Weld acrylic : alternative products, acetone?

[sky99]

Hello everyone!
I'm not in the USA, and thus, have no access to weldon. I can't find alternatives that i can order. I can't get online stores to ship weldon outside of the US. It seems that there is a strong restriction on this in europe (i'm near the USA in terms of location, but in europe, as i live in a french island ).
Anyway, no luck getting weldon 4 or 16 or whatever here. I looked up, and discovered that weldon was mostly dichloromethane, and that people used it to weld acrylic for tanks (on this thread on this forum).

Alas, no luck here : can't find it, and i found that it's almost forbidden to non pro users in europe.

When i was in the watercooling hobby, we used chloroform to weld acrylic, but it's impossible to source now, for it's also forbidden for home users.

My last hope was to actually MAKE chloroform, which can be done from acetone and bleach (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-PrAczOGb0 ), but i'm not sure that it's worth the trouble, for the method is doable but not so simple. I'd rather not have to invest in too much glassware, and have yet another set of bulky tools at home.

So, last bet is acetone. Since it's a solvent for acrylic, can it be used to durably weld acrylic? did anyone do that? I know that people use it to weld acrylic to some point (examples : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKHbKlq7aPg or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hswq2gQy8os), but does it hold water well?
Did someone use this method?
I guess that if everyone uses weldon , chloroform or dichloromethane(methylene chloride) over the vatsly more available acetone, there must be a reason, no?

so what do you think about using acetone to weld acrylic?
If pure acetone won't cut it, what about a slurry made of acrylic bits dissolved in acetone?

 

[lapin]

Methylene chloride

 

[mcgyvr]

yes if you have access to that then that is a potential alternate to buying products specifically intended/marketed/mixed as an acrylic solvent...
Its actually what makes up a vast majority of the weldon 3/4 products content,etc...

You may want to describe your needs and reason why you don't want to just use an off the shelf product so that other suggestions may be given that may benefit you..

 

[Acrylics]

If you're looking to build a tank, don't bother with chloroform or acetone, both are utter garbage for that. Acetone with a slurry is essentially Weld-on 55 and nearly the same as ABS pipe cement - both of which *can* be used to bond acrylic but I wouldn't for a tank.

You should be able to find one called Acrifix which is a 2-part and is available in Europe so should be available where you are.

HTH,
James

 

[sky99]

Methylene chloride

Hello,
Nope, as stated in my message, unavailable here; i can't import it, nor find it locally, it seems forbidden

 

[sky99]

yes if you have access to that then that is a potential alternate to buying products specifically intended/marketed/mixed as an acrylic solvent...
Its actually what makes up a vast majority of the weldon 3/4 products content,etc...

You may want to describe your needs and reason why you don't want to just use an off the shelf product so that other suggestions may be given that may benefit you..

Hello, i can't use of the shelf products, because they are not available here. Can't import those via amazon or others (even aliexpress), neither weldon, nor methylene chloride

I was even willing to pay more for US expedited product, but that's not an option, sadly.

What i want to do is simply to make acrylic tanks If i can manage this technology, it opens a new world to me, since it would remove the limitations of glass. I have acrylic tubes, plates, and i can CNC cut acrylic, work it easily. Glass, i can get it cut, and learn to drill, but no square cuts IN a panel or anything fancy...

If you're looking to build a tank, don't bother with chloroform or acetone, both are utter garbage for that. Acetone with a slurry is essentially Weld-on 55 and nearly the same as ABS pipe cement - both of which *can* be used to bond acrylic but I wouldn't for a tank.

You should be able to find one called Acrifix which is a 2-part and is available in Europe so should be available where you are.

HTH,
James

Hello!
Thanks, i'm gonna look for acrifix!
However if acetone slurry CAN work, but is ugly, i can still try it for technical tanks (sumps, hospital tanks using leftover acrylic panels, etc)

I also have large acrylic tubes, if i can laser (or cnc mill) cut acrylic discs, i'll be able to make neat reactors, skimmers, filtration device, etc

Anyway, many thanks for the name of the european version, i'll look for it!

 

[mcgyvr]

Ha... we were tricked by this sites stupid "jail a new user post if they include external links" function..
I thought lapin was asking the question at first as the initial post from sky99 didn't show up till the 3rd

 

[lapin]

Ha... we were tricked by this sites stupid "jail a new user post if they include external links" function..
I thought lapin was asking the question at first as the initial post from sky99 didn't show up till the 3rd

Being a newbee, I just saw a blank post so I went for it. 2 days later Jeopardy happened

 

[mcgyvr]

Being a newbee, I just saw a blank post so I went for it. 2 days later Jeopardy happened

When I see blank posts I usually let the poster know that "you are likely a new user who posted some external links.. as such this site jails your post until a moderator approves it.. once they do we can see it and will respond"

I wish the site did that automatically.. Or that they would just turn that function off.. It likely confuses quite a few new people when no one is responding to them or making wild guess responses based on the title alone..

 

[sky99]

Hello everyone!
yes, it was confusing!
To be honest, i'm still confused : is my first post readable?

I have the habits of backing my claims with links, as i did when writing scientific papers; thus i understand that it may have been seen as spam by the forum

Anyway, many thanks to all of you for answering even if you didn't see the question completely
It also denotes a very good spirit on this forum, for trying to help someone who seemed to have only posted a title as a question
However, i would absolutely not have just thrown my question like that, and would even consider it disrespectful to do so; one should take the time to give the full data in order to expect others to take the time to answer !

So, i'm grateful for your responses, and i have progressed in this matter!
The cool think that makes me want to work with acrylic is that i'll be able to cut it at any shape, bend it, solder acrylic tubes, compartments, etc...
I'll probably try to engrave markings on the tank, either with a CNC mill or a CNC laser (for instance, a small QR code containing the link with all the tank dimensions, parameters, etc... So when you have 20 tanks aligned in your fishroom, you can just scan a QR code, and be redirected to a page with all the data you entered, with notes about what you planed to do, etc).

I'm currently building my fishroom, and i want to automate as many things as possible, to have as little anoying, repetitive tasks to perform...
I won't even consider a marine tank until i have all the means to ensure a stable environement to the animals that i would put in (plus i like invertebrates, which are more sensible, at least in freshwater, but i guess it's the same in marine tanks).

 

[mcgyvr]

yes your first post is readable now.. It typically takes about 24 hours for the forum moderators to approve it and make it visible..
Thats how acrylics was able to respond in such a way..