Liquid ABS Plastic

Has anyone tried the method of ABS facrication described in this link-
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/09/liquid_abs_plastic.html

Sounds interesting but am weary to try it myself.

Follow the link at the end of the article to a forum where the subject is further discussed.

Also, for those that are interested in the joys of building cool stuff I highly recommend looking around further on the MAKEZINE site. Fun stuff abound.

Nick

Interesting stuff i had been told about this before by someone as a method for filling deep gouges in abs but not in any detail.
I'll certainly give it a try if i need to though i work in a plastic injection moulding plant so materials is no problem and free

I did some test on this technique a few years back as a way to repair damaged ST armor, just to see how it works... And it works quite well for say plugging a hole that was drilled in the wrong place... I used ABS/styrene cement (got it at Hobby Lobby, it was water thin and evaporated faster then fast) and shavings of ABS to make fill the hole, and with a little sanding and buffing it resulted in a nearly invisible patch...

I even typed up a tutorial here, but it's long gone...

The article makes mention of using this stuff to cast with. Casting abs plastic sounds like a fun idea.

Nick

From my limited experience you will get massive shrinkage as the solvent evaporates... I don't believe the results with casting will be that good... But, then again they might be...

I have used this silly method a lot in the last few weeks for reshaping/repairing a vacformed helmet.
I think it works well for plugging misplaced drill holes in ABS/styrene sheet, but not at all for any larger work.

Thick layers of dissolved ABS/styrene will not be very strong. You need to apply the dissolved plastic in many thin layers or the result will be brittle and porous with many air bubbles. This makes the process a bit labour-intensive.

I also experienced shrinkage.. which warped my helmet slightly out of shape requiring me to do even more work.

One method I used a bit was to put the wet plastic on fire (!) and pressing it together. The fire made the plastic puff up and form even more internal bubbles, which is why it was absolutely necessary to press it together. This ruined a piece that was too thin... But I was able to extend an edge using this method. Then followed more thin layers of plastic (as putty) and a lot of sandpapering. I still needed to use spot putty quite a lot to fill a myriad of tiny bubbles that had been exposed by the sandpapering.

I do NOT recommend this method. I persisted in using it because I wanted my helmet to remain flexible and I was afraid that if I used a harder putty on the flexible ABS helmet, then cracks would form from use.
I think that resin casting or scratch building w/ superglue is much better for smaller props.

Would something like this work
Plastic Welder



or

The PlastiFix Rigid Plastic Repair Kit is a revolutionary plastic repair system that allows you to repair cracks, fill gaps, rebuild tabs, and fix stripped threads. The most unique feature of the PlastiFix Rigid Plastic Repair Kit is the FlexMold flexible molding bar. The FlexMold bar allows you to replace a broken tab by forming a mold from an undamaged piece, then casting your new part using the PlastiFix acrylic adhesive system. This system does not work on olefinic plastics like PE, PP, TEO, or TPO.
Plastic filler

or this for scratches
ABS Flaw Repair Touch-Up Coating

chem-pak inc.
11 Oates Avenue
Winchester, VA. 22601
1-800-336-9828