Thread: Polymer bonding

Alright, I'm here to ask if any of you know any effective ways to bond polymers, specifically: acrylic and epoxy resin.

My latest experiment for scales uses carbon fibre. I've been able to cure small sheets of carbon fibre cloth with epoxy and am trying to bond that to plexiglass. So my question is, what's a strong bonding agent between the two with enough setting time so that I have time to work and is transparent.

I've already tried bonding the two together with more epoxy, and it does stick, but it's not that hard to go and peel it off again; especially if you happen to catch a corner. I've tried the usual roughing up the surfaces before bonding, but that doesn't work much better. The problem there is I don't want to make it too rough because it needs to be transparent after it's bonded.

I've also tried CA, which, being another form of acrylic, bonds much better than the epoxy. However, I run into the problem that it sets too fast; I don't have enough time to press out any air bubbles.

The way I'm constructing the scales now pretty much looks like my plexiboker except with carbon fibre liners. I've already made a set, except there's air bubbles that I couldn't eliminate so they don't look that great.

I'd like to try that bonding agent that actually melts the plexiglass, but don't know what it's called or where to get it.

Another thing I'm going to try is sandwiching the carbon fibre between two 1/16" pieces of plexi (instead of only on one side of 1/8" plexi). Then maybe superglue around the edges to kind of seal it in.

Anyway, any tips or points in the right direction for bonding this stuff is appriciated.

Just wondering, could you just cut the scales out of pre-formed carbon fibre sheet - such as this type: http://www.carbonology.com/shop.asp?...78&sec_id=2116

Then just sand the edges and drill holes for the pins? You can get it in a variety of thicknesses and the outside is gloss, so you wouldn't need to bond it to anything.

Or would you need to seal the edges with something afterwards?

If the CA is working for you, I would suggest using the medium, medium-thick or thick, which have open times from about 45seconds to about 1.5min depending on brand and viscosity.

As for melting the plexi, consult a plexi specialist in the yellow pages. Someone local who works with the stuff should be able to tell you what up and where to get it.

Good luck,

Matt