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1001 uses for Bondic on Fotki 7/30/17


Foxer

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I started this thread as a continuation to crazyjim's thread Anybody tried Bondic yet? I've been using this product in my building whenever is seems it will do the job easier and better than what I'd normally use. This is a light-cured liquid plastic and cured after 4 seconds of exposure to the included light.

I'm going to paste here my replies from jim's thread and will be continually adding to it as I find new uses. This will let me edit the thread topic to reflect new additions.

The Bondic came and I had a good test as a quick casting compound. I can't afford to use resin because my casting needs are few and far between and doesn't justify what would be 30 years of casting resin for a few hubcaps once or twice a year. I have resin probably 20 years old sitting on a shelf .. I know .. it's too old.

So I chose the front VW logo from Revel's Samba kit. I bought the kit just for that separate logo to use on a build of my Dad's '56 Bus that I couldn't paint the cast on logo to my satisfaction.

VW Logo DSC 1541

I did all this today! I made a mold with RTC silicone 2 part Mold Putty (this IS 20 years old too but still works). I filled the mold the logo with the Bondic .. moved the application pen around the letters trying to not get any between them. It has a nice consistency ... a little thickish but flows out and levels well. I nudged it around with the tip to get it evenly placed. Then a 4 second light application ... well, I did it for about 10 seconds to be safe. Then I pulled it from the mold! It just popped out easily .. no stick to the mold at all. A part of the outer edge was missing .. so I put it back tight in the mold and added a small drop at the missing area. Cured it and popped out. Couldn't tell where I patched it!

Here's a link to the Bondic web site

This photo shows the logo after I sanded it a bit. It sands like plastic. The material is a bit flexible ... you can bend it without breaking. I also cut out some with the knife where it spilled over the mold. Easily trimed like plastic.

VW Logo DSC 1542

This is after a coat of primer. It does need a little light sanding, but I'd call this done and useable. Very nice!

VW Logo DSC 1543

So, I feel Bondic is another good tool to add to the arsenal we usr building cars. It's quick and easy for those little things we NEED! I haven't tried it yet as a bonding agent .. :lol:

Edited by Foxer
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Another test. I did a cast of the 59 caddy tail lights from the AMT Merc. I just remembered I didn't put the original in the photos but no big deal. I colored one red with a Sharpie and added some BMF .. quickly as you can see. :D The gloss as they came out of the mold got dulled by my tight grip on them as I drilled a hole for a brass rod holder. The Bondic wasn't as soft as I though when I drilled .. harder than styrene it seemed. You can see the dullness on the clear one. I sprayed a quick Testors One Coat on the red one to shine it up .. no reaction from the spray. The red one got a couple small air bubbles that must have been my stabbing the liquid with the applicator to be sure it went all the way into the mold. It shows in one photo as a bright white spot.

59 Caddy Tail Lights DSC 1548

Test Results: PASSED! :)

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Here's my latest use of Bondic ... I made a bumper from aluminum tubes and needed to finish off the open ends. Normally I probably would have plugged the holes with some body putty ... let dry overnight.. and then sand flat and paint.

 

These I just filled the hole with Bondic and let it form a raised bubble shape then hit it with the light. I didn't sand or touch it before painting this time. The ends are just perfect to me with their rounded shape. Nothing could have been as easy.

tie plate DSC 1593

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This seems very similar to the stuff dentists use for some cavities. I had one done like that a few years back. Rather neat.

I may have to look into this for some of my own projects.

Charlie Larkin

That's what got me started on this but it's not the same stuff .. just cures the same way. It's close to styrene in hardness, maybe slightly harder. It sands well.

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I can't wait to try this as a general purpose body filler.

 

It's relatively expensive to be used as a body filler replacement, but for really small jobs it seems to be better. You should roughen up the surface it's to be applied to first with sandpaper.

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I suppose you are right, but it I'm just wondering if it would work as seamless as the melted-styrene-in-MEK trick.

 

I always have a bottle of melted-styrene-in-MEK sitting on my workbench. I have used it as body putty, casting material and just plain bonding agent. I like using it, but it does have it's down side. One is the shrinkage as the solvent evaporates, though I only use it for small pieces and it's not a big factor for me. I've used it to cast door handles and usually get 1 out of 4 or so to come out good. It also gets stringy when you pick a dab up and is not easy getting it to fill the mold easily.

