But I couldn’t find anything definitive. I know about the scigrip 16, which I guess is more viscous than the watery thin kind, which I have used and love. But, I now need something that is more easily controllable so I don’t ruin any of the edges not being glued, which is why I think I need the 16. Is that right, or is there anything else I can use? I am basically making a container that will need to contain water, so the glue needs to hold well, not mar the finish (or at least be easier to get where I want it to without accidents like I always have with weld-on 4). Any suggestions of something I can get at Home Depot?
I’ll be curious to read the responses here from the people that know acrylic really well… adhesives are so interesting, and such a deep topic.
My understanding was that gluing acrylic is actually more of a chemical reaction that is “welding” the mated pieces… so they should all pretty much “hold” just as well (if designed for acrylic), or no?
I have made my own “glue” in the past by tossing a few scraps of acrylic in a jar and adding acetone to dissolve them. Then adding either more scraps or acetone till I have the desired viscosity.
Works out well and acts the same way as most acrylic glue by dissolving and chemically welding the edges. Only takes a small amount of acrylic vs acetone, like a 2"x2"x1/4"(smaller pieces are better so they dissolve faster) piece in 8 oz of acetone. I never measured it myself tho in testing, just eyeballed it and was surprised how viscous it got and had to add in more acetone because it turned into a sticky gel. Also use in a ventilated area or outside
Does it evaporate quickly like WeldOn does? Would be really cool if it would keep for some period of time…maybe stored in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
I just store mine in a glass canning jar with a metal lid. has been kicking around on the shelf for months and still same viscosity. only when you open the jar does some of the acetone escape. so i only open it as long as i need to pull some out with a syringe. Sets as fast as the other glues ~3-4 mins depending on the mixture.
Acetone does a good job of gluing Acrylic (and also ABS). It’s not a glue, it’s a solvent. The mated plastic melts together and the solvent evaporates. If the joint is clean and flush, the resulting joint is as strong as the surrounding plastic. I’ve had glued 90º angles break, and they break a little above the joint leaving a shard still attached. The joint itself does not fail.
But you need to find 90% Acetone. The stuff used for fingernail polish removal is 70% and mixed with perfumes and other stuff. Home Depot will have it. But Home Depot will probably also have something like “Weld-on 4” which is like Acetone only specifically formulated for bonding Acrylic with slightly different chemicals.
Wow, thanks! Making my own, that’s fascinating, I’ll definitely try it. Luckily, I do have the right kind of acetone. How long does it take to dissolve the scraps?
I have found glue to be the worst part of working with acrylic. Getting it to bond where you want and not everywhere else has been a problem no matter the glue type
My current method is to put some E-6000 on a disposable surface and drag what is to be glued at a sharp angle across it. This puts a small bead right at the edge evenly across the whole edge. After that getting it placed right is still an issue but makes a good start.
The super liquid stuff I set each edge at the bottom and let the glue flow down. and excess then falls through the cracks and onto the disposable stuff (usually paper) below. This works best in the case of finger patterns. I still hate all of it.
Take a petri dish put acetone in it and just close it with a piece acrylic and see what happened with you acrylic and you will see why you don’t use acrylic and acetone together
Note the laser-cut edge is not perfectly clean, straight or smooth for a perfect fit, which is important if using a solvent for a waterproof bond. You might want to gently sand with 3000 grit or so on a flat surface (the lid of the GF works great)…
If you really did that you will had cracks in acrylic and the surface will have a frosted appearance.
Take it from a professional it won’t work. But it’s your work not mine that you mess up.
You can certainly do that, but not E6000 as was suggested above. It won’t bond them like a solvent designed for acrylic. WeldOn has more viscous versions available, in a squeeze tube even. It does not leave a crystal clear bond like the stuff in cans does.
I should clarify - when I said straight, I meant perpendicular to the surface. If you bond cut sides to faces, they slant by about 2º.
The SciGrip 16 is my least favorite of the acrylic solvents just because of the nature of the foil squeeze tube. You have to be super careful about not over-squeezing because there is zero ability to “suck back” like you can with the #3 or #4. It also flashes quickly so you want to practice first to get the feel so you don’t end up with a stringy mess. Get a lot of extra application tips because it will setup inside the tip “between pulls”. In other words you will use several tips on the same project but you can re-use them after letting the glue dry inside it then it pops out with a little persuasion from a needle or pin.
All that said, check out DAP Aquarium grade silicone. It’s formulated to be submerged in water.
Thanks for this info! Bummer, I just threw out quite a bit of scrap acrylic. Well, I’m sure I’ll have plenty more! Going to store this info for future use.
