Well crap. No reaction, it’s like water to the print. It says “Does not bond to cross-linked acrylics”, I suppose this is a cross-linked acrylic? I wish I knew what I was making.
I guess super glue will work, but who would buy something held together by super-glue? Oh well.
This for welding sheets of acrylic (usually).
I hope you wore a respirator and gloves with plenty of ventilation around you. That stuff is particularly nasty. 
Has anyone tried “Plastic Cement” (I believe it’s known technically as Butanone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanone#As_a_plastic_welding_agent) ? Would that work with the cured resin? Supposedly, plastic cement is supposed to “melt” the plastic and weld them together, but I have no idea if the active compound in plastic cement will work with the Formlabs printer resin. Anyone have experience with such a solution?
Weld On works great for bonding Styrene as well. We used it quite a bit in school for modeling making. It is nasty stuff though and you have to be very careful with getting it on your skin. It actually dissolves the plastic and forms a molecular bond with the material though so its a permanent solution. Not sure what effect it would have on cured form labs plastic though.
I’ve very curious to hear your results @JoshK
Super glue was the only thing I tried that got the job done on Form1+ prints.
I print in ABS with a FFF printer now, so a few drops of acetone softens the plastic just long enough to stick the two pieces together. Then a final vapor-polish will make it stronger and erase the line.
That’s a good question, what works for me is hot glue, super strong, even better than CA (super) glue.
Form me, in the order of increasing strength, CA glue (Cyanoacrylate), aka hobby grade superglue, Laser cured resin, Epoxy (I prefer 12minute, rather than 5 minute).
For the ultimate in strength, there’s no substitute for epoxy. I don’t buy the cheap stuff from the hardware store, I buy the epoxy from a hobby store. The hardware store stuff tends to yellow in time.
The reason I like 12 minute epoxy is because it give it time for the bubbles to work out, then it flows smoothly in all the cracks and blends itself to the rest of the surface. 5 minute epoxy can do the same but you have to blend it fast and it doesn’t always flow as nice.
If I need the parts to stay in place while the epoxy hardens, I sometimes add a dab of CA glue first, then I do the epoxy.
3 Likes
What’s the brand of epoxy that you use? Thank you for your tips!
The stuff I use is branded with the name of the hobby shop I get it from, Talbots. But it’s made by BSI Inc (Bob Smith Industries).
http://bsi-inc.com/hobby/hobby.html
I primarily use the Blue CA (Insta-Glue), sometimes I use the CA accellerant (Insta-Set), and the epoxy, 5 minute or 12/15 minute.
1 Like
I use CA glue for most things. In some cases I’ll use CA to quickly attach parts and then use liquid resin to fill the gap (it can be a bit messy so it needs to be an area you can easily sand afterwards).
I also use epoxy putty (milliput) to fill in gaps if I can’t use the liquid resin.
use the resin and put 10 minutes in form cure, it’s very strong
Anyone else do this? This sounds like the best plan if its a strong hold.
What technique are you talking about ? There are several that are being discussed here.
If you’re talking about the last answer from @omega_italy then it’s definitely a good idea for some prints where the surfaces being glued together aren’t too “wide” such that there is no need to cure too deep inside the part (which is not possible). I would still “freeze” the parts together with a UV laser before getting then in the Cure though, just to avoid them moving.
I have a technical part that combines 3 different resins - Rigid 4000, Tough 1500, and High Temp. There is a flexibility and temperature requirement, so a bit challenging. After lots of experimenting, I found 3M Scotch-Weld CA40H to work extremely well. It does not fill gaps, but has provided a bond that takes moderate flexing, up to about 180 deg F, and repetitive light impact. It is expensive though. Here is a link - no I do not work for 3M or Amazon …
3M also sells a wide range of epoxies, acrylic and urethane glues in their “scotch weld” lineup. They can be difficult to find and tend to be expensive, but I can pretty much always find an ideal glue for any situation.
I would imagine for most of our resin prints the acrylic glues would be a great match.
I wonder if this would help… unlike regular super glue this is more a It might help with the setting up.
I had some dowel holes cut out (1/4") in an acrylic sheet that I wanted to fit a Rigid 4000 pieces into . I used Loctite 4011 as the binding agent. In short I am incredibly pleased with the outcome. I am able to pick up the whole assembly (10 x 10.75 x 9.75" Acrylic Tank with 1/2" wall thickness) by this joint.