ATTENTION: As of March 2017 the Resin Addict Forums are being wound down.
New members are no longer being accepted. Read more about it here.

Joining thinner pieces of plexiglas/polycarbonate

Questions and discussion of tools, materials and techniques.

Moderator: Wardens

Joining thinner pieces of plexiglas/polycarbonate

Postby Bengan » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:57 am

Hi.

So I am in the process of setting up a degassing chamber. After a lot of searching I have been unable to find any information about joining thinner sheets of the mentioned materials in order to get enough thickness. I can get my hands on reasonably priced and available 6 mm thick Plexiglas and/ or poly-carbonate sheets. Anything above that in thickness seems more or less impossible to acquire and the few places i have found are very expensive.

So my questions are:

1. Can i join 2 or 3 pieces of 6mm thick sheets using appropriate glue(essentially) to create the lid of my degassing chamber? I have approximately 300 mm diameter in my soon to be vacuum chamber.

2. If so any recommendation on how to do it and what glue to use?

3. Also would 6 mm (a little more than 4/10") thick poly-carbonate(Plexiglas) be ok for a smaller window in say a thicker sheet of wood ( maybe an inch of mdf for example )?

4. If so how large of a window could i make?

As far as i understand the strength of the material needed is not dependent on the volume of the container but rather the surface area and how complete of a vacuum I create.

And final questions about using the air inlet of a compressor to create the vacuum in the chamber.

5. Is there i chance of damaging the compressor doing this?

6. And finally how many psi or bar does my compressor need to create in order to be able to pull the necessary vacuum for degassing?

Thank you for your time,
Bengan
Bengan
Casual
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:43 am

Re: Joining thinner pieces of plexiglas/polycarbonate

Postby marctech » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:39 am

i'm not sure what your build plan is here for this vacuum chamber, but it sounds fairly dangerous. Although if you aren't going to buy an actual vacuum pump, maybe it's not so much dangerous as it is ineffective.
marctech
Casual
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:34 am

Re: Joining thinner pieces of plexiglas/polycarbonate

Postby Bengan » Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:58 am

I have a solid pressure chamber so i was planning on simply making a lid out of a sturdy material and fix the airhose fittings in the lid. Then put a rubber seal around the edge. The reason I am asking about joining plexiglas etc is that it is very hard to get thick Plexiglas where I am. 6mm thick glass on the other hand is available every where.

I was under the impression that compressors where capable of pulling enough vacuum for degassing, perhaps I have been mislead? That would be a shame since vacuum pumps are kind of hard to find to.

edit: Well i found a retailer of vacuum pumps for refigirator repairs:
Found with these speccs:
250W
3.5cfm¨
71L/minute

Considering i have a 10L chamber that should be plenty, right? Otherwise there is one with 4.5 and 100L/minute

So i figure I will give the compressor a shot and get a pump if it doesnt provide enough of a vacuum.

The question regarding joining sheets of plastic to serve as a lid still remains
Last edited by Bengan on Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bengan
Casual
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:43 am

Re: Joining thinner pieces of plexiglas/polycarbonate

Postby marctech » Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:14 am

6mm plexiglass won't help you.

"vacuum chamber lids" or thick sheets of acrylic are easy to find online, might be available at a metal supply store as well. Same with the vacuum pump (ebay etc.). You want 1/2" thickness or more.

Not sure how you intend to use the compressor, but regardless, they cannot pull anywhere near the vacuum that is needed for degassing.
marctech
Casual
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:34 am

Re: Joining thinner pieces of plexiglas/polycarbonate

Postby Bengan » Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:47 am

well the might be easy to find online in say the uk or us but in sweden it is rough. And with shipping and taxes this stuff gets very expensive to import. My "small window" principle should work just fine though right?
Bengan
Casual
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:43 am

Re: Joining thinner pieces of plexiglas/polycarbonate

Postby Bengan » Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:51 am

Just to close this out. I got a hold of an engineer at the local university whom helped me understand this better. I want to thank you Marctech for your aid in this matter. Specifically regarding the vacuum pumping question. Seems the 6mm plexiglas will be fine its just a question of the size of the window which in my case will be about 2x2 inches.

Joining plexiglas sheets tougheter was apparently very much possible as far as he could tell though doing it properly (ie preserving the properties and getting a complete joining) was to hard for me to undertake.

Thank you again.
Bengan
Casual
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:43 am


Return to Dr Polymer

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests

cron