Preview · about 1 minute
Plant-floor overview. Full converter checklist below.
There are at least 30 resin families and hundreds of grades: extrusion vs molding, filled vs unfilled, flame-retardant, alloys. A property chart gets long. Use this as a joining checklist, not a spec sheet.
Four joining systems
1. Adhesives. Low cost, they seal, they damp vibration, they join plastic to other materials. Watch solvents: many thermoplastics craze, crack, lose gloss, or stain. Plastics are non-porous, so solvent trapped in the glue line will not dry and will weaken the joint. Polyolefins and fluoroplastics (PTFE and PCTFE) are chemically inert until you treat the surface. Thermosets usually need a clean face and mold-release removed.
2. Heat welding / heat sealing. Hot-gas, heated-tool, induction, friction/spin, ultrasonic. Sealing: dielectric, thermal, induction, ultrasonic.
3. Solvent welding. Often the cheapest way to join a thermoplastic to itself. Coat one face, close immediately, hold a few minutes. Crazing and stress-crazing are the usual failures.
4. Mechanical fasteners. For repeated assembly. Threaded metal inserts protect the plastic.
By resin family
ABS (Cycolac, Lustran). Tough, rigid thermoplastic. Solvent or heat weld with ketone solvents. Bond after an ethyl-alcohol wipe, light sand, alcohol wipe.
Acetal homopolymer. Heat weld. Polyurethane or epoxy after satinizing or sanding. Satinize bath (by weight): 0.3% dicalite, 0.3% p-toluenesulfonic acid, 3.0% dioxane, 96.4% perchloroethylene; 10–30 seconds at 175–250°F, then 250°F for 1 minute, rinse, dry. Or MEK wipe, 280-grit, MEK wipe.
Acetal copolymer (Celcon). Heat weld. Epoxy, polyurethane, or nitrile. MEK wipe then concentrated chromic acid 10 seconds at room temperature in a hood (formaldehyde fumes), rinse, dry. Or alcohol wipe, medium grit, alcohol wipe.
Acrylic (Plexiglas, Lucite). Heat or solvent weld (ethylene dichloride, trichloroethylene, methylene chloride). Best bonds are acrylic adhesives; polyurethane and epoxy also used. Detergent wash or alcohol wipe. Do not solvent-craze.
Nylon. Heat weld or fasteners. Aqueous phenol, resorcinol-ethanol, or nylon-bodied calcium chloride-ethanol cements are the high-strength route. Neoprene, nitrile, and epoxy are lower strength. MEK wipe, medium grit, MEK wipe.
Polycarbonate (Lexan). Heat or solvent weld (methylene chloride, ethylene dichloride). Epoxy after alcohol wipe, fine sand, alcohol wipe.
Polyethylene and polypropylene. Heat weld or heat seal. Untreated PE wants a tacky or pressure-sensitive adhesive. Treat: alcohol wipe, then chromic bath (15 parts sodium dichromate / 24 water / 300 concentrated sulfuric acid) 60–90 minutes at room temperature or 1–2 minutes at 150°F; rinse in deionized water; air dry. Or pass an oxidizing flame until the surface looks shiny, without melting. Corona works on PE film. PP uses the same prep. Film and bottles can be bought already treated.
PVC and vinyls. Heat weld, heat seal, or solvent weld (THF, cyclohexanone). Nitrile adhesives; check plasticizer migration and stain. Rigid PVC: trichloroethylene wipe, medium grit, wipe.
Fluoroplastics (PTFE and PCTFE). Heat weld. Adhesives only after a strong etch. The etch is hazardous; buy the part “bondable” or buy the etch from a specialist. No generic adhesive recommendation without that prep.
Thermosets (alkyd, allyl, amino, epoxy, phenolic, polyester). Usually epoxy, neoprene, nitrile, or polyester after mold-release removal, MEK wipe, and light sand. Polyurethane foam: dust-free and dry.
Styrene: solvent weld (toluene, xylene). Neoprene, nitrile, epoxy after alcohol wipe and fine sand. EMA ionomer: epoxy after a short chromic dip at 160°F, or flame-treat like PE. Phenylene oxide (Noryl): solvent weld; neoprene, nitrile, polyurethane, epoxy.
Call 800-249-0337 or email sales@cattieadhesives.com with the trade name, grade, and the other substrate.
Related Cattie grades
Examples, not a full catalog. 8241 water-based acrylic PSA. 8600 PUR hot melt (not for untreated PE/PP). #8599 polyester hot melt for chemical resistance. See custom formulated when the resin is an alloy. Call 800-249-0337 to match a grade to the line.
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Longer plant training (5–10 min)
Coming soon — downloadable deep-dive for the floor.
General plant guidance only — not a substitute for your process, SDS/TDS, or line trials. Call 800-249-0337 to match a grade.