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what is best glue to secure plastic to wood

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allen levine

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im going to melt down assorted bottle caps, and other types of cheap plastic and want to flatten it out and glue it to a piece of wood. any suggestions on type of adhesive? it has to be easily available, nothing that I need to have a chemistry degree, oh wait, I am a chemist, but I lost my chemistry set, so Id rather purchase it in a bottle
 
the website suggest household goop.....so Ill purchase the smallest, at ace its 8.99, I will melt down some plastic....and do a sample piece to see how it adheres. a problem I will have potentially, is that the plastics are all different types, and I dont know the difference betweens plastics as they dont label caps or other things Im collecting. I wont go on or order anything for the projecvt until I see how well the plastic bonds to wood.
 
Yeah, Goop would be another good choice. It's similar (or perhaps the same) as Shoe Goo, which is pretty tenacious stuff.
 
I don't have anywhere enough plastic but decided to try a small piece
Melt down an alligator bag of plastic caps and eventually I will have thousands of these small vape catridges
It's insulin and I use anywhere from 100-150 a month so they will be a part of it

It melted ok seems different plastics melt at different temps but if I had a putty knife it would have all scraped off easily enough off pan
Being I saw I didn't have enough to do anything with I'll do another attempt when I save up enough plastic for one more try
After that it's either wait for a ton of plastic or abandon this stupid idea

I didn't swirl the melted plastic nor did I add any coloring
I need it to get more into a liquid state and then scrape and flatten
 

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I'm going to build a small wooden tray with a top that fits in snug
Line the wooden box(mold) with parchment paper and pour the melted plastic into box
Turning and pressing a few times to get out bubbles of air
Then clamp down top to form a flat block and when I get that far I'll sand and attempt to glue to wood
Only then will I then build bigger mold for bigger piece
 
Allen said: "plastics are all different types"

Amen, Bro. There are some that simply will not take glueing of any kind. Delrin is one I have tried. Sometimes a thick acetone/plexiglas solution will do it. But, experiment first.
 
Didn't go any better today
Might abandon melting plastic idea
Had a small mold but again didn't melt enough plastic
Maybe it isn't as bad as i think
Got plastic in one oven and this pizza in other oven
 

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If you're looking for a simple adhesive to stick melted plastic to wood, I'd recommend good ol' epoxy. It's easy to find in a bottle, and it should do the job well. Plus, no need to break out the chemistry set – just follow the instructions on the label.
 
i havent given up, even though the melting is going to be a massive chore, since I need alot of plastic...anyway...the small piece I got yesterday, I worked over with the sander, just to see if sanding is possible.
I went to get goop, it didnt say anything about plastic, so I ended up with loctite 2 part epoxy. and investment of 7 bucks, and thats all Im willing to invest on this project if I dont get acceptable results. I laminated it to a piece of plywood,
before I try plastic wax, I might try some auto compound to see if it works on this plastic, then try some polish

the melted down and resolidified plastic is very hard. I hit it several times with a hammer to see if it would crack.....did not. I could not bend it at all. thats the only good side I got out of this.

if I decided not worth pursuing I might purchase a trashed cheapo electric guitar for next to nothing, just to take off the pieces, and perhaps make a wall hangar in the end.

no harm in trying first.

I have alot of oak and sapele, so if I do proceed, the guitar will be made of those 2 laminated together. (maybe maple)
 
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