How to make ABS cement.

[themadhacker]

Ok, we all know that when bonding plastic together there are many methods to do so. There is bondo, epoxy, polyfiller, and then there is ABS cement. I prefer ABS cement because it completely bonds the peices of plastic together, forming one solid piece. Here is how you make it.

Supplies you need:

A case from anything made out of ABS plastic.
a glass jar with matching lid. Any glass jar will do as long as you plan to never use the jar to hold food again.

lacquer thinner or acetone. Your chioce, really. acetone is in the thinner so it doesn't really matter which you use.

Step one

Cut up your ABS case into small pieces. Make sure they are around an inch wide and long or smaller. Too big of plastic will take too long to melt. Have too much plastic pieces left over? Don't throw them out. Just get an old butter container or something and store the bits until you need them.

Step two
Fill the jar about two thirds of they way up with plastic.

step three.
Now pour in your thinner or acetone into the jar until it is halfway filled. too much will make the ABS cement runny and too little will make it extremely thick. If you are unsure of how much to add then just experiment a little.

Step four.
close the jar and wait. A long time. About two days or so. After those days are up the plastic will be completely melted into thick goo. It is now ready to be used for frankencasing.

 

[Basement_Modder]

Very nice guide! :clap:
I will be using ABS cement in my portable, for sure. Waaaaay better then bondo!

Also-was the N64 made of ABS plastic? Because I have a TON (like 7) of N64 cases laying around.

 

[themadhacker]

um, I forgot to mention. It takes a long time to dry completely. let it dry a week before sanding. Takes a while, but it is totally worth it.

 

[eurddrue]

Very nice guide! :clap:
I will be using ABS cement in my portable, for sure. Waaaaay better then bondo!

Also-was the N64 made of ABS plastic? Because I have a TON (like 7) of N64 cases laying around.

Yeah, every case I've encountered from a video game console is ABS. The n64 has ABS stamped on the inside of it

 

[Basement_Modder]

Very nice guide! :clap:
I will be using ABS cement in my portable, for sure. Waaaaay better then bondo!

Also-was the N64 made of ABS plastic? Because I have a TON (like 7) of N64 cases laying around.

Yeah, every case I've encountered from a video game console is ABS. The n64 has ABS stamped on the inside of it

Holy crap, it does. Thanks, anyway.

 

[Bibin]

Excellent guide - I assume there aren't final product pictures because it hasn't finished forming yet?

 

[themadhacker]

@ bacteria.

Once it is thick enough you can touch it without having it stick to you. I just stick my finger in the jar and pull some out. And also, I believe I said that if you want it completely stiff to wait a week.

@ bibin.
Yes, but I do have some other finished ABS cement.

 

[XCVG]

@ bacteria.

Once it is thick enough you can touch it without having it stick to you. I just stick my finger in the jar and pull some out. And also, I believe I said that if you want it completely stiff to wait a week.

:surprised:
Considering what's in it, that's a REALLY stupid thing to do.

 

[themadhacker]

Not really. Just wash afterwards and if you get some under your nail, just scrape it off or clip the nail.

 

[Caredo]

Not really. Just wash afterwards and if you get some under your nail, just scrape it off or clip the nail.

You do understand that the chemicals can get into your pores, right? :s

 

[themadhacker]

yeah, but when I use the stuff I make it so thick that your finger doesn't even get wet. I just wash afterwards.

 

[blaze3927]

wheres the facepalm when you need it

 

[jleemero]

wheres the facepalm when you need it

And no, I'm not facepalming for you, I'm facepalming because you didn't.

 

[themadhacker]

wheres the facepalm when you need it

Really? Really? what's the big deal, people? Half the stuff we mess with is deangerous. There's solder, flux, and then there is the stuff most people use. Windex, Bleach, tiolet bowel cleaner, bug spray, fertilizer, and a lot of other things. All toxic. And most of the ones I mentioned are liquid so they too can soak into your skin. Everybody occasionally gets stuff spilled on their hands. And what happens to them? Do their hands melt? Do theey die of cancer? No. They wash the crap up and move on with thier lives.

