Plastic Welding With 3d Printer Pen

Question

Just wondering has any one used a 3d printer pen as a plastic welder and is it any good vs epoxy or actual plastic welder. They say you can us actual 3d printer filament vs the filament that the pen comes, just though id ask some one.

CardboardHacker · Answer

I have had success with superglue, having used it in a helmet with over 10 parts. Can't complain, other than you need good, flush seams.

Linux robot 92 · Answer

Yea i mean i could use superglue but it would fallapart over time. I just wanted to weld it back together like steel welding but with plastic instead

cem · Answer

What plastic filament do you want to weld, if it’s ABS filament, then acetone’ welds ABS together extremely well. You will not be able to pull the two pieces apart once set!

Linux robot 92 · Answer

That im not sure i think pla, im tryn to weld up a crack on my omnibit 2000 base extention panel and i think its similar to pla, but its the original toy plastic

cem · Answer

I would try a little acetone on the back of the panel with a very small paint brush on a place which isn’t visible and see if it starts to react with plastic, if so it’s ABS.

JustinRatliff · Answer

I have a 3D pen and I don't use it or think much of them. I keep it for the theoretical need of if I 3D printed something and it developed a large enough hole or gash I could use the pen to patch it if it did not make sense to re-print the item. Usually it makes more sense to re-print the part. Everything I print is ABS so I use acetone (the kind from the hardware store that you don't want to splash on your skin, not the nail polish remover kind you can get a drug store) mixed with the ABS bits to make paste or glue and adjusting the ratio and I make the mix thick or runny to patch or glue or bond things. It really well! Like @CEM said, I'd try a bit of acetone and see if there is a reaction.

Linux robot 92 · Answer

Ok thank you guys, ill get some and see it reacts, if so at least i will know that it will work to weld it, becuase id hate to try and find another base extention panel, one there seem to be the hardest part to find on ebay and two id rather keep it original and not reprinted

Linux robot 92 · Answer

Well i seen the affects of acetone on plastic from online research, think im gonna stay away from that, as i dont wish for a larger crack or hole and apparently pla is the way to go as it can far as filling in the crack. Abs would be great if i wanted to recreate the omnibot for its better wearable aplications, but pla is like bondo for cars, it does the job and if your luck you may never have to re-apply it again, except for maybe after a couple of decades lol

jstarne1 · Answer

Hey guys, best way to plastic weld is friction welding, you get a piece of the same kind of material, put it in the tip of a high speed drill or dremel tool and use friction welding to bond parts, always do the inside first as you can make a much cleaner repair.

jstarne1 · Answer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj9TMmUldhc

Pla filament is excellent for repairs and you can even get pla sticks that are already straight too. always plastic weld with a plastic that has a lower melting temp if possible.

Linux robot 92

Plastic Welding With 3D Printer Pen

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