Micro Mark Same Stuff is the same formula as Tenax. Plastruct Bondene also works.
–Randy
When the formula for lacquer thinner was bastardise to make it “safer”, it lost it’s properties for use as an adhesive for styrene plastic.
Somewhat reluctantly, I decided to try MEK, and found it at a Sherwin-Williams distributor - not one of their paint stores, but what I believe is a wholesale outlet. Since I was buying only a gallon, I didn’t qualify for wholesale price.
It works almost as well as the original lacquer thinner, it’s main drawback being its rapid rate of evapouration. This is generally not an issue when cementing smaller items such as freight car kits or details, but it’s a definite nuisance when trying to join large sheets (over a foot long or more the a square foot, as might be needed when reinforcing flimsy structures or cementing printed paper to sheet styrene). Even using a 2" brush, the MEK can be at least partially dry before the entire area is covered.
Wayne
I use MEK on styrene when scratch building. Is it dangerous, I suppose so but that is why I am using it in a ventilated space as recommended. It is also why I purchased my first N95 face mask. I also purchase it at the local Sherwin Williams store.
Brian, wouldn’t it have been easier to just ask your question instead of reopening a 12 year old thread? I forgot all about the nasty feelings from this until after I started reading the original OP statement.
TomO
MEK and acetone act similarly; MEK is slower to evaporate so has a longer effective acting time to ‘soften’ the polymer for adhesion. Here is a guide that tells you a little about how solvent adhesion works for different plastics:
http://depts.washington.edu/open3dp/2015/01/polymer-guide-if-you-seek-solvation/
MEK was actually DElisted as a hazard by the EPA in 2005; the current ban in California is based on air quality concerns over “VOCs”. (see for example ‘rule 1168’)
When I was a kid MEK was the active ingredient in nail polish remover… now replaced by faster-acting-as-remover-solvent acetone.
There is still ‘methylene chloride’ (which is just dichloromethane, perhaps tellingly in between R40 and chloroform on the way to carbon tet) but I think its hazards for this purpose – you pretty obviously aren’t going to be shimming switches outdoors or using some huge fan for air exchange as you work – are much too great.
Ummm… No, there is not.
In March 2019, EPA issued a final rule to prohibit the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution of methylene chloride in all paint removers for consumer use. EPA has taken this action because of the acute fatalities that have resulted from exposure to the chemical. After November 22, 2019, all persons are prohibited from manufacturing (including importing), processing, and distributing in commerce, including distribution to and by retailers, methylene chloride for consumer paint and coating removal. EPA is also requiring manufacturers, processors, and distributors to notify retailers and others in their supply chains of the prohibitions and to keep records.
So unless you already have some, which the EPA recommends disposing of, you can’t get it.
I was speaking in the rhetorical sense; I don’t think OTC dichloromethane was ever a good thing in the first place, and its horrors in paint and other strippers (while not as awful as, say, methyl iodide) have been well documented.
I see I did not strongly enough disparage the use of CH2Cl2 in typical railroad modeling whether there is adequate ventilation or not – and this with my liking its technical performance with styrene. On the other hand, it’s pretty clear that applying solvent cement through a 25ga needle into a small fusion region is orders of magnitude less dangerous to health than splashing high-VOC remover lavishly all over a chair or whatever, which is part of why those kind of stripper formulations were rightly banned.
You can still happily buy methylene chloride based solvent cement from a number of sources (for example suppliers to the acrylic fabrication industry. These contain some interesting additional ingredients, including methacrylate monomer and trichloroethylene … the “low-VOC” formula substituting methyl acetate for the latter but still (of course!) not satisfying rule 1168.
Likewise I believe MEK is available as a component of primer for plastic plumbing … once you know the secret. The current major-name commercial formulae use substantial acetone and an awful chemical called tetrahydrofuran, so the dichloromethane is only 15-30% of the mix.
My stock of Tenax ran out about two years ago.
I’ve experimented with lots of substitutes, including several home-brew formulas. I finally settled on Tamiya extra thin styrene cement.
https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/87182/index.htm
I seem to recaall getting my recent supply from Horizon Hobby but there are others. Horizon, at the time had the lowest overall cost. That mey no longer be true.
Cheers, Ed