"All About Welding Plastics"

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By Sean Michael Ragan
Posted 2011/09/12 @ 9:00 am
Category Education, General, Tools

Lately I’ve been getting interested in heat-welding plastics, and so far some of the best practical, hands-on advice I’ve found within the tubes comes from this black-and-white Seelye Model 63 Plastic Welder manual posted over at amphibious / all-terrain vehicle enthusiast site 6×6 World.

It’s posted as low-to-middling resolution JPGs, so the quality isn’t great, but it’s definitely readable/usable.

BY Sean Michael Ragan

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I write for MAKE, serve as Technical Editor for MAKE magazine, and develop original DIY content for Make: Projects.

In the Maker Shed

7 Responses to "All About Welding Plastics"

3D Printer Village on September 12th, 2011 at 4:16 pm said:

For anyone who doesn’t know – the plastic used in 3D printing is ABS 3mm plastic welding rod. Most of the companies that extrude it in the US did it exclusively for plastic welding, but have found new customers in the DIY 3D printing arena.

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3D Printer Village on September 12th, 2011 at 4:16 pm said:

For anyone who doesn’t know – the plastic used in 3D printing is ABS 3mm plastic welding rod. Most of the companies that extrude it in the US did it exclusively for plastic welding, but have found new customers in the DIY 3D printing arena.

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3D Printer Village on September 12th, 2011 at 4:16 pm said:

For anyone who doesn’t know – the plastic used in 3D printing is ABS 3mm plastic welding rod. Most of the companies that extrude it in the US did it exclusively for plastic welding, but have found new customers in the DIY 3D printing arena.

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3D Printer Village on September 12th, 2011 at 4:16 pm said:

For anyone who doesn’t know – the plastic used in 3D printing is ABS 3mm plastic welding rod. Most of the companies that extrude it in the US did it exclusively for plastic welding, but have found new customers in the DIY 3D printing arena.

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Joe on September 12th, 2011 at 5:55 pm said:

I have done plastic welding for years, The plastic welders are fine, But I have had just as good luck using a 40 watt flat tip soldering iron. My son broke the plastic mirror off of his car, the dealer wanted $140 for a new mirror. I plastic welded the mirror back on. When you plastic weld, become familiar with the different types of thermoplastics and make sure you weld using the same type of plastic.

I save old pieces of plastic, cut then into strips and use them as welding rods. If you want to get fancy, Harbor Freight Tools sells plastic welding rods.

Thanks

Joe

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Don on September 12th, 2011 at 7:12 pm said:

Thanks for the useful document. I made a slightly enhanced PDF combining all the pages (images) that can be downloaded: http://www.mediafire.com/?ad4nb1b1aaf5vbs

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Anonymous on September 12th, 2011 at 11:42 pm said:

Snarky comment follows. No useful information is provided.
I’m still waiting for wooden welding rods.

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