I would like to adapt a Recreational Vehicle plastic hatch to be used for a hot rod project interior piece and I was wondering if anyone out there had experience on the best type of plastic glue to use. This plastic is the bare white kind that is used for a window cover (window shade) for the front window of a travel trailer so if you are familiar with the plastic that is used in the RV industry that is what I am talking about (here is a picture of the window shade and it has a crack so you can see the plastic surface and the inside). It is certainly not fiberglass. The idea is to cut this plastic hatch in half and then splice it to the correct size for my project so I need to have some kind of "glue" to repair it after I did all of the splicing and dicing... I can use a splint behind the cut to reinforce the plastic so the glue does not really need to be strong enough to hold together a butt splice but it does need to be able to glue on the backing (splint). I am familiar with fiberglass and was considering making the splint out of fiberglass behind the butt end splice however I am concerned that the fiberglass will not stick to the plastic. Here is a picture of the plastic piece in question. THANKS for your help!!~!
When I am faced with gluing plastic, I normally dab a small bit of both PVC and ABS cement on an spot that is hidden, and then see if either of the glues softens and eats into the plastic a bit. If one of them does, that's what I use.
Airstream restorers make a glue by mixing dust from sanding the plastic and mek. Not sure if this would work for what you’re doing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had good success years ago butt welding plastic. I had a graphic arts business and needed a very large but shallow sink. I bought 2 cement mixing tubs from the home center and fused them together into a bigger unit. With nothing but an electric soldering iron and strips of scrap plastic, I did the deed. (The fumes are probably toxic so judicious use of fans and open spaces are required.)
It's probably ABS however without looking at I can't tell exactly what it is, (I'm a Plastic Engineer.) Try the following. 1) Drill a small hole at the end of the crack. This will prevent it from cracking further. 2) Using fine sandpaper, scratch up the area around the crack. 3) Clean the area with rubbing alcohol. 4) Use clear 2 part epoxy (picture below. Available at Lowes / Home Depot). Mix a small amount according to the directions on the package. 5) Apply a small amount to the sanded area. 6) Let it cure according to the instructions. A SMALL amount of heat from a hair dryer will accelerate the curing process. Chas Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Never had much luck with gluing that type of plastic. My neighbor has been in the Urethane/plastic industry for over 30 years and he usually tells me that glue won't hold for whatever I'm trying to stick together. When I had to replace the holding tank in my RV the new tank came without fittings. A local RV shop plastic welded in the fittings. Plastic welders are available at Amazon and other places on the web. This one at HF might do the job and isn't all that pricey: https://www.harborfreight.com/plastic-welding-kit-with-adjustable-temperature-96464.html
One more point to make. You can buy sheets of plastic from U.S Plastics in Lima, OH. https://www.usplastic.com/ Chas
I bought a PLASTC welder years ago and have used it on radiators ,plastic trim,,air boxes etc,,takes a little practice but worked good for me
If you are familiar with fiberglass and are going to modify the piece anyway, go one step further. Make the modification to your desired shape & size, make a fiberglass mold on that, take out the original and throw it away, and make a new single piece fiberglass part in the mold. A bit more work, but zero doubt about glue joints that may or may not hold.
Bakelite is the first plastic ever produced. It's a thermoset resin and cannot be remelted after it has cured. Chas
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