Plastic is an organic material based on polymers. The special properties of plastic allow it to be taken under pressure and heat. a certain form, and after cooling, save it. Sometimes processing of plastics is done using solvents. What solvent dissolves plastic? This could be solvent 646, dichloroethane.

As a rule, dissolving plastics is performed for gluing several different parts from the same material. Such materials include plastics based on polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and others.

It is best to use solvents. During the treatment of the bonded surfaces with dichloroethane or solvent 646, natural softening occurs and very little pressure will be sufficient for gluing.

Before starting the connection, you need to prepare the plastics - degrease and sand them. The adhesive should be applied in such a way that softening occurs over the entire work surface and ensured a strong joint. It is recommended to apply the adhesive using a syringe or brush, by dipping or spraying. The parts to be glued should be pressed down and secured. Pressure must be applied to both surfaces until a pronounced adhesive layer is visible.

IN Lately Many new types of solvents have been developed that are less dangerous than dichloroethane. It should be noted that you can prepare this kind of glue yourself by mixing solvent with plastic shavings. To do this, spray plastic shavings, chips, or pieces of ABS plastic onto a glass or metal jar and mix them with WD-40 solvent. The resulting mixture must be stirred and covered with a lid. It should sit for a day, after which it can be used.

Sometimes acetone is used for finishing (polishing, steam processing and even gluing) of ABS products. With the same success, some use methyl ethyl ketone and dichloroethane (both highly toxic) for these purposes. But tetrahydrofuran and dichloromethane cope best with this kind of task, with only one difference - tetrahydrofuran is a precursor and is prohibited for free sale. The solvent is universal and suitable for all types of plastic: ABS, PLA, HIPS, SBS and some others. To smooth and melt HIPS and SBS, we use the safest solvent we know of, D-Limonene, not only is it harmless, it also smells like delicious oranges. Often used as a flavoring agent.

Remember: dichloroethane is a strong poison. Dichloromethane is less toxic. Tetrahydrofuran is relatively non-toxic, but is not commercially available.

When working with this substance, or any chemical, you need to take serious safety measures. This method is one of several possible for processing products.

WARNING:

We describe methods that CAN be used, but require reasonable precautions. Please read the chapter “Safety Precautions”, read the safety data sheet of chemical products, and we will consider that we have warned you.

Why is post-processing needed?

As a result of fine-tuning, irregularities at the junction of layers that arise during the 3D printing process (by layer-by-layer fusing of filaments), various kinds of process artifacts (such as points of contact with fasteners) and other minor defects are smoothed out. The piece ends up looking less “layered” and more neat. Look at the photos below or Google it.

Dichloromethane

Get Additional information You can, for example, on Wikipedia. Please note: Although it is the least toxic of the haloalkanes, care must be taken when handling as it is very volatile and may cause acute poisoning. Work should be carried out while the exhaust ventilation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the least toxic solvent for PLA plastic, but extreme caution should be exercised when working with it as its long-term effects are extremely dangerous. It is flammable, so avoid contact of its vapors with open flames or sparks. The same applies to acetone, tetrahydrofuran, etc.

His important property is high volatility. Hazard class IV, the same as acetone. The smell is much weaker than acetone. It is advisable to carry out all work in a well-ventilated area!

Do not pour dichloromethane into a toilet, sink or other plumbing fixture; it does not mix with water and plastic pipes your sewer system may be at risk.

D-Limonene

Less harmful, one might say safe solvent D-Limonene, strong citrus scent. But it only affects HIPS and SBS plastic. We recommend working with it in a well-ventilated area. D-Limonene is oil based and must be washed with soap and water to neutralize the plastic and solvent reaction.

Whenever you work with solvents, you should always wear gloves because they can quickly dehydrate the skin, which is potentially dangerous. Using strong solvents can easily cause skin burns. The gloves should not be latex (latex corrodes), but nitrile or neoprene.

The easiest way is immersion processing

Very simple and fast processing, one printout takes no more than 3 minutes. We immersed Yoda in dichloromethane for 1-5 seconds, and over the next 1-2 minutes the solvent completely evaporated from the surface. To make a glossy surface, dip the part into the solvent for the last time for 0.5 seconds, it will not have time to be absorbed and will immediately evaporate, a candy-like gloss is guaranteed.

