plastic weld or plastic epoxy recomendation?

[e30 Luv]

I tried looking around at my local hardware/projects stores and nobody caries anything for plastic welding. does anybody know where I can get the equipment? or where I should look? I was thinking id try looking into a body repair shop next.
or does anybody have good experience with a plastic epoxy/cement. im hesitant to just buy the standard loctite (or whatever) brand because these never seem to hold up. im looking for some hardcore industrial bonding type stuff. basically equivalent to welding two pieces of metal together - but with plastic.

[ddavidv]

What are you trying to put together? It depends on the type of material you are working with.
You can buy a plastic/urethane welding kit for around $125 or so. I'm pretty sure Harbor Freight carries it. This is what is commonly used for the various types of 'plastic' bumpers, and it comes with a multitude of different 'welding rods' to match whatever material you're working with.
Without knowing what you're trying to weld, though, it's kind of hard to say that will work for you.

[AndrewBird]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41592

www.mcmaster.com for plastic rod for welding. Look under "Plastics" at the bottom, then just pick the material you need.

[e30 Luv]

noice, thanks for shedding a little light on it. now harbor freight is awesome and all, but what if I was looking for a *higher quality* welder? guess online would be my best bet?

Im trying to modify my es lip a little, i talked to a friend who does body work and he recommended that I could use a plastic epoxy, bevel the edges of the plastic a little bit, use fiberglass on the backside for the strength, and use the epoxy to fill the cosmetics on the front. kind of like the painted bumper cut mods.

but i think i might take a trip to hf after work today. thanks

[AndrewBird]

Did you ever get the HF plastic welder? How is it (if you got it).

[e30 Luv]

the fuckers wouldn't sell me their last one

they had a sale on them for 24.99 (down from 44.99). the display model had everything sitting out, including the instruction pamphlet - but the manager wouldn't sell it to me. so they wrote me a raincheck but couldn't tell me when they would get more in stock.

so now im just going to go to auto body supply store to hunt some epoxy and fiberglass...

edit: but im still going to buy it when they have more, so ill post something up about how well it works

[cactusjacks1]

Your spoiler is made from polypropylene & very few generic "plastic welds" will work on that material. Their is a line of products called "Lord Fusor" that can be purchased at body shop paint & supply stores. It is specifically made for this kind of plactic. I have used several of their products, for both structural & cosmetic repairs & it is the best I've found. Go onto their web site www.lord.com & call their hot line, 1 877 ask lord. They are geared towards body shops & the professional body repair business - but you can probably find a store locally that handles the products.

Jack

[Bill-B]

Doesn't JB Weld bond everything

[e30 Luv]

Doesn't JB Weld bond everything

kind of. about as well as superglue bonds "everything". I was looking for something more plastic specific, and like cactusjack points out something even more specific to a specific type of plastic.

I picked up some SEM Rigid URE-Weld, specific to repair TPO and PP plastics.

[xLibelle]

a couple links ive kept handy since the start... and demise of my project

http://www.autobodysupply.net/

http://www.urethanesupply.com/

[der affe]

try wurth "fixall" it is a genaric bumper repair goo.
lord fixer is good, but you will need a special "gun" since it is a 2 part epoxy, ( don't know how much they are since i just "take" them from the different body shops i have worked at....i might hace an extra 2-3 lordfixer guns though) there are different curing times so be careful what you buy.
each company has a different gun so you will have to buy their equipment too...assholes (the spacing between the tubes is different).
just thought i'd shed some light on it for you. bumper epoxy is teh better route than plastic welding for building stuff too. just remember to FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!!!!!!!!! or the stuff wont bond the you do this :hitler:
greg

[atomic]

I just used the loctite ( I think ) brand plastic epoxy to fix a cracked area on my newer plastic bumper. Bonded that 6 inch splt like a champ and luckly the break was a clean break so it makes it really hard to even see it. I bet it will break somewhere else before the spot I fixed. Nothing a little body fill will not fix when that time comes.

[E30 Wagen]

bumping this because i'm interested in knowing more about this subject.

I'm now confused about what kind of plastic the early "es" and "is" spoilers are. I thought they were ABS, now somebody says they're polypropylene, but when i clicked on the urethane supply link and read some descriptions, it sounds like it could also be TPO, EPM, TEO Thermoplastic Olefin.

I'm modifying a wrecked iS spoiler and need to join some long seams together and it's important that it is very strong.

edit: move this to appearance section?