Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 23

Thread: Laminate Acrylic

  1. #1

    Laminate Acrylic

    Has anyone come up with a way to layer or laminate two or more pieces of acrylic so...

    1) They visually appear as one when viewed head on (ignoring the edges).
    2) Using capillary method without the "blotches" or "puddles" forming.

    Mechanical fasteners would give a MUCH better aesthetic look than what I've been able to come up with so far.

    They don't HAVE to be physically connected, just stay sandwiched together.

    Clamping on one (unseen) edge I think would begin to separate on the opposite end over time.

    I'd rather not create some sort of frame if at all possible.
    ULS M-300 30W, CorelDraw X4

  2. #2
    Nobody has any ideas on this?
    ULS M-300 30W, CorelDraw X4

  3. #3
    A company I used to work for bonded two sheets of 2" acrylic together for glove boxes for the DOE. Two part clear acrylic polymer, vacuum after mixing. Lay it down very slowly while pumping mix between the sheets. Let set and cut off the edges. Practice helps. Not cheap but it can be done.

    Art

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cape Town, South Africa
    Posts
    3,922
    You can do it with the correct glues, you need the thick acrylic glue , the 2 part stuff ,not anything like a capiliary type glue (the thin stuff)
    The secret is 2 fold
    1) the pex must be totally dust free - easily achived with an ionising gun and compressed air - must be clean of fingerprints etc
    2) The secret to doing this with no bubbles is the way you put the glue on the bottom plate - it must be applied in a star pattern * , the more spokes of the star the better , this forces the glue from the centre of the piece outwards and allows air bubbles to escape.
    Degussa Germany (big acrylic mnfgr) make a machine that allows embedments between 2 pieces of thick acrylic , it heats the surfaces till they soft , you put the item in , it clamps em together and the hot surfaces fuse , its cooled at a constant rate. VERY expensive machine and it only works with thick stuff...
    Rodney Gold, Toker Bros trophies, Cape Town , South Africa :
    Roland 2300 rotary . 3 x ISEL's ..1m x 500mm CnC .
    Tekcel 1200x2400 router , 900 x 600 60w Shenui laser , 1200 x 800 80w Reci tube Shenhui Laser
    6 x longtai lasers 400x600 60w , 1 x longtai 20w fiber
    2x Gravo manual engravers , Roland 540 large format printer/cutter. CLTT setup
    1600mm hot and cold laminator , 3x Dopag resin dispensers , sandblasting setup, acid etcher

  5. #5
    I use chloroform! ensures that the acrylic is softened and then hardened. any pastic what come into contact will sticking. afther 15min the material is melted together.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Hans Simons View Post
    I use chloroform! ensures that the acrylic is softened and then hardened. any pastic what come into contact will sticking. afther 15min the material is melted together.
    Isn't that the stuff that knocks you out? How do you apply it without falling down in the middle of the job?

    But really, if that works, it would be the answer a lot of us have been looking for... if we can obtain chloroform which is not commonly carried at stores around here.
    Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure

    Red Coin Mah Jong

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Alabama
    Posts
    2,395
    I am about to start experimenting with UV cured adhesives which are optically clear. They are not solvent cements and I thought of this application as being one that would work. I have samples of adhesive on the way and have acquired a proper UV lamp of the correct wavelength. I will report my findings. This would, of course, be clear acrylic.
    Epilog Legend EXT36-40watt, Corel X4, Canon iPF8000 44" printer,Photoshop CS6, Ioline plotter, Hotronix Swinger Heat Press, Ricoh GX e3300 Sublimation

  8. #8
    Robert, I'm a bit skeptical that you will get an adhesive to work consistently if your objective is a transparent adhesive. If doing in mass production perhaps a system could be developed but when doing only a few you can expect high reject rates and lots of frustration. If mechanical fasteners are at all an option I would think that is a lot more likely to be successful. If you can clamp one end and then use fasteners on the other that may be a possibility. You might need to look for a very decorative post and screw assembly - it might take a bit of time to hunt down some attractive hardware that is aesthetically pleasing. Maybe you could use some kind of 2 part rivet that is press-fit together so there would be no need for drive recesses.

