Large Scale Central

Plastic surface prep for glue

During my current build, I have been using a few differant types of plastic. Sometimes I’m gluing styrene to styrene but, most of the time it’s acrylic to styrene or, styrene to pvc , etc. One of the solvents I started using during this build :

Note there is also a cleaner that gets used with this solvent. Also, this is usually found in the plumbing dept of your favorite home improvement store. And no I do not have any type of vested interest in this product it’s just the brand I use. Anyway, while using this product, I noted that in areas where I used plastruct and Ambroids plastic solvents and some of the above cleaner was on the material,Iusually got a better bond. Better, in that without the cleaner on the surface I had to sometimes use a large amount of solvent, because I was trying to bond two dissimilar plastics. By first applying the above cleaner to the joint I found that my normal use plastic solvents formed a better bond on any joint combination. Although the applicator in the cap is usually too large for our use, the glue and cleaner above can be applied with a small brush , a Q-tip , even a toothpick. The above come in assorted sizes and the smallest should supply you with plenty for awhile.

An idea worth testing out!
Paul