 

Bondic had none of the problems I mentioned when used for casting a small part. There is no shrinkage and it cures almost instantly (4 seconds under the light). Bondic is a fairly viscous liquid and does not flow really easily, but it does flow. It's not detrimental to jab it in the mold to get it into all the nooks and cranny's .. like with a toothpick. There is no rush since it will stay in liquid form forever until it is exposed to the light.

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So this stuff would be great for making door handles and scripts than?

Door handles for sure.

I think scripts could be done if you got a good enough mold. It would be a little flexible being that thin ... an interesting idea. Getting it chrome would probably take some Alclad. I'll have to look at some bodies for some scripts to try on.

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could you use silly putty for the mold part

 

Silly Putty doesn't hold it's shape enough to use as a mold. It actually will flow I believe. I use an RTV silicone 2-part putty that works very weld. It was from a resin casting kit I bought 20 years ago and the RTV still works.

Edited by Foxer
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I have a Subaru Legacy wagon that's been in the works for years. It has a broken window post at the rear that is too small for plastic glue to work well. The roof exerts a slight pull on the post which i swhat pulled it apart using the plastic glue. I couldn't find a way to get the post held tight so I could glue it and let it sit while the glue cured.

 

I took the Bondic and just spread some across the joint very thinly so it wouldn't affect the glass fit. I could then hold the post tight with one hand as I applied the light with the other and let everything go in 4 seconds! The post held with the thin coat of Bondic on only one side.

Legacy Post Bondic DSC 1596The post at the rear corner of the roof is the one that was repaired. It was at the roof joint. The white reflection is off the Bondic. Other shiny areas are from the first repair.

Legacy Post Bondic DSC 1598

I have to add that Bondic is not a good glue. It seems to stick at first but the bond is very weak. It worked as an alighnment tool for this window post but the joint came apart with the slightest pressure until the window kept it in place.

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I decided my next Bondic test would be a Porsche 968 engine casting. I have some RTV silicon molds I made when trying to cast this engine in resin. The resin casting was a disaster with many air bubbles on the surface. I had cleaned that up with some putty but it never got to being satisfactory. The image below has the resin casting on the right and the original plastic on the left.

968 engine resin  plasticic DSC 1630

 

My plan for the Bondic was to try to minimize the amount of material used in the casting as it seemed completely filling these large molds would be unnecessary. I started with a fresh tube of Bondic to try judging how much material it would take casting these four parts .. two engine halves, the valve cover and the front cover. I started by filling the deepest bottom areas and pushing the metal tip into the tight areas while releasing the material. I then continued to put a layer of Bondic across the bottom and cured it. It was easy to see areas I had missed by the reflections off the clear, shiny Bondic and the dull mold so I applied another layer filling in the bare areas and where I thought a thicker layer was desirable. This was all cured with the blue light. I then started to build up a layer along the side vertical surfaces and cured it. These layers were less than the 1 to 1.5 mm recommended maximum. I ran a bead of Bondic along the top edge and used a thin piece of sheet brass to level this out to the top of the mold. I cleaned off the brass with isopropyl alcohol which cleaned it off well. Below are three of the molds after placing the Bondic. I had run a sanding stick across them to level.

968 engine Bondic DSC 1617

This is one engine half That has missing areas when I took it out of the mold. I just placed it back in and added more Bondic to fill. It's difficult to see these parts when they are clear so I only put this one up.

968 engine Bondic DSC 1614

These are the parts with paint. I welded the engine halves together with Bondic before painting. Just a few dabs around the edges and hold together with the cure light in the other.

968 engine Bondic DSC 1627

I was happy with the parts and they were vastly better than the resin ones, but that was my first try at casting resin. The parts had some tiny bumps that I'm not sure from what. Possible tiny air bubbles from my working it into the crevices, but I'm going to have to look closer at this. I did clean the molds well before using so it's not dust. It seems like I may have used about 3/4 of a tube of Bondic making these parts .. and the handles and lights following .. it's difficult to gauge but it was taking more pressure from the end to squeeze material out on the last parts.

