Glue for 3D Printed stuff

Is regular Testors plastic cement OK for 3D printed stuff or is there a better product?

I depends on what type of material your 3D printed parts are made from. If they are ABS plastic the Testors stuff will probably work but PLA and resin prints will not. CA (Superglue) will work on pretty much all 3D printed parts. Just make sure you clean parts first. A lot of commercially printed parts have a residue on them that paint and glue do not like to stick to.

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Gorilla works almost for everything…[:D]

leewal) ive been using “DAP RapidFuse - All purpose adhesive” from Lowes for a few years now on printed ABS and PLA. Its a C/A type glue that takes about a minute to firm, three to set, 30 minutes to be gutten’tight! It holds about like your tongue does to a frozen flag pole. In other words, it has good gription.

Comes in a pack of two blue n black 0.1oz foil tubes (like the Testors glue) with a blue cap for about 6 buckaroos (plus tax, shipping and handling extra, surcharge for restocking, dont forget to fill out the customer experience on the back of your reciept, have a nice day!).

Comes out the tube clear, but hazes up a bit once dried. I use Testors and Tamiya paints, they dont seem to mind and stick purty goodly to it.

I havent tried the Testors stuff as the DAP is just 10 minutes away. But im willing to bet if the regular cement doesnt work, Testors may have something better that would.

-PMR

I’ve found that typical super glue (CA) has an extremely strong bond with PLA prints.

Doesn’t Gorilla Glue need a lot of pressure while it’s curing? Not always able to do that because of size or shape.

100% correct.

I really didn’t like gorrilla glue. What you really want to pay attention to is “set time”

I like to recommend Thick super glue in the yellow bottle from Hobby Lobby. It sets in 20 seconds. BUT you have to get the original placement correct and fast. Like I said, it dries quick.

Otherwise use a medium set CA. Then use a spray accelerator commonly avaailable at amazon. The bond strength isn’t as strong as natural curing, but it should still be plenty strong

Been using Gorilla Superglue for a long time. Have had no issue with it needing much pressure, maybe for the first few seconds while it bonds. I used to use the superglue pen like applucators but can’t find them. After using Gorilla brand all other brands seem like garbage.

Am trying to find that out. Starting a resin printed 1/24 scale Ford dual quad engine and just using testors blue, the non toxic tube. We’ll see if it works

Welcome to the forum, Cdncowboy0513!

For 3D prints there a line of specialty glues called ‘3D Gloop’. It’s expensive, but it actually melts/bonds the parts together the same way Tamiya cement does for injection molded plastic.

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I still miss ‘Styro-Weld’…

One thing to consider when bonding PLA (which is polymerized lactic acid, the chemical that makes sour milk smell) is similar to getting acetal/Delrin to bond: use surface activation. The problem is finding these in economic small quantities for modeling, in other than ‘single-use’ containers like those in rear-view-mirror attachment kits.

A common technique in ‘industry’ is to use plasma or flame to do surface-activation. This might be something that could be done with judicious use of a hobby micro torch…

Keep in mind that the best kind of CA might be a ‘gel’ or ‘gap filling’ type for 3D print surface contact. The use of baking soda as filler might be worth experimenting with.

GLOOP seems the answer for gluing PLA. I’m not entirely convinced, though. I have some, but it doesn’t seem to work that well for small detail parts, but then nothing else I’ve tried thus far does - at least for a joint robust enough to withstand a 3 year old.

shoe goo is pretty stick and strong

I just finished a 3D printed ship model and found this glue to work well.

IPS Weld-On 16 Acrylic Plastic Cement, on Amazon.

Welcome to the forum, Steve_Brigham!

Also, unless it’s applied really thinly, it expands, so apply it carefully,

I like gorilla, but like all adhesives, you need to carefully match the adhesive to its use. Consider the porosity of the material being glued, whether or not you can use a solvent, etc. I find myself often using either contact cement, or PVA.

Welcome Aboard @Steve_Brigham