Gluing UHMW polyethylene

[Bill ThompsonNM]

​I am in the process of refurbishing a Dewalt vertical panel sawI'm renewing some of the sliding surfaces which use nylon slides but can no longer get some of the original parts and I would like to make some substitutions using UHMW poly. Any suggestions on what glue works well to attach UHMW poly to steel?

[Carl Beckett]

Ive never had any luck gluing the stuff.

There is a pretty big difference to thermal expansion between the plastic and the steel - this can be problematic for glue joints as well.

Screws (thread and tap) - iffy even. (it creeps, and pushes away when you try to machine/cut it). If its a bushing your best bet might be end washers that just capture it in place.

[Bob Wingard]

There is a glue out there that works with UHMW, but, pretty much only UHMW to UHMW. As Carl said, it is thermally unstable, and the best way to mount it to something is by mechanical means, allowing for expansion & contraction (lots of slots).

I dragged LOTS of the stuff home from the scrap pile at work, hoping to use it for lots of jigs & stuff ... came away VERY disappointed. Now, I cut little circles out of it to inlay into the bottoms of the feet on some of my projects so they slide more easily.

[Bill White]

I'm with Bob. UHMW sure makes nice puck feet for tools. Got 'em on my lathe, use it for miter slot guides, etc.
Sawing the stuff gets pretty messy due to static build-up. Though I would NEVER get all the chips/swarf out of the TS after ripping some pieces.
If ya want some info about a glue, contact:
Advance Plastics in Nashville, TN.
800-321-0365
"Hoppy" Hopkins
No connection. They supply a cultured marble fabricator (C & S Marble in Tupelo) that I've dealt with. He gave me their name.
Bill

[Matt McColley]

"sticky tape" (double sided PSA adhesive) may work just fine for your application....

We use it all the time at work and it pretty much bonds any smooth-dry-flat surface to any other smooth-dry-flat surface.

The UHMW vender we use on the rare occasion we buy the stuff (Garland Industries) sells lots of extruded shapes with the PSA tape already applied.

I've used it to repair some old worn out wood on wood drawers and it has worked just fine.

It may not be the worlds strongest joint, but it's not like you're going to have a lot of shear or pull out forces on the glides and need that kind of strength.

Check out Garland's web site for all kinds of UHMW fabricating tips. IIRC, their rep. told me that you can use epoxy if you 'pop' the surface with an open flame (like a plumbers tourch), but the PSA has always worked for me.

[Chris Tsutsui]

3M VHB is sticky double sided tape that sticks to just about everything and is removed only with strong stuff like MEK.

I built an outfeed table and laminated the entire table top with UHMW from mcmastercarr. I used the strong 3M Spray adhesive that worked well, I think it was the stronger adhesive i bought that doesn't spiderweb, forgot the model.

I had to use 80 grit sand paper to really rough up the UHMW. So far the UHMW stays bonded very well to the MDF. I did clamp and leave for 24 hours.

I heard something about a quick pass with a blow torch will help the UHMW surface stick to the adhesive, but didn't try that tip. I felt as though the sanding was enough along with the contact cement / spray adhesive.

[Van Huskey]

3M VHB tape isn't cheap (not remotely) but it redefines tape as I used to know it...

[ian maybury]

Flame treatment is a commonly used method of surface treating polyolefin plastics so that adhesives (often CA) can bond to them. I can't remember it properly as it was many years ago - but the air/fuel ratio on the gas flame matter quite a lot. Otherwise it doesn't work.

Plasma treatment does a similar job.

Of late there's been a lot of polyolefin primers developed for the same fucntion - we had one for CA in Loctite back in the late 80s.

These guys came up as doing one on a Google: http://www.reltekllc.com/primers-adhesion-promoters-for-UHMW.htm

The other issue with many of these slippery plastics is that they tend to move a lot too....

ian

[Biff Johnson]

We used to glue UHMW to the fiberglass and aluminum parts of RV slide rooms. We used urethane adhesive, usually the 3M Bostich or Sikaflex brands. Clamp or tape it in place for 8 hrs and it was solid as a rock, even with the dead weight of the rooms sliding over it.

[Bob Deroeck]

Along the lines of what Bill suggested, 3M 5200 marine sealant will bond just about anything to anything. One downside is it takes about a week to fully cure. There is a "fast cure" 5200, but it's bonding strength is less.

Bob

[zayd alle]

I used contact cement to bond UHMW to baltic birch ply. I believe I roughed up the UHMW slightly with some 80-grit then spread the cement, let it tack up, then stuck them together. Worked fine.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

Thanks to all-- I'll do some experimenting now but it sounds like I have a few options but I'll have to order glue or tape.

[Jim Matthews]

I have used contact cement and countersunk screws to good effect.

Did DeWalt tech support offer any suggestions?
I find my local machine shop and auto body a good resource.

They know moving parts well.