Tenax went up to 3.99 for 1 oz. at LHS. I heard acetone would work…any other suggestions? Thanks
Methyl Ethyl Ketone - MEK. Get at your local hardware store. Much cheaper and just as good.
Ditto what jk said. MEK is the active ingredient in Tenax, and it costs about $8 for a quart can, which will last practically forever for modeling purposes. [:)]
I use lacquer thinner as a cement for styrene, and it’s also useful as a thinner for airbrushing many brands of paint, including Floquil, Testors, SMP Accupaint, Pactra, Scalecoat, and Humbrol. It’s also good for thinning contact cement. Under twenty bucks for a gallon, and available in smaller cans if you don’t need the gallon.
Wayne
Now I am interested in this topic as I live far from a LHS and have to have glues and plastic welders shipped up to me.
I have some Tenax 7 and some lacquer thinner. I have never tried the latter as a plastic welder, but the product safety sheets seem to list it as having up to 13% methyl ethyl ketone.
On the other hand the a product safety data sheet for Tenax 7 lists it as being 98 to 100% methylene chloride. http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/msds/docs/wcd00025/wcd02597.htm
I don’t think this is the same as MEK but I am no chemist.
For one thing, Tenax 7 does not have any odour and is low in flammability (according to a product site). Although the odour from lacquer thinner may be from the other ingredients.
Anyhow I am going to try both the laquer thinner and the MEK as a plastic welder now.
Does the MEK have an odour? Can one buy MEK in pure form or is it always mixed in as a percentage of some other product like lacuer thinner or surface preparation?
BTW y’all know not to get any of these things on your skin or breath them in. Bad news. Because Tenax 7 is also carcinogenic, clear, odourless, and comes in a cute little bottle it is not good to have around small children. I keep mine way up high.
I have been using MEK for nearly twenty years years. Since I use to work in industry using this stuff, I use proper ventilation.
Is this the old or new Tenax formulation? A couple of moths ago I stopped in a local shop to pick up a few things and he was out of Tenax. Something was mentioned that the formulation was going to be changed because the original had some nasty chemicals in it.
Gerome,
I stand corrected. [:)] You’re right, Tenax is Methylene Chloride, not MEK. But both are bad juju if you get them on your skin. Then again, just about anything we use is bad for you in some way or another.
Most likely the old one…I do recall seeing MEK listed as being in Tenax before, but either way…bad stuff if you’re not careful with it. But so are a lot of the things we use, even just in daily life. [xx(]
Ambroid ProWeld works well.
You can try Plastic Wood thinner.
MEK is good too.
Lacquer thinner, while HOT enough to ruin a paint job, isn’t hot enough to join plastic quickly enough like tenax or ProWeld.
Plastruct also makes a good cement.
Tamiya plastic cement works too.
hth
-G-
Some of this stuff makes me reluctant to give up my trusty Safeweld from Ambroid and Model Master’s Needle applicator glue. And I used to deal with chemicals for freighting.
I have visions of you fellas welding massive peices of plastic sheeting with thunder, sparks and lightning issuing forth from your workbenches.
Ambroid Proweld or Plastruct liquid cement is a good alternative.
MEK is a highly dangerous chemical and the MSDS sheet on it reads like a horror story, lung damage, nervous system damage, highly flammable and a host of other bad stuff. The fact that you can get it in quart and gallon sizes only increases your exposure, I stay well away from MEK. I wouldn’t even keep stuff like that outside in a shed, much less in my hobby room.