    There may be some UV cured optical adhesives that could work, but again, it will be expensive, messy, time consuming, and you would need to accept the fact that there will be rejects.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Rumancik View Post
    Maybe you could use some kind of 2 part rivet that is press-fit together
    I found them, but unfortunately it's a 20,000 piece minimum (per length) order, and 5 week lead time.
    ULS M-300 30W, CorelDraw X4

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    1,840
    I'll say this again.......I have found Max1 to be much more optically clear than Weldon.
    Epilog Mini 24 - 45 Watt, Corel Draw X5, Wacom Intuos Tablet, Unengraved HP Laptop, with many more toys to come.....





    If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have one idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas... George B. Shaw

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Bay City, WI
    Posts
    43
    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Bratton View Post
    I am about to start experimenting with UV cured adhesives which are optically clear. They are not solvent cements and I thought of this application as being one that would work. I have samples of adhesive on the way and have acquired a proper UV lamp of the correct wavelength. I will report my findings. This would, of course, be clear acrylic.
    won't the acrylic block the uv rays?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Glenelg, MD
    Posts
    12,256
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Hartl View Post
    won't the acrylic block the uv rays?
    Acrylic is pretty transparent to the wavelengths of UV-A and UV-B...
    Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )

    Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
    CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
    USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
    Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
    Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
    Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
    Delta 18-900L 18" drill press

    Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
    Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
    Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Alabama
    Posts
    2,395
    Some acrylics have UV inhibitors built in. It depends on the adhesive as to whether it is effected or not. Most industrial adhesives are curable in the UV-A range of 365nb. Medical or dental adhesives are in the 400-450nm wavelength range.
    Epilog Legend EXT36-40watt, Corel X4, Canon iPF8000 44" printer,Photoshop CS6, Ioline plotter, Hotronix Swinger Heat Press, Ricoh GX e3300 Sublimation

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Alabama
    Posts
    2,395
    [QUOTE=Steve Clarkson;1645270]I'll say this again.......I have found Max1 to be much more optically clear than Weldon.[/QUOTE

    Max1 is a solvent cement isn't it? I am after eliminating the appearance that is created when the two pieces are cemented apparently caused by the welding or chemical reaction that occurs. It is clear, but it looks somewhat like a spiderweb,kinda cloudy effect and is not attractive. (not crazing, which is a different thing). I used some Acryfix 117 and it was a lot better than Weldon #3 or #4. I have two kinds of UV curable for acrylics coming in, got samples of both, one is from Dymax and the other one is from Devcon. Hoping this will be an alternative to the solvent types. We will see.
    and....
    I also learned this trick, contrary to all the information written about the time involved in annealing. One of the engineers at Acylite told me about a fabricator that he knew that did a quick anneal with a heat gun. I bought a heat gun and tried it. Mind you this was 3mm acrylic, it worked. I heated it up to just before it deflected, around 180 degrees or so, just hot enough to where you can't leave your hand on it. Then let it cool down slowly. We also tried setting our heat press at its lowest setting of 200 degrees. (deflection temp is 203F) Put the acrylic in with a piece of paper, top and bottom, set to maximum time, which is 100 seconds on ours and that also worked. I even bathed some of these pieces in DNA to see if it would craze and I got very little. Prior to doing this, I was having trouble with the acrylic crazing when the solvent cement was used. (the customer was very pleased with the resulting product)
    Last edited by Larry Bratton; 02-24-2011 at 1:51 PM.
    Epilog Legend EXT36-40watt, Corel X4, Canon iPF8000 44" printer,Photoshop CS6, Ioline plotter, Hotronix Swinger Heat Press, Ricoh GX e3300 Sublimation

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Bratton View Post
    I have two kinds of UV curable for acrylics coming in, got samples of both, one is from Dymax and the other one is from Devcon. Hoping this will be an alternative to the solvent types.
    Please let me know what you find.

    I also learned this trick, contrary to all the information written about the time involved in annealing. One of the engineers at Acylite told me about a fabricator that he knew that did a quick anneal with a heat gun. I bought a heat gun and tried it. Mind you this was 3mm acrylic, it worked. I heated it up to just before it deflected, around 180 degrees or so, just hot enough to where you can't leave your hand on it. Then let it cool down slowly. We also tried setting our heat press at its lowest setting of 200 degrees. (deflection temp is 203F) Put the acrylic in with a piece of paper, top and bottom, set to maximum time, which is 100 seconds on ours and that also worked.
    With the heat gun, did you let it cool slowly with pressure applied or under it's own weight?

    I wonder if a toaster oven would work (if I can control the temperature properly).
    ULS M-300 30W, CorelDraw X4

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •