull.

[crowie]

G'Day Mike, I sent out your repair tip to a few friends and an old Navy mate sent the following reply,
though I don't think you'd be allowed to have ether in your school for the purpose of plastic repairs.
Cheers, Crowie
Crowie,
The best plastic glue is ether.
Sets in seconds, is clear and is as hard as the plastic you are using
I found this out from a old guy who was in the second world war. They used it to fix the Perspex canopies on the planes.
To purchase it you need to go to a chemist and tell them what you want it for. They will only give you a 50ml bottle.
Use a paint brush, small artists type, wipe each side and press together.
I used to make “on range ammo dispensers” for rifle shooters out of Perspex using this method.
Did you know that Bakerlite (that they used to use as insulators) is the first commercial use of plastics.
Cheers, Neil

[Cliff Rogers]

:2tsup:

[FenceFurniture]

though I don't think you'd be allowed to have ether in your school for the purpose of plastic repairs.

But it sure could be useful for other purposes in a school....

[Ozkaban]

Interesting tip. Thanks for sharing :2tsup:

I've noticed that CA accelerator (Mitre Fix Brand) makes things rather hot too. I wonder if it is doing similar things??

Cheers,
Dave

[FenceFurniture]

Most chemical reactions release heat.

[Cliff Rogers]

Most chemical reactions release heat.
Don't tell the cook that.
Exothermic reaction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exothermic_reaction)
Endothermic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endothermic_reaction)

[Ozkaban]

Most chemical reactions release heat.
:doh:

I realised later that I wrote that rather badly. What I meant to say was that the mitrefix will a) make the superglue set pretty much instantly, b) turn it white if you're not very careful with how much you use, and c) supposedly make it stronger.

hence the curiosity if the chemical reaction was similar.

Cheers,
Dave

[issatree]

Hi Mike,
Does it matter which Super Glue. I use Loctite 401 & 406 mainly.
Yes I know it will not stick to a Plastic Shopping Bag, as this is what I use to move the Glue around with.

[burraboy]

G'Day Mike, I sent out your repair tip to a few friends and an old Navy mate sent the following reply,
though I don't think you'd be allowed to have ether in your school for the purpose of plastic repairs.
Cheers, Crowie
Crowie,
The best plastic glue is ether.
Sets in seconds, is clear and is as hard as the plastic you are using
I found this out from a old guy who was in the second world war. They used it to fix the Perspex canopies on the planes.
To purchase it you need to go to a chemist and tell them what you want it for. They will only give you a 50ml bottle.
Use a paint brush, small artists type, wipe each side and press together.
I used to make “on range ammo dispensers” for rifle shooters out of Perspex using this method.
Did you know that Bakerlite (that they used to use as insulators) is the first commercial use of plastics.
Cheers, Neil

Isn't ether the main ingredient in 'Start ya bastard start'?

[Mike Busby]

Yes I'm pretty sure the main ingredient in Start Ya Bastard is ether. I accidently gassed a chook with some of it once - dropped the can and knocked the nozzle and a chook raced up to see what the noise was about - 3 pecks later she keeled over - took her outside and about 5 minutes later she was up and running around again. Pretty wobbly for a couple of minutes and went off the lay for a week.

I don't know about the Loctite but give it a try. At less than $2.00 for a 250gm box of bicarb I'm pretty sure it would be a damn sight cheaper than anything you can buy from Bunnies. Just give it a try on something non vital and see how it works for you. As I said most of my plastic repairs where to laptop cases which super glue won't touch by itself.

Gargabe bags - if you can move in in less time than it takes for the bicarb to hit the glue you might have a chance but once it touches it thats it folks it sets rock solid.

[Lignum]

Great tip Mike:2tsup:

Add that one to the plaster of paris and thin super glue for great cheap quick bog/filler.

[munruben]

Worth noting, thanks for the tip.:2tsup:

[crowie]

G'Day Mike,
Is there any special process as to how to use the super glue and bi-carb when making a repair, please.
I've tried a couple of times and failed.
Cheers, Crowie

[Alastair]

A comment, and an anecdote.

Not sure if ether will glue most plastics, but chloroform was the simple "glue" of choice for Perspex (lexan/polymethylmethacrylate). Made many u/w camera housings in my younger days.

Used straight, it would join effectively, provided surfaces were perfectly true, with no gaps. Gap filling could be improved by dissolving some ground up perspex in the chloroform to form a thicker gel, but at the expense of some strength. All the above was subject to a degree of crazing over time, as the solvent caused swelling and subsequent shrinking of the perspex.

Also available was a commercial glue, namely the methacrylate monomer, and a catalyst, which gave much better results.

Regarding the CA and activator:
My son is a guitarist, and as such has cultivated a couple of his fingernails . Shortly before he was due to do one of his HSC performances, he snagged and peeled one of them.
1st temp repair with CA, lasted a day, before it gave way again. I then repeated the repair, but reinforced with some thick paper, cut to fit over the nail, and laid on with CA.

Problem was that it kept slipping out of place, before the CA went off........so

with a rush of blood to the head, I reached for the spray bottle of accellerator.......
Boy did he dance.
Survived though, and the repair lasted long enough for him to do his performance. Can't get near him with a CA bottle now, though.

regards

[RETIRED]

I feel his pain having accidentally got some under a nail and hitting with accelerator.

The heat and expansion is excruciating.:((

[Alastair]

his dance was self explanatory:D

[Mychael]

I can actually contribute something constructive here and being a newbie I'm pleased.
Anyway using the process as originally mentioned I have successfully repaired broken plastic retainer clips on my cars headlight fitting but more impressivley fixed a crack in my polypropelyne dinghy and nothing much holds to poly.

In that case I used a small triangular file to cut a groove, then filled with sodi bic then added the glue. You can even build up layers in this way as long as you do it before the process is completed, bit more filler bit more glue etc.

Flash 400 from modelling suppliers also works as a good glue in this process.

[Cliff Rogers]

What is sodi bic? :?

[Mychael]

What is sodi bic? :?

bicarb of soda. or sodium bicarbonate if you prefer.