I’m gluing mirrored acrylic to another piece of acrylic. Glues I’ve used in the past melted the gray backing/changed the surface of the mirror. Anyone know of an adhesive I can get that will work? Is E6000 okay to use? I am testing some gorilla glue now and it looks to bubble slightly over time.
I’d like to use double sided tape, but alas, I’ve already cut the pieces out…
Most “glues” for Acrylic are actually solvents. They soften/melt the two mated surfaces so they blob together, and then the solvent evaporates. So they attack the mirror coating as well as the Acrylic itself. You need an actual adhesive, something that isn’t a solvent or that is based on a solvent.
E6000 has tetrachloroethylene, which is a solvent.
I’d use Epoxy. A very thin layer. Not near the edges because it’s gonna squish out when you press the pieces together. But it won’t attack the plastic, it won’t haze the plastic, and it should provide a strong and stable joint.
7 Likes
I don’t use mirrored acrylic, but I do use a lot of regular acrylic. I think E6000 would work, but leave a terrible mess behind with all those strings that are always evident and hard to control. Never tried Randy’s idea, though it makes a lot of sense.
2 Likes
I have had some success with urethane type glues (gorilla glue clear for example) on bonding acrylic to wood. Might also work in this case. .
2 Likes
There are specific solvents for sticking plastics together. MEK is the stuff I use, since it works for the widest range of plastics.
But for materials like ABS, simple Acetone nail polish remover will do the trick.
For gluing wildly different material types together, Epoxy is my go-to. 5 minute has a short working time, but typically more than sufficient to smear it over a large surface to stick to something else. And it sets quickly, so you don’t need to mess with fancy clamping, you can just hold the parts together for a few minutes and be done with it…
Wood and Acrylic have wildly different coefficients of thermal expansion, and of course wood shrinks and swells with humidity. You want an adhesive that has a little give or the environmental factors will eventually pry the pieces apart, even if they’re not out in the weather.
And if it is out in the weather, you want an adhesive rated for a wide range of environmental conditions = Epoxy.
1 Like