Very quickly, no need for a bath, no need for acetone. Dichloromethane is universal for PLA, ABS, HIPS, and possibly many other exotic materials. A liter lasts a long time. The tightness of the container for storing the solution is very important.

Application by brush

Using any clean natural brush, apply dichloromethane until the layers are smooth. This solution is extremely volatile, so you won't have to wait long for it to dry. The obvious advantage of this method is that the solvent can be applied selectively, leaving sharp corners not touched, and the most noticeable printing defects should be processed more carefully. The best processing results are achieved precisely in this way. Take precautions, breathing chemicals is not safe!

Processing in pairs

Procedure PLA processing in pairs is essentially the same as in the case of ABS and acetone. Tetrahydrofuran is used here. The PLA object to be processed is placed on an insoluble support ( aluminum foil, wire mesh, wooden stand etc.) and placed in an airtight container. When heated, the solvent will begin to evaporate and interact with the surface of the object.

As an example, this shark tooth was printed on a Makerbot Replicator 2 in brown PLA, treated with THF fumes, and dried.

Note the unevenness at the top. Here the object touched the support during finishing. Therefore, it is always important to think about what to lean against what. Also keep in mind that the smaller the volume of your chamber, the more difficult it is to correctly time it so that the gas inside is distributed evenly. Because of this problem, the alignment itself may be uneven.

Now, a few words about additional measures security that we promised to mention. All procedures should be done outdoors, and the flask, jar, bottle or other container should be tightly closed. Wash the inside of the cabinet before and after use. In short, you need to work carefully and smartly so that you don't accidentally burn or explode something.

Hand polishing

Don't like steam processing? You can polish by hand by applying solvent to a piece of cloth.

The cloth should be white (not dyed), lint-free and used only for this purpose, because PLA will accumulate on it and it will no longer be suitable for anything else.

Once you have found a suitable cloth, put on nitrile or neoprene gloves, go to a well-ventilated area or outside and dampen the cloth with dichloromethane. And now just polish the part with this wet cloth. Final result will depend on the direction of your movements, the force applied and the texture of the cloth, i.e. how tough she is. Unless there are any special reservations, it is best to polish in a circular motion.

The object must then dry (so that excess dichloromethane evaporates from the surface) and you are done.

Here is a sample of a polished shark tooth that was printed on the Makerbot Replicator 2 using white PLA.

These photos are in focus. They were taken with macro photography, the depth of field is relatively shallow so that only the main focus stands out and details can be seen, although the edges of the image are blurry.

Only the middle of the tooth was polished, the part that stands out. It's not entirely clear from the photo, but it is a very smoothly polished surface. Compare it to the left edge, which was not polished, where even the layers of the print are visible.

Obviously, the smaller your object, the higher the print resolution (if everything is calibrated correctly), the less time you will have to spend on finishing to get a well-polished, smooth surface.

You can also see in the photo that the treated surface has become slightly discolored. But the point here is skillful hands. The rag was not completely white, there was some kind of colored pattern on it, and the paint reacted with the solvent and at the same time with the plastic.

Addendum: Other Post-Processing Techniques

It should also be noted that PLA is easily sanded with regular sandpaper. In some cases, it is quite enough to get the surface as it should be, especially if you only need to remove traces of support or similar defects. Stripping is very useful also before chemical treatment. Just go over it with sandpaper problem areas and especially large artifacts, and then proceed as described above. This will save both time and reagent, and the finishing will be more accurate, without significant geometric distortions.

How to glue PLA parts?

PLA parts can also be glued with various glues, we worked well with epoxy and with Super Glue (super glue second), which is actually just ethyl cyanoacrylate.

Good luck! Safe work! Smooth printing!

material that is highly resistant to many chemicals and exposure to fire.

PVC has relatively low frost resistance (-15 degrees).

The heat resistance index is +65 degrees.

