It was finally time to pick a glue to use when assembling a few different projects over the Halloween weekend. There was a slight problem, though. Or a few problems. Problem 1 – I had no idea what glue to use for plastic. Problem 2 – these projects were using multiple kinds of plastic, which can be notoriously hard to fuse together.
I’ve used PlasticWeld in the past, but it’s a pain to use, mildly toxic, and the last bottle I had dried up years ago. A trip to the craft store ensued, with dire consequences: there are a lot of different glues, and all of them make claims of bonding _anything to anything_. So I did what any curious person with very little free time on their hands would do: set myself up to systematically test as many different glues as I could get my hands on.
The tests are fairly straightforward:
- Test how well each glue bonds together three different types of plastic: ABS, PLA, and PET
- Each glue and material combination will undergo two different tests: a load test and a shear test
The load test stresses how well the glue forms a solid and strong layer between two pieces of plastic. The shear test looks at how well the materials and glue stand up to being ripped apart, like tearing off a band-aid.
The load test and shear test tiles are each marked to make tiles (and test results) easier to track. The tests so far only go up to 40 lbs of load or shear force.
This is the first batch of tests, covering KrazyGlue – All Purpose:
and Gorilla Glue – Super Glue:
The best bonding for pieces experiencing load force:
| Best Bonding – Load Pieces | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| / | ABS | PLA | PET |
| PET | Any | Any | Any |
| PLA | Gorilla Glue | Any | |
| ABS | Gorilla Glue | ||
The best bonding for pieces experiencing shear force:
| Best Bonding – Load Pieces | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| / | ABS | PLA | PET |
| PET | Gorilla Glue | Any | Any |
| PLA | Any | Any | |
| ABS | Any | ||
Of note – of the six tests that failed to hold 40lbs, three of them failed due to ABS material failure, not glue failures:
The raw test data is available on GitHub: Glue Test Results.
- Maker: patricknevindwyer
- Source: Tiles for Glue Tests
- Model License: Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike
- Data License: Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike
- Material:
- Prusa Black PETG 1.75mm
- Inland Silver PLA 1.75mm
- Orange Inland ABS 1.75mm
- Print Date: 2017/10/26
- Print Time: (9 tiles per batch)
- Load Tiles ABS: 2 hours
- Load Tiles PLA: 2 hours 3 minutes
- Load Tiles PET: 1 hour 59 minutes
- Shear Tiles ABS: 1 hour 48 minutes
- Shear Tiles PLA: 1 hour 42 minutes
- Shear Tiles PET: 1 hour 44 minutes
- Estimated Print Time:
- Load Tiles ABS: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Load Tiles PLA: 1 hour 52 minutes
- Load Tiles PET: 1 hour 29 minutes
- Shear Tiles ABS: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Shear Tiles PLA: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Shear Tiles PET: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Estimated Filament:
- Load Tiles ABS: 11.7 meters
- Load Tiles PLA: 11 meters
- Load Tiles PET: 11.5 meters
- Shear Tiles ABS: 12.8 meters
- Shear Tiles PLA: 11.9 meters
- Shear Tiles PET: 12.8 meters
- Slicer: Slic3r
- Slicer Settings:
- Load Tiles
- 0.35mm layers
- 10mm brim
- 20% infill
- Supports everywhere
- Shear Tiles
- 0.35mm layers
- 10mm brim
- 20% infill
- No supports
- Load Tiles
- Printer: Prusa i3 mk2