Snap Tabs - E6000 or Plastic Welder?

[Jorran]

The title is pretty self explanatory: is it better to use something like E6000 or plastic welder to attach snap tabs to your armor?

 

Or is it really just personal preference?

 

I'm guessing that it's just personal preference, as I've seen both ways in various builds. I'm getting ready to attach all of the various tabs to my torso pieces and thought I'd once again pick the brains of the experts for the best method.

 

Thanks in advance as always!

 

[BananoPower22[TK]]

I personally use e6000. It holds up very well and in case i need to remove it, i can. I don't think you can remove it if you glue it with plastic welder

[kevster[TK]]

Well as I recall and if i'm wrong I hope someone corrects me. Plastic weld will give you a stronger bond, but if you mess it up then it will be extremely difficult to take off and risk tearing your armor if you try and remove it. E-6000 is more than strong enough to use itself though and can be take off much safer but if you use too much and it comes in contact with the metal on the back of the snaps then it will create a little circular deformation on your armor but its pretty hard to see. I think how it happened for me is the clamps i used were very strong so when the glue reacted to the metal, the pressure from the clamp pushed the plastic in, but its very hard to notice really.

[bobojuice]

For my build I plan on using CA with accelerator for the tabs and E6000 for pretty much everything else.

[TK_LEPER]

Just use E6000

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

keep the glue away from the back of the snap, cover it with duct tape.

 

make the snap tab large enough for glue spots that don't touch the snap.

 

you can MELT your armor with e6000 and snap aluminum.

 

the glue generates heat when in contact with metal... and I mean a lot of heat!

[Necron[TK]]

E6000 FTW

[sskunky]

I use liquid solvent cement, Hipsol on HIPS and Absol on ABS. Which are all very similar to Plastic Weld. I only used E6000 on the shoulder straps. The Plastic weld will give you a stronger bond, Much cleaner to work with and if you work slowly there is little chance you can go wrong. After all you are only bonding two seams together or a strip along two seams.

If you clamp and use magnets the two pieces that need bonding, make sure they are in the correct place then dip a small paint brush into the plastic weld and touch the seam/join with a drop of the cement and the capillary action will make the liquid run along the seam. Leave it clamped for at least 15-20 mins and you are done. It's much quicker than E6000 as that takes about 24 hours to cure. I can pretty much glue a suit together in an evening. Using E6000 will take a week or so.......

 

Hope this helps.....

[Evolver79[TK]]

I have done two builds so far, TK & RC, AND have used only E6000 on both. I haven't had any issues with either. When attaching snaps, I used snap plates and then glued those to the armor. E6000 holds up perfectly, and if you have to remove them for any reason they come right off without any left over residue.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Evolver79

[Jorran]

Perfect - thanks for all the feedback!