Let us note several main advantages of the material:

1. does not dissolve in water

2. Resistant to acids, alcohols, alkaline solutions and mineral oils

3. Compatible with some plasticizers.

4. has low flammability and high resistance to oxidation

5. Easily dissolves in the following substances: esters, ketones, hydrocarbons (both chlorinated and aromatic)

We are especially interested in the fifth point: the solubility of PVC, namely what substances can be used to do this.

Interesting! How to glue PVC panels to liquid nails,

Below are the best means for dissolving polyvinyl chloride.

Solvent for PVC

Based on the above, we conclude that ketones, ethers and hydrocarbons are ideal for dissolution.

This means that it is necessary to use products that contain one of the presented components.

There are more than enough such funds. There is no end in sight to the variety of prices and varieties. We have chosen two that meet the price-quality ratio.

TetraHydroFuran (THF) - chemical colorless liquid substance with a characteristic ether smell. It has found its application in organic synthesis.

Excellent for dissolving polyvinyl chloride to a paste-like state. Can be purchased at any specialty store.

Cyclohexanone is a clear oily liquid with a pronounced odor of mint and acetone.

The substance in question is typical representative ketones, which, based on what was written earlier, is well suited for dissolving PVC.

Interesting video of dissolving polystyrene foam in acetone

Instructions

Dissolving plastics is usually carried out for gluing several parts made from the same type of plastic. These include plastics based on polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, etc.

Use solvents. When the surfaces to be bonded are treated with a solvent, they naturally soften when a small amount of pressure is sufficient for gluing. In addition to solvents, solutions of bondable polymers can be used for this purpose.

Before joining, prepare the surface of the plastic by degreasing it and sanding it with fine sandpaper.

Apply the glue so that softening occurs over the entire working surface, to a depth that ensures a strong joint. Apply the adhesive using a syringe, brush, spray or dip method.

Press down the parts to be glued and secure them. Apply pressure on the surface until a solid adhesive layer is formed.

Recently, many new solvents have been created - no less effective than dichloroethane, but, unlike it, completely safe. By the way, such glue can be prepared by mixing plastic shavings with a solvent. To do this, pour into a metal or glass jar plastic chips, shavings or pieces of ABS plastic, mix with WD-40 solvent, in an amount approximately 2 cm above the level of the plastic. Mix everything and cover the mixture for a day, then stir it again. If the glue is thick, add solvent.

You can also prepare adhesive based on methylene chloride. This will only take 4 hours. You should know that a certain type of plastic has its own solvent. So, for example, for celluloid it is acetone, - benzene, and for organic glass - chloroform.

Helpful advice

Use caution when working with dichloroethane as it is highly toxic. The room must have good ventilation.

Tip 2: How to metallize plastic at home

On industrial enterprises Plastic is metalized most often by vacuum deposition. This method is not available at home. The need to obtain metallized plastic sometimes arises, especially among those who are interested in radio electronics. There are two quite available methods metallization

Thermal method with glue and foil

Take a sheet of plastic and wipe it with solvent. Also degrease the foil on the side that you will glue. Lubricate the surfaces of plastic and foil with BF-2 or BF-4 glue and leave for as long as indicated in the instructions. Place a sheet of foil over the plastic. Press down so that there are no air bubbles between the surfaces. Clamp the workpiece between pieces of wood or metal using clamps.

Place the structure in an oven preheated to approximately 100°C and leave for about 20 minutes. Turn off the oven, remove the dough and leave it to cool overnight. After that you can pay. If you don’t have an oven, you can use an iron by pressing the workpiece against it from the foil side using clamps.

You can also use soap solution or shampoo to degrease.

Option with copper sulfate - galvanic bath

Mix glue with aluminum powder to the consistency of liquid sour cream. Apply a layer of the resulting substance to the surface of the plastic and let it dry.

If the glue is too thick, thin it with a little alcohol.

Dilute with rain or battery water copper sulfate(you can buy it at a farm store). Pour the solution into a dielectric glass or plastic container, or into a regular plastic basin. Attach the wire to one edge of the workpiece using a paper clip or a screw and nut. Attach the other end of the wire to the battery terminal marked with a “-” sign.

