Dissimilar plastics cement

[Space Garbageman]

Anyone know what CYC cement is? The Plastruct website lists it as used for joining styrene/ABS/butyrate/acrylic to each other. I'm used to using Tenax for all my plastic welds, but that's just for styrene. What do people like to use to join styrene to acrylic or ABS? And maybe related: what is the best contact cement to use with these types of plastic? I'm looking for something other than CA.

[Kylwell]

No idea. I use CA for acrylic to anything, Tenax for styrene & abs, CA for everything else.

[USSARCADIA]

I've used Weld-On #3 with pretty good results. Not sure where you can get it. I get mine from a plastic supplier.

[MillenniumFalsehood]

I like Plastic Welder made by Plastruct. I go through at least fifteen bottles a year.

[Slave1]

I like Plastic Welder made by Plastruct. I go through at least fifteen bottles a year.

Do you really?! You must be using allot of it cause my bottles usually last me a few months.

[Scratchawan Learner]

What Millenium Falsehood said.
I too use Plastic Welder... MUCH better bonding than Tenax,
and works on more plastics. You can use a lot, or a little...
depending on the application. I use a lot, if scratching
something... or a little, if I'm only building a styrene kit.
One drop goes a long ways... and best of all, it dries
rather quickly. I regard it as superior in every way, to
Tenax, or Testors bottle cement...and puts tube cement
back in the dark age days...with horse and buggy, and
the age of sail!
Scratch

[Owen E Oulton]

It helps to know what the active ingredients are in chemical glues. Testors is MEK, or Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and is good for styrere only. Many hotter glues are Methylene Chloride, which will bond styrene, ABS, acrylic or any combination of the above. Plastruct's Plastic Weld is just MC with a thickening agent in it. Tenax is also MC. I've used Plastic Weld before, and found it inferior to pure MC (probably due to the thickener), which I buy in jugs from my local Plastics supplier. I find that they supply it in polyethylene jugs, so I transfer it to glass, as MC will evapourate through polyethylene. MC sets up right away, and dries very fast, so if I need to do a lot of repositioning, I'll use Testors first, and once it's in its final place, use a drop of MC.

[zaphod]

I have had success with the Loctite plastic bonder set.
It consists of a felt pen with some organic volatile and CA glue.
The pen might outlast the ca glue, so I tested it with a few different brands and viscosities of CA, and most the brands were successful with the pen.
It is worthwhile to prep the surface by washing with Dawn and then scuffing with sandpaper.
What works best for me is automotive sandpaper 600 to 800 grit.

[southwestforests]

I too use Plastruct Plastic Weld for dissimilar plastics. Since the mid 1970s.

Their Bondene is labeled to do ABS to ABS and Styrene to Styrene.

I've also had success doing styrene to ABS with Tamiya's liquid cement in orange label and cap color bottle.

In my experience as both a modeler and a retailer, the Plastic Weld has some kind of volatility which allows it to evaporate from a factory sealed bottle, both in the closet at home and on the store shelf.

[WraithVerge]

Permatex plastic weld for me; it's a two part epoxy-like adhesive that is immensely strong, is like plastic and holds tightly. I've used it for a variety of dissimilar plastics.