HDPE bonding options?

[Ron Bontz]

Anyone know of a good glue/ Epoxy/ what ever, for bonding HDPE to itself for jigs, etc. that's water proof?

[Trevor Walsh]

HDPE is difficult to bold it's designed to be slippery, you could probably do it thermally, meaning by heating sections to glass transition and pressing together it would bond and become one piece. Other than that, why not thread it and bolt pieces together?

[Mike Brady]

It will hold well in a tight fitting dado or groove. Generally I see it mounted with countersunk screws. Be careful when tightening the screws because they will go deeper than desired, quickly, due to the low friction of the plastic. I just used some to build a jig for cutting tenons. The HDPE pinches the saw plate to keep it aligned.

[Ron Bontz]

I got my hands on the HDPE to build a sharpening station like one I saw on Woodnet. I think he used PVC but I have not been able to find what I wanted for a reasonable price. I want something I can keep in a drawer under the bench, and just wash off when I am finished. Well, I guess I'll just keep looking.

[john lampros]

I use HDPE a lot and dont know of any glue that works well, or even poorly for that matter. Just made a 14"x 12 box. used dovetails to join all joints. makes for a real puzzle when assembling. No need for sliding dovetails as the stuff is slick enough that you can coax a tight fitting long dovetail with a mallet at worst or just palm pressure. The stuff machines beautifully, too well even. I pin the dovetails I want permanent with 1/8 round hdpe, but you can use brads or screws or what ever you choose. generally speaking hdpe is more expensive than pvc.

[John Coloccia]

If the idea of flame treatment doesn't turn you off:


http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=435

[Mike Holbrook]

You don't glue HDPE you weld it. I spent a good amout of time and invested some money into trying to do this. The bottom line for me is to do it well requires a substantial investment in some sort of gun etc. for welding with. There are some relatively inexpensive guns I bought one for 2-$300 but it turned out that it was not capable of doing the job in the opinion of the guy I put it with. We were trying to make crates to keep dogs in. Even with this relatively small job my buddy thought we would need a gun that cost more like $1,400. Most of the companies that make things with HDPE have specialized relatively costly equipment. The good news is welded HDPE is extremely tough. A guy I know who makes tubs to wash dogs in from 1/4" HDPE, takes one of his tubs and drops it off a 12-14" high deck in a video on his site to show how strong they are. Welding HDPE requires that someone learn some specialized techniques with the specialized tools as well.

[Jim Neeley]

http://tamarrontechnology.biz/adhesives.html

[Jim Belair]

The other option I've used rather than screwed fasteners is epoxy, but not in the usual sense of gluing. I'll drill and countersink a hole, then fill it with epoxy. A little epoxy "rivet" is formed.

Jim B