 

I had some molds for door handles and side marker lights from a GMC van so I cast these too. The handle molds were incomplete so they didn't make perfect parts, but they would have if done in good molds. The lights I colored with a orange Sharpie and the surface texture shows well.

GMC light door handles DSC 1619

I'm very pleased with the possibilities that casting small parts with Bondic offers over using resin for such small needs that seem to occur with many builds. It's quick and easy with no fuss or wasted resin for small jobs.

Edited by Foxer
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Is this stuff clear enough to do headlight lenses?

Hmmm .. I believe so.

For a window I don't think so, but you've sparked an Idea for me to try! I should also try casting a small window just to see how clear it does. One thing I've seen is the seam between application of layers shows so a window would have to be done with one layer.

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Next I tried Kit Basher's suggestion for headlight lenses. This is something I often find I could use rather than pirating lenses from a kit I'd rather leave alone. This especially would be good for those chromed lenses cast with the grill that get drilled out and replaced with clear lenses.

I cast the lenses with RTV 2 part molding putty .. pretty simple. The Bondic does pop right out of these molds with no stick.

 

These lenses were from the Revell '49 Merc Woody as was the vent window I also did to test the clearness of a Bondic casting.

Headlights  clear spray DSC 1636

The vent window suffers from a not so perfect mold, but it has small "bumps" on the surface that whisk away with a light touch of fine sandpaper that is not appropriate for a clear lens. I think a clear window is probably not possible without more work to smooth the surface. A windshield is too big for this application.

I touched one headlight lens with my fingers and it clouded the surface clarity. A coating of acrylic clear did bring most of it back. I advise not touching the surface at all when handling and putting a clear coat on right away so you can handle it.

I really like this application of Bondic. It puts clear headlight lens in the hands of us all.

Edited by Foxer
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  • 4 weeks later...

More casting tests with Bondic. I needed some lenses for some custom tail lights for a '49 Mercury Woodie I building and decided casting them with Bondic would be the quickest and simplest way. They were to fit flush to the rear corner of the wagon as can be seen in the first photo with a test casting in place ... the casting has some missing areas and has been polished on the outside. This established the method I would cast these pieces. I used tape to block the light holes for the casting and had also used tape to mark the area I removed from the body with drills, files and sandpaper.

49 woody tail light  taped fistl lensDSC 1639

This photo shows the final taping. I used Frog tape since it had a smoother surface and one piece over the hole had the non-sticky side facing the opening and would be the surface the Bondic was put against. I also put some Vaseline against the body edges to prevent the Bondic from sticking. The next photo shows the inside before removing the tape and tail light. The taillights came out of the "mold" with the tape.

49 woody tail light  tape DSC 1644

 

Here are the final taillights placed in the body after being sanded in the edges and polished. I plan to polish further but I needed to clean up for an electrician working around my bench tomorrow. I'm going to try polishing the inside with my Dremel, but these are pretty much ready to be painted in clear red.

49 woody tail light polished in place DSC 1651

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Wanted to finish these taillights off today so you see how good that can look, but with electrician down in the model shop I can't work on them .

So a few more thoughts. I polished the outside surface with sanding sticks made to polish clear plastic windows and they worked on the Bondic just as if it was clear plastic. They need some Novus polishing now. I want to also polish the inside to see if I can being some clearness back, but it isn't really necessary since with the red tint and a silver backing It should look good. The "cloudiness" of the taillights in the photos above is the back surface showing through.

I had first thought of using some old airplane canopys I had to file some taillights, but these would be some real work to get to the shape of the body surface that I wasn't looking forward to. They would have polished out really well so we'll see how clear I can bring the Bondic back to. Handling the Bondic does cloud up the surface unless you spray a clear on it .. I've used an Acrylic Clear spray successfully and then could handle without clouding it up.

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Here's a final shot of the Bondic custom taillights. They were polished like clear kit window glass with no problems. Color was done with a red Sharpie. I primed the back of the body added a .005" sheet behind to close off the light opening. This was painted silver for this shot.

Bondic Taillights redDSC 1655

Edited by Foxer
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