26 replies to this topic

[Ace-Garageguy]

I've been hearing that Tenax was going away since 2009, but had no problem getting it until this week. Shelves were bare, and gone too was the Ambroid Pro Weld (both methylene chloride, I believe), and the hobby guy didn't seem to know if they would ever return. I suppose I can always buy MC in bulk, but I've just been too lazy, as long as the LHS had it in stock.

 

Does anyone know the real deal here?

 

PS. Ambroid seems to still be readily available on ebay and other mail-order sites, but the shipping is almost as much as a bottle of the stuff.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy, 08 December 2012 - 12:46 PM.

[bbowser]

I haven't seen Tenax for quite a while.  Too bad because it works well.  I suspect the government is saving us from ourselves again?

[wisdonm]

I refill my Tenax and Ambroid bottles with Sunnyside brand methyl ethyl keytone (MEK) bought at a home improvement store.

[Trucker_tim]

I have been using a bottle of stuff called "same stuff" it's supposed to be billed as the same stuff as proweld.


(null)

[G Holding]

Those two are gone (forever) due to the high VOC's in them. I know tenax that has been the issue for some time now and they would change % and EPA OK. Those two were the fastest working, many others just dry slower...some really slow. MEK will work, but it can mess with your brain.

I have heard this "factoid" on both coasts...high probility of truth.

Edited by G Holding, 08 December 2012 - 03:23 PM.

[lanesteele240]

tamyia thin glue is the end all to this conversation. it wont disappear like somebody stole it if you leave the cap off for 3 seconds. works just as fast and the fat bottle wont tip over. the bottle comes with a applicator brush. i made the switch with 3 bottles of tenax left

[Michigan Madman]

tamyia thin glue is the end all to this conversation. it wont disappear like somebody stole it if you leave the cap off for 3 seconds. works just as fast and the fat bottle wont tip over. the bottle comes with a applicator brush. i made the switch with 3 bottles of tenax left

That's the one thing I ALWAYS hated about Tenax. The stuff would evaporate more quickly than Vanilla Ice's career- expose it to air and TAH-DAH... it's gone. Never had that problem with the Ambroid though.

 

Haven't tried the Tamiya glue yet, but if it works as well as Tenax or Ambroid and won't evaporate as quickly the second it's out of the bottle it might be worth looking into.

[roadhawg]

I've been using the stuff put out by Flex-I-File, called "Plast-I-Weld".....it seems to work better than all the above.

[Draggon]

Ive been using methyl ethyl ketone since I was in junior high. That would be about 50 some odd years ago.

[Art Anderson]

If you have an industrial plastics supply company anywhere near you (the kind of place that sells, among other things, acrylic plastic, AKA plexiglas), chances are they have Weld-On #3, which if not the same stuff as Tenax, is a very close relative!) you are in like Flynn!  

 

About 6 years ago, I bought two half-pint cans (8 fluid ounces) of Weld-On (incidentally this stuff is sold by Plastruct!) that I got at the Meyer Plastics shop here in Lafayette (Meyer is based in Indianapolis IN).  I simply decant the stuff by means of a large eyedropper from that can into an old Tenax bottle, and use it from there.

 

Sometimes in our hobby, it takes some searching, some creative looking, but the stuff I like to use is still out there--just do some looking if you can.  BTW, I got both cans of the stuff for less than $8 each!

 

Art

Edited by Art Anderson, 08 December 2012 - 11:51 PM.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Art, thanks for the heads-up on the brand name Weld-On #3. It is indeed mostly methylene chloride, which we've used for years on acrylic aircraft canopies and glazing. I knew I could get it for industrial use, in bulk (a 1/2 pint can isn't really bulk, but compared to a 1oz bottle it's a lot), but I'd completely forgotten that we used to stock it AND that there is an industrial plastics supply company (or there was last time I drove by....in this economy, businesses are still disappearing overnight) within a few miles. Thanks for the memory jog.

