UHMW Bonding

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MLReed05
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Location: Western MA

UHMW Bonding

Post by MLReed05 »

How is everyone bonding their UHMW sidewalls to their cores? Anyone use 3M P.S. Adhesive?
Buuk
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Location: The Netherlands

Post by Buuk »

Check http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=342
or use the search function of the forum and look for flame treatment or dyne level.

Buuk
MLReed05
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Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

Thanks!
justin56
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Post by justin56 »

Flame treating UHMW and ABS are not difficult. The home builder can do it very easily--even using a propane torch by hand, if they have the patience.

Now, if you want to do production runs, that might require building an automated system, as your arm and hand would get very tired!

But, an automated system is as easy as building a simple machine like a drum sander for your home woodshop. Just takes a little thought and sourcing cheap parts.


-J
Buuk
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Post by Buuk »

Justin56,

I don't agree on the point that you can very easily flame treat UHMW and ABS, at least not if you want to be sure about a constant quality.
It's hard to set gas-oxygen ratio, flame length, treatment speed using a hand torch. Even the environment conditions influences the quality of the treatment.


Buuk
Make things as simple as possible, but not too simple
G-man
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Post by G-man »

I certainly agree with Buuk. The more I research this stuff, the more I realize just how critical the flame treating parameters are. Here's one article that provides some good information. Flame treating is discussed more toward the end of the atricle:

http://www.shermantreaters.co.uk/acrobat/extrusion.pdf

Flame treating with a hand held propane torch just seems way too hit-and-miss to be suggesting that it's a reliable way to get a consistently good bond with UHMW.

Here's another:

http://www.shermantreaters.co.uk/acrobat/flame.pdf


G-man

Edit to post: sorry folks... I didn't realize that the second link was basically redundant.
Last edited by G-man on Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MLReed05
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Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

Great stuff!...looks like I have my work cut out for me.
Richuk
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Post by Richuk »

helpful for the DIY approach http://a-a-i.net/polyethylene.htm
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MontuckyMadman
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Post by MontuckyMadman »

what about tape? double sided and meant for plastic.
3M makes some nice tape.
doughboyshredder
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Post by doughboyshredder »

a few off topic responses there for sure.

For bonding of the sidewalls to the core, gorilla glue i.e. polyurethane glue is the best.

I have also tried cryanoacrylate (superglue) along with a textured profile on the sidewall. The superglue was in small dots in a few different places and the profile allowed epoxy to seep in between the core and the sidewall. That actually worked rather well, but poly is still the way to go, imo.

As far as flame treating is concerned I entirely disagree with the opinion that you can't flame treat by hand.
OAC
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Post by OAC »

True: polyurethane glue works! And it's easy to work with.
Just make sure to tighten the clamps or whatever you're using for attachment. And don't use to much! The residue foam can disturb your idea of having a perfect planed core...

This is an excerpt from my experiences and the sidewalls are still there!...:)
skidesmond
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Post by skidesmond »

First off, I haven't tried bonding plastic sidewalls yet. But I did see a video (somewhere...) where it showed how to flame treat w/ a simple torch. In the video they showed that after the flame treating they placed a few drops of water onto the plastic. If the water beaded up, then it needed to be flame treated more. If the water did not bead up then it was properly flame treated.

Sounds simple but I haven't tried it. Is it really that easy?
doughboyshredder
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Post by doughboyshredder »

skidesmond wrote: Sounds simple but I haven't tried it. Is it really that easy?
Yes, it is.

I have personally witnessed thousands of boards built with sidewalls flame treated by hand.
Jekul
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Post by Jekul »

The water test is a VERY simple way of dyne testing the material. If you're trying to automate a process and would like to know the surface energy (dyne level) of the material there are several companies who make dyne pens that allow easy testing of the surface. However, I know when working with industrial inks you need the dyne level of the surface and the dyne level of the ink to be slightly different (around 10).
Richuk
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Post by Richuk »

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