Bonding ABS to styrene

[delta99]

I am building the Autocar dump kit, and I want to lengthen the frame. The frame rails measure 7/16" in height. Neither plastruct nor evergreen offer styrene channel in that size, but plastruct does have ABS. On plastruct's catalog, it shows recommended glues for both, and they recommend the exact same glues for both. But under the description for their glues, it says they will bond like materials, ABS to ABS, styrene to styrene, etc. I normally use testors orange tube cement. Will that bond ABS to styrene, or do I need to use CA?

[Dave Van]

Testors tube glue will not hold long.

CA can work as do solvents made for ABS.

I like 5 minute epoxy. 

[SfanGoch]

Get Weld-On 3. I use it to bond polystyrene to ABS, acrylics and each other and encountered no issues in terms of joint strength. Unlike CA or epoxies, it forms a permanent bond by fusing the parts. A 1/2 pint container costs less than 17 bucks.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:_WELD-ON 3* is a water-thin, non-flammable cement formulated to quickly develop high strength,clear bonds to many thermoplastic substrates, particularly acrylic.The bond is achieved by first softening the surfaces to be joined and then fusing them together with dissipation of the solvent.The initial bond forms within a few minutes and quickly increases in strength.Substantial strength will be obtained within only a few hours.

[Oldmopars]

I use MEK, I use it to bond Styrene all the time and it works with other plastics like ABS etc. If you look at any of the glues used, the active ingredient is MEK. It is the chemical that melts the plastic and "Welds" it together. I buy it in a quart can and just pour it into a Plastructs bottle I have. Once bonded, it is a royal pain to get back apart.  

[peteski]

Just to clarify, ABS (or Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene  ) is a type of styrene, so as others have mentioned, most solvent based glues which dissolve Polystyrene (styrene) will also bond ABS.  Non-solvent adhesives such as my favorite CA or Super Glue will also bond both of those materials.  JUst make sure that the glued areas are clean and grease-free.

 

Still, if this will be a butt-joined on a high stress component (frame) I recommend strengthening the joint by either adding sheet styrene plates at the joint areas, or maybe pinning the joint with brass rods.

[Ben]

There’s so many ways to do it with styrene? Why would you use ABS? That stuff is horrible, nothing wants to stick to it.

[Oldmopars]

3 hours ago, Ben said:

There’s so many ways to do it with styrene? Why would you use ABS? That stuff is horrible, nothing wants to stick to it.

I have found that there are times when what you want is not available in styrene. Some shapes are only available in ABS. I have even had to use PVC a few times when I could not get what I wanted in styrene. I made the tank on my septic truck out of PVC pipe caps and glued them with MEK. Also, PVC pipe is great for making fuel tanks with no seams. MEK will allow you to bond PVC pipe with the styrene ends.  

[peteski]

21 hours ago, Ben said:

There’s so many ways to do it with styrene? Why would you use ABS? That stuff is horrible, nothing wants to stick to it.

Are you sure you are taking about ABS and not some other type of plastic?  In my experience ABS is very similar to Polystyrene.

[Ben]

I had some gray ABS from Plastruct I think it was and I couldn’t get superglue or epoxy to stick. It came apart easily. In all these years I’ve found there’s no need for any other type of plastic. I’ve been able to use styrene for everything I’ve ever needed.

[delta99]

I ordered the abs because it was the size I needed. They didn't make it big enough in styrene. I'd rather just slap channel on than cobble it together with strips and sheet. I saw that abs glue from home depot is 60% mek, and I think also has acetone. Think that would work?

[delta99]

Well, I decided to try to make frame sections from styrene while waiting for the abs channel. They came out pretty good. Should have just done that to begin with lol. I'll experement with the abs in the future

[Bugatti Fan]

I have got on well over the years with EMA's own  Plastruct liquid cement for bonding most plastics apart from polythene.

[John1955]

I use this stuff, it will glue ANYTHING to ANYTHING. Even metal to plastic and it's great for resin kits, too, and it doesn't cost a lot. 

[AustralianTerrier]

I've had success with MEK. I also do HO scale model trains and have bonded Evergreen styrene stock to a locomotive shell made out of ABS.

[John1955]

On 3/14/2020 at 9:35 PM, John1955 said:

I use this stuff, it will glue ANYTHING to ANYTHING. Even metal to plastic and it's great for resin kits, too, and it doesn't cost a lot. 

But I guess people want to make things more complicated instead of using something I expensive and easy