TLDR: What alternatives do any of you use for Super Glue to adhere parts together?
I was curious to what others were using to adhere printed pieces together. I want an alternative to Super Glue/Gorilla Glue because I can’t stand the smell. Maybe I am oversensitive, but the smell never seems to go away from the parts. I’ve heard of “Amazing Goop” but have never used it. I have a good hot glue gun (Dremel) but was told hot glue isn’t quite permanent for printed parts, especially if the parts are handled frequently. I am planning on making a lot of medium sized action figures where heated inserts won’t work.
I use Araldite Crystal “5min”. Its a 2k glue. The smell is very little, and after 24h you can smell it with your nose directly to the glue. After 48h the smell is completely gone.
Yes, I have some here. The glue works great but, like I said, I think I am just oversensitive to it. Besides the smell, I always get headaches after using Krazy Glue and Gorilla Glue. Even tried wearing masks but those are useless, mostly.
I am also pretty sensitive to chemical smells, and I work with some plastics that create some pretty noxious fumes. If you want to spend a few bucks, this $50 GVS mask was a game changer for me. The only one I’ve found that works well and fits comfortably. I can wear it for hours and it’s not an issue. Just got to make sure you get the one with the charcoal filters.
It is possible to be sensitive to cyanoacrylate, it sounds like this may be your issue. I personally don’t like the smell although it does not cause me health issues.
Amazing Goop contains Toluene which is a fairly nasty chemical, I don’t like the solvent smell myself. 3D gloop is even worse. Hot glue will bond 3D printed parts but the melt temperature of high temp hot glue is above the glass point for many filaments so it will distort and maybe even melt through a thinner print. And it doesn’t really provide a good mechanical bond.
The Aradite mentioned above is a 2 part epoxy. I personally hate the smell of epoxy. I can’t speak to how well it will bond PLA. The odor does dissipate over time but if you are using it indoors and super glue causes issues, it may also. It is also possible to become sensitized to epoxy, it can be bad enough that exposure can send you to the hospital. It does usually take occupational levels of exposure but if cyanoacrylate (super glue) causes you headaches, it’s worth knowing.
To continue using glue without health issues, you may have to resort to a respirator with VOC cartridges. The P95 mask will reduce the odor some but for the best protection, you want the VOC cartridge type. The GVS mask is for dust only and provides no VOC protection. I have one and use it when woodworking out in the garage but would not use it for VOC.
I am 24 hour hazmat certified (means we took a 3 day 8 hour course) for ammonia leak response at work because we have over 600 pounds of the stuff in our chiller. We get retrained every year and have a qualitative test to ensure our full face mask fit properly and that we know how to put them on.
This is just one type, make sure you get one that fits your head and learn how to don it and test for proper fit.
The standard GVS mask will only work against dust, but the P100 filters with charcoal will work to OSHA standards on nuisance level organic vapors. A little bit of super glue is way below OSHA nuisance level.
If he was working with large amounts of epoxy or stronger adhesives in an enclosed space, he’d want the bigger GVS filters, but those seem like overkill for just some super glue. They are much more bulky and not nearly as comfortable.
I also have to do OSHA mask fit tests yearly, unfortunately.
Now that you mention it, two part epoxy adhesives tend to get pretty warm when they kick. I’d be worried about a two part adhesive possibly melting/warping PLA.
How is the exotherm on the aradite? Probably have to use a low exotherm 2 part adhesive on PLA. Might have more wiggle room on ABS.
I actually panicked once and ripped the mask off when the person running the tests blocked the intake without telling me. Felt a right fool after that!
I got fined $750 one year because one of my guy’s beards wasn’t trimmed enough on testing day. The OSHA inspector called it a small fine, nothing to worry about. Maybe for you!
I find myself reaching for my 3d gloop(s) more often than not when repairing a part as it works amazingly well. It does not really work too great though for bonding a different material to the print like magnets, so for that I still resort to gorilla / superglue.
Might want to look for foam safe versions of super glue. It doesn’t melt foam and is reported to be odor free. I have not used it so have no idea if this is true.
On a similar note, I have tried to order a Dremel Cordless Glue Gun twice now from Amazon and both times they sent me Dremel Electric Scissors. The issue is that Amazon labeled the Electric Scissors as the Glue Gun and obviously the people or robots that grab the items don’t look at anything but the #$%!@ label.
My mom tells a similar story dating back to '63 when we lived in Alaska. She ordered some minor trinket from Sears and got a rather expensive doll. She tried again and got the doll again. She let all her friends know and they were ordering the trinket to get the dolls!
CA glues (super glue, gorilla glue, krazy glue, etc) are strong but brittle – give them a good rap and they’ll shatter on you.
I’ve been trying out 3D Gloop of late – if you’re printing in a material that they support (e.g. PLA), it’s amazing. Sets quickly and acts as a chemical weld (essentially).
I’ve tried it (briefly) for smoothing and it does work…but you’re likely better-served (at least currently) to go with something like XTC-3D for that.
I think they’re planning on an aerosol version of it that should be a very interesting smoothing method that doesn’t lose any detail - I’ll definitely be trying that when it’s available.
. I also got some JB Weld, Amazing Goop, and E6000 Flexible.