Copper scrap tie together copper wire. Connect the wire to the second terminal of the battery. All fastenings must be above the mortar level. Turn on the current and wait until your plastic plate is covered with an even layer of red copper. This method is used for metallization of complex surfaces with arbitrary curvature. For example, in this way you can make an antenna mirror for mobile device communications.

Plastic is universal material It has found wide application in the manufacture of various components and parts in both industrial and household appliances. Products made from it are used in interior design of residential premises and offices.

A type of material called liquid plastic allows you to create crafts of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This makes it possible to bring original design solutions. How to make liquid plastic at home?

Materials for production

To make liquid plastic with your own hands, you need to prepare the following:

• container made of glass or metal;
• acetone;
• Styrofoam.

In this case, the amount of acetone used depends on the desired volume of the finished product.

If you want to make liquid plastic with your own hands, the recipe for its preparation will be based on dissolving polystyrene foam in acetone. For this purpose they use It is a packaging container for various household and electronic equipment.

How to make liquid plastic with your own hands

Step by step recipe The preparation of the named material looks like this:

1. Open the container with acetone and pour the liquid into the glass container so that its level from the bottom is approximately 1 cm.
2. Polystyrene foam must be broken into many small pieces, each of which will be easily placed under the thickness of the solvent.
3. Liquid plastic You can do it yourself by dropping each piece into a container and waiting for it to completely dissolve.
4. Polystyrene foam should be added to the container until it stops melting. Then you need to wait 5-10 minutes for the unused acetone to evaporate.
5. After this, a viscous mass is formed at the bottom of the container, which can be used to produce a variety of products.

Knowing how to make liquid plastic, remember that complete hardening of the mass lasts 20-30 hours. Consequently, the part being manufactured cannot be removed from the mold within this period of time.

Apply the substance with a rubber spatula small size. Movements should be smooth. Liquid plastic must be stretched over the surface to be treated. If you use it to fill cracks, it is better to use brushes with hard bristles. They need to “push” the mixture into the gaps. After the plastic has hardened, it is recommended to apply another layer of the substance.

The described product has long been sold in finished form. It only needs to be heated in a water bath or in special equipment. A hair dryer is also often used for this.

As a rule, liquid plastic is produced in dense packaging. Its terms and storage conditions are strict. The temperature in the room where it is located should not fall below 15 degrees. Otherwise, the product will lose its performance characteristics:

• viscosity;
• elasticity;
• hardness after hardening;
• practicality;
• durability.

The cost of liquid plastic is quite high. That's why it's better to do it yourself.

Precautionary measures

Acetone is a very dangerous liquid that has an extremely negative effect on the human body. Therefore, it is allowed to make liquid plastic with your own hands only with strict adherence to following measures precautions:

1. Before working with acetone, you must carefully study the instructions for its use. It is indicated on the container label.
2. Special sealed safety glasses should be used. They will protect your eyes in case of liquid drops and vapors. Working without them can cause serious eye injury.
3. Acetone is toxic, so it should only be used in a well-ventilated area. In this case, it is necessary to use respiratory protection.
4. This is a highly flammable product. Therefore, liquid plastic is made with your own hands away from sources of open fire. Smoking is strictly prohibited when performing work.
5. Residues of acetone must not be poured into the sewer system.
6. At the end of the process, as well as after pouring the finished plastic into molds, you must thoroughly wash your hands.

Applications of liquid plastic in finishing

The product has been used for finishing for a long time. After its application, an elastic film appears on the treated surface. It is highly waterproof and UV resistant. The material protected by such a film is not afraid of exposure to aggressive detergents. Smooth surface has a pleasant shine and retains its characteristics for many years.

Liquid plastic in window work

Most newly installed plastic windows there are gaps in the connection area. To exclude such a phenomenon, all details window design, which are connected to each other, are treated with the described substance. After drying, it creates an elastic, sealed film on the surface. Applying liquid plastic to windows with your own hands is possible after making the material according to the above method.

Anti-corrosion agent

Liquid plastic is also characterized by a high degree of adhesion with the processed material. metal surface. This property of the substance began to be used in anti-corrosion treatment of steel. Liquid plastic is applied to the surface without prior priming. It dries out in a few hours. After this, a film is formed on the surface that will protect the material from rust.