Plastic Cement

[pappy]

Not the Quikrete kink.

I have a tripod that has cracked leg locks. I've tried the superglue products, but the crack opens up as soon as I flip the lock. Anybody have suggestions? Would regular model glue be a better option? Any other suggestions. If I had a way of getting PVC pipe glue in there I would try that. I think I need something that will melt the two halves together.

I'm able to open the crack wide enough to squirt in the glue, close it back up, and c-clamp it.

 

[marcfj60]

Have you tried any of the 1-minute or 3-minute epoxies?

If you can find some MEK or a model cement that contains MEK, that might work well too. But be careful with MEK. It's nasty stuff and you don't want to breathe it or let it absorb through the skin. It will dissolve plastics very quickly but then evaporates quickly and the molten plastic becomes hard again.

 

[pappy]

Thanks Marc. I'm familiar with MEK. I haven't tried epoxies, or anything with MEK. I will go shopping for these. If necessary, I can open up the crack to get more glue inside. I suspect something that "welds" the plastic together, like the MEK, would work better than something that sticks them together.

 

[Poupon]

I use Weld-on SciGrip 3 to weld acrylics, when working on my fish tank. I can give you some next time we connect. Not sure if this will work on the specific plastic you have. I can get a joint stronger than the plastic with a good clean weld joint.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/261090989930?lpid=82&chn=ps