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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Steve Helmick on January 04, 2018, 08:14:07 PM
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So...we have a couple of sliding glass exterior doors. In the dining room, instead of drapes, we have flat vertical slats of plastic, which I suspect to be Styrene. They work sort of like "Mini-Blinds", but vertical, with flat slats, and plastic instead of metal. The connections at the top of the slats fail, specifically the slots stamped into the top of each slat breaks out the top, and the slat falls to the floor.
My fix was to buy a sheet of 1/16" K&S Styrene at the LHS (well, not all that local), cutting strips .250" wide and gluing them full width across the top of the slats, bridging the broken out slot that the slats were supposed to hang by. I cleaned the gluing surfaces with Naptha and used Plastic Model glue "for Styrene". It worked great, but it also didn't hold very long, 2-4 weeks at most. The glue joint failed, one at a time, two of six total so far.
Looks like I need either better prep or better glue. What say you wizards of glue? Don't make me bolt this crap together with 0-80 machine screws! LL~ Steve
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It's probably ABS, which means you want a liquid glue like Bondene, or Tenax 7r. Plasti-Zap will almost always work on any plastic, too.
I have the same sorts of blinds, they hang from a plastic clip and many of them have cracked at the slot and fallen out.
Brett
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Had the same problem. We had two fall off. Our verticals are "S" shaped so flat stock doesn't work. Sacrificed one of the blinds (last in the row) and cut about 1 1/2" off the end. Glued the reinforcement with Goop, then re cut the slot. Looks good, and can't tell it's missing a slat. The cut slat is stored in the shop. I think our blinds are vinyl and I think most are the same. Ours have valance so the 1 1/2 doubler doesn't show, plus its on the wall side. My wife was impressed and I told her the new milling machine will do an even nicer job!
Modellers have skills!
Norm
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It's probably ABS, which means you want a liquid glue like Bondene, or Tenax 7r. Plasti-Zap will almost always work on any plastic, too.
I have the same sorts of blinds, they hang from a plastic clip and many of them have cracked at the slot and fallen out.
Brett
I thought ABS was tough stuff, used for dirt bike fenders and such?
There was a thread a few weeks ago by somebody gluing Styrene, and everybody said CA wouldn't do. Man, this plastic model glue is expensive, and since it didn't work, it's useless to me! "Goop" might be used on my next attempt. It looks like it won't be too long before I have to do the job over again. Originally, I just turned the slats upside-down and use the Dremel to make new slots. Those failed also. I think the plastic is not very good, whatever it is. Can anybody advise about identifying the plastic, like if it's ABS, it can be dissolved with X solvent, or if it's Styrene, Y solvent, etc.? D>K Steve
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Plexiglass adhesive.
Which is pretty much methylene chloride.
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I thought ABS was tough stuff, used for dirt bike fenders and such?
Plasti-Zap is intended for gluing plastic, it works fine. Bondene is for hard plastics like plexiglas and you have to be a bit careful with it on styrene since too much will melt right through it.
Brett
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Try rubbing a bit of PVC or ABS pipe cement in an inconspicuous place. If it feels like the plastic starts to dissolve, it should work.