[brad4321]

I'm not sure why anyone would use these as long as the Tamiya stuff  is available.  It is better in every way possible, in my opinion. I purchased the Tenax once after using Tamiya for years.  That was a mistake I won't repeat again.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm not sure why anyone would use these as long as the Tamiya stuff  is available.  It is better in every way possible, in my opinion. I purchased the Tenax once after using Tamiya for years.  That was a mistake I won't repeat again.

Okay, I've heard Tenax users bash Tamiya and Tamiya users bash Tenax. What is the chemical composition of the Tamiya stuff, and why is it superior, exactly, in your experience? I REALLY want to know, having been VERY pleased with Tenax.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy, 09 December 2012 - 08:37 AM.

[showbuilder]

i buy proweld from ebay in bulk and the shipping is reasonable that way.

[G Holding]

I use a number of these, including Tamiya. Tenax is /was the fastest set ....great for scratching things together quickly. I find the faster setting, the more brittle the joint. So I would fit things together with Tenax and finish them with Tamiya welding seams togetheg for a strong bond.

[mbl4321]

Okay, I've heard Tenax users bash Tamiya and Tamiya users bash Tenax. What is the chemical composition of the Tamiya stuff, and why is it superior, exactly, in your experience? I REALLY want to know, having been VERY pleased with Tenax.

I'm sure both sides have good reasons for their preferences.  And had I more experience with Tenax, perhaps I would like it more?  I hated that the Tenax I purchased had no brush.   So I could never accurately apply it.  Then half or more of it just disappeared before I could use it.  I've gone thru dozens of those Tamiya bottles with no problems, and I can't think of a single way to improve it.  So I was pretty much close minded going into the experiment.  I like that the tamiya will hold pretty much immediately while giving you plenty of time to adjust.

[lanesteele240]

one other tid bit. my son used my tamiya and did not even cap it. hours later it was still there.

[dodgefever]

According to the MSDS, Tamiya Extra Thin Cement is a mixture of butyl acetate and acetone.  Never tried it myself, I buy MEK and methylene chloride in litre bottles.

[Ace-Garageguy]

According to the MSDS, Tamiya Extra Thin Cement is a mixture of butyl acetate and acetone.  Never tried it myself, I buy MEK and methylene chloride in litre bottles.

Thanks. I should have had the presence of mind to look up the MSDS myself. Anyway, that explains the differences in evaporation rates and relative quickness of the bond time. I'll have to read them all....I'm sure the reasoning for discontinuing availability of the ones in question will be there, primarily as G Holding said, the high concentration of VOCs, accounting in part for the rapid evaporation.

[Mooneyzs]

Art, thanks for the heads-up on the brand name Weld-On #3. It is indeed mostly methylene chloride, which we've used for years on acrylic aircraft canopies and glazing. I knew I could get it for industrial use, in bulk (a 1/2 pint can isn't really bulk, but compared to a 1oz bottle it's a lot), but I'd completely forgotten that we used to stock it AND that there is an industrial plastics supply company (or there was last time I drove by....in this economy, businesses are still disappearing overnight) within a few miles. Thanks for the memory jog.

 

Hey Bill.... Count me in as one who has been using Weld-On #3. I used to buy them in the 4oz bottles like what Tenax and Pro Ambroid (I believe that is the name of the other one) come in. Well long ago Weld-On stopped packing them in the small containers and I would get them in Pints and with in the past year I had ordered two quarts on-line of them and I paid somewhere around 15 to 20 dollars a quart. which if you are paying somewhere between 5 and 7 bucks for 4oz ends up costing around 40 to 56 dollars a quart. I try and save some cash where I can on supplies. I then transfer some of the weld-on into a smaller container that I work out of. Here is a pic of the pint size can that I transfer to. Let me know if you want to see pics of the Quart size and I would be more than happy to take and post a pic for ya.