Besides, how else are you supposed to use ABS cement? In order to attach pieces of plastic together you have to roll it between your fingers into a snake and push it between the plastics. Now before somebody mentions gloves, I am not sure if acetone melts rubber or latex gloves, and it would be a lot worse to have a glove melting all over your hand than having thick, near dry ABS cement on your skin.

 

[Caredo]

wheres the facepalm when you need it

Really? Really? what's the big deal, people? Half the stuff we mess with is deangerous. There's solder, flux, and then there is the stuff most people use. Windex, Bleach, tiolet bowel cleaner, bug spray, fertilizer, and a lot of other things. All toxic. And most of the ones I mentioned are liquid so they too can soak into your skin. Everybody occasionally gets stuff spilled on their hands. And what happens to them? Do their hands melt? Do theey die of cancer? No. They wash the crap up and move on with thier lives.

Besides, how else are you supposed to use ABS cement? In order to attach pieces of plastic together you have to roll it between your fingers into a snake and push it between the plastics. Now before somebody mentions gloves, I am not sure if acetone melts rubber or latex gloves, and it would be a lot worse to have a glove melting all over your hand than having thick, near dry ABS cement on your skin.

Solder is harmless assuming you don't get it beyond a certain temperature. Flux boils away and I've never heard of it being dangerous.

Windex, bleach, borax, poison, fertilizer, etc. are usually used properly and are covered in warnings. Nobody powders their hands with Ajax or sprays themselves with poison. The brief exposure to these things are harmless because they're brief. We use ABS cement all the time, meaning we're exposed to it frequently, meaning if you roll it around in your bare hands all the time then chances are it's going to have negative effects.

I highly doubt gloves would melt from ABS cement. If they did, that'd be all the more reason to keep that crap away from your bare skin. My concern is that if you're sweating, your pores are open and you're providing moisture to the cement, possibly freeing some of the dried acetone and giving it a chance to get into your pores. This could be wrong, but I'd rather you err on the side of caution.

Don't take the "facepalm" nonsense as anything but concern for your health, and don't get too defensive. Just trying to help.

 

[themadhacker]

I can confirm now that thinner and acetone destroys laytex gloves. I found a latex glove in my poll barn and poured some thinner on it. The glove turned really shiny and seemed to begin to shrink. I took a paper towel and rubbed it on the glove to see if any color came off. After rubbing gently, the glove ripped in half.

so short story: you have to use your hands. Using you hands are the only way to prove the best results using ABS. I have tried putty knives, ect. , but those methods just made thick globs of ABS everywhere and the results looked quite ugly.

 

[XCVG]

I can confirm now that thinner and acetone destroys laytex gloves. I found a latex glove in my poll barn and poured some thinner on it. The glove turned really shiny and seemed to begin to shrink. I took a paper towel and rubbed it on the glove to see if any color came off. After rubbing gently, the glove ripped in half.

Latex actually is not that good against a lot of chemicals. Try a vinyl or nitrile glove.

so short story: you have to use your hands. Using you hands are the only way to prove the best results using ABS. I have tried putty knives, ect. , but those methods just made thick globs of ABS everywhere and the results looked quite ugly.

There was a story I read somewhere (photo.net?). There was this lady who would test photochemicals by tasting them. She didn't think they were THAT harmful, and apparently she could tell if they were too strong or had gone bad. I forgot what happened, if she developed some horrible reaction, she got cancer, or something even worse.

 

[themadhacker]

That woman was dumb!

I will try different types of gloves, and if I find a pair that does not melt I will wear those rather than sticking my bare fingers in. Just to please all of you.

 

[Caredo]

There's a big difference from working with ABS cement with glove-covered hands and pouring acetone on a glove, mang.

Thanks for agreeing to try some gloves, though. Glad to see you're not as stubborn as I am. >_>

 

[XCVG]

Rather than using a glove, why not wrap a piece of cloth over a finger and do it that way. You can then smear it over the case area.

Because cloth is permeable?

What about mixing it thinner and brushing it on? Oh, that would be kinda useless for a lot of applications.

Alternatively, what about using a different thinner?