RE: [rp-ml] plastic welding FDM parts

From: Bob Olsen <Bob_at_protogenic.com>
Date: Thu Nov 19 2009 - 22:03:22 EET

Thanks Ted!
 
We do nylon laser sintering, and are thinking of adding FDM, so was
interested.
 
We have done heat staking with the nylon, and I presume FDM same. I
wonder about ultrasonics mentioned below, because the part density and
composition of the sintered nylon and FDM process different than
injection molded or cast nylon or ABS.
 
Appreciate the plastic welding info though, Cheers, bob

________________________________

From: owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi [mailto:owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi] On
Behalf Of Anderson, Theodore E. (MSFC-EM40)[Raytheon - Jacobs]
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 10:26 AM
To: Bob Olsen; rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi
Subject: RE: [rp-ml] plastic welding FDM parts

Hey Bob,

 

I got plenty of responses but most involved using some type of chemical
to create a bond. I have done actual plastic welding sometime ago where
you use a heat gun with plastic filaments and it worked really well. I
thought this might be nice to fix FDM parts that have some void that
wasn't supposed to be there or to weld components together. I contacted
Stratasys and their Red Eye division does this quite often. The tools
they use are the Leister Hot-Jet S with weld kit 107.148. I priced them
out and the cost will be around $900USD.

 

Here are some responses I received:

Are you asking about ultrasonic or solvent welding? Here's a link to a
site talking about using MEK for solvent welding:
http://www.kabu-nagasaka.co.jp/en/processing/fdm_molding.php

As for ultrasonic welding it would depend on the material. As I remember
it more flexible materials such as polyethylene or polypropylene don't
work well
with that, but more rigid thermoplastics do since the ultrasonic
vibration has some resistance to make it work.ABS is among the best
plastics to weld
ultrasonically.

Ted Quick

 

Hello Ted,

 

I haven't done plastic welding using heat for FDM parts but I have done
a lot of solvent bonding and find it works very well. I use Weld-on #3
Cement from McMaster, part number 7528A13. It's pretty nasty stuff but
works well. The other solvent I've used is PVC pipe cleaner (joint
prep)....easy to get and works but very harsh on FDM so more caution is
needed.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Kind regards,

Andres

 

 

Ted Anderson

Rapid Prototyping Lab

Raytheon

Jacobs MSFC ESTS Contract

 

From: Bob Olsen [mailto:Bob@protogenic.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 8:59 AM
To: Anderson, Theodore E. (MSFC-EM40)[Raytheon - Jacobs];
rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi
Subject: RE: [rp-ml] plastic welding FDM parts

 

Ted, any response on this, we'd be interested in knowing as well,
thanks! Regards, Bob - Protogenic

 

________________________________

From: owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi [mailto:owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi] On
Behalf Of Anderson, Theodore E. (MSFC-EM40)[Raytheon - Jacobs]
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 7:58 AM
To: rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi
Subject: [rp-ml] plastic welding FDM parts

Does anyone have experience plastic welding FDM parts? What plastic
welder do you use? And does it work well? It's been about 14 years
since I've done any plastic welding, so if you wouldn't mind sending a
procedure on how you prep the FDM part, that would also be appreciated.

 

Ted Anderson

Rapid Prototyping Lab

Raytheon

Jacobs MSFC ESTS Contract
Received on Thu Nov 19 21:55:12 2009

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Thu Jan 07 2010 - 08:26:36 EET