LD357
Yeah, yeah , yeah. We’ve heard you before go on about how ‘dangerous’ a chemical MEK is. I’veread the MSDS on it. The links to them have been posted before in other threads. Find and read the MSDS on ProWeld and Plastruct liquid cement. They’re almost identical. As an earlier post said, MEK, lacquer thinner, acetone etc. are all dangerous chemicals if handled improperly. There are many other items used in this hobby, and in every day life, that are dangerous if used in properly - lead weights, isopropyl alcohol, most paints, CA, plaster dust, cleaning solutions, windex, the list goes on and on. Proper handling has always been the key. Since I prefer not to live in a bubble, I’ll continue to use them responsibly. You on the other hand can go about modeling in a bubble and avoid any item that might pose a hazard. Keep to snap together models, prepainted rolling stock and plywood table tops, just be careful when you cut things with a knife or saw because they can dangerous too. [banghead]
You may want to try Weld-on #3 or #4, if you can buy it where you live. 3 is stronger than 4 and a lot cheaper than buying by the bottle. PT or QT . same chemical as tenax, methal chloride. I have used 4 with no problems, Unless you live in a nanny state, Southern Califorina it should be easy to find at a plastic shop.
OK JK whats up with all the hostility? Do differing opinions threaten you that much???
We all get that you love MEK, you use gallons of it all the time and have no ill effects, BUT, there are those of us who choose not to use dangerous chemicals like MEK, you praise the fact that it’s cheaper than anything else and you can buy it in quarts and gallons…do you not see the potential hazards in mass quanities of dangerous chemicals sitting in your house? Each time you open that quart of MEK you are exposing yourself to fumes and each time you transfer it into smaller containers…[and I hope you DO transfer it and not sit there huffing it in from a quart container while gluin
[quote user=“LD357”]
OK JK whats up with all the hostility? Do differing opinions threaten you that much???
We all get that you love MEK, you use gallons of it all the time and have no ill effects, BUT, there are those of us who choose not to use dangerous chemicals like MEK, you praise the fact that it’s cheaper than anything else and you can buy it in quarts and gallons…do you not see the potential hazards in mass quanities of dangerous chemicals sitting in your house? Each time you open that quart of MEK you are exposing yourself to fumes and each time you transfer it into smaller containers…[and I hope you DO transfer it and not sit there huffing it in from a quart c
Wayne,
I know that mineral spirits isn’t distilled water, and I use it like it’s supposed to be used, in small quantities, and when I transfer it from gallon to 4 oz. bottle, I do it outside, I.E. proper handling, but MEK IS NOT mineral spirits, it is a dangerous chemical, the MSDS is very detailed about it’s effects on a human, that’s why I don’t use it, and since JK feels the need to preach it’s usage as a hobby glue, I feel the need to inform the novices…[who are the ones asking the question about what is a good alternative to or a good glue to use for ‘X’]…that MEK is not the same as Tenax or Ambroid and it is classified as a dangerous chemical.
The hostility JK exhibits when a different opinion is posted is quite evident here and on the other thread about glues, the ramblings about prepainted this and plywood that are obscure and have no bearing on anything.
If someone wants to use MEK then thats their choice, but when posting a reply to a question asked by a novice, merely saying ‘‘MEK is cheap, buy it’’ isn’t correct, there also needs to be some info on the dangers and risks involved with such a dangerous chemical.
Point taken: it’s easy for those of us familiar with MSDS to overlook that many novices are unfamiliar with this information, and for us to assume that safety precautions will be used. Many less experienced modellers may take recommendations given in this and similar forums without further thought, but it’s encumbent upon each modeller, both novice and pro, to be familiar with the products they use and the safe handling of such products, whether chemicals, tools, electricity, or other materials.
Wayne
Hostility? Did you read not only the original post, but the responses to it? There were many who noted that both Tenax 7R (methylene chloride), MEK and lacquer thinner are dangerous chemicals that needed to be handled properly.
.
The OP wanted to know what could be used as a substitute for Tenax 7R. Hazard wise, there is not much difference between Tenax and MEK.
I was reading back over a number of subject threads on this solvent bonding subject, and noting this one in this forum,…
I was a fan of Tenax 7 a number of years ago, and I was (am) intriged with finding real MEK to do do some gluing of very slender plastic shims into the guard rails of Peco turnouts.
But I can’t find real MEK, only this sustitute product. I’m looking for something very liquidy that will wink down between the shim and the molded guard rail, and will quickly set up so I am not sitting there holding it for long periods of time.