Ambroid vs. Tenax vs. Plastruct

[raohara]

Anyone use one or more of the above products and care to comment on the quality?

- Rich

[CPMcGraw]

Tenax is great. I've used it on a few projects with satisfying results. Plastruct comes in two "flavors", IIRC, so you have to match what you use to the type of plastic it works with. Again, I've used the "Orange Bottle" with success in various projects.

The only "Ambroid" I'm familiar with is the amber-colored stuff in the orange & white tube, similar to the old Sig-Ment. Never liked either. I prefer Titebond's "II" and "Translucent" formulas for general wood and paper construction.

[raohara]

Yes, they have the cement in the orange and white tube, but they also have a welder they call Pro Weld. See the line here: http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?manu=130&split=30.

Actually, I am not sure anyone makes Ambroid products anymore. The company used to be in VT, but the latest I know is that the product is (or was) manufactured by Graphic Vision in East Swanzey, NH.

- Rich

[ghrocketman]

I have always found Tenax 7R to be the best but the parts MUST fit well.
It is VERY HOT and bonds almost instantly. That is my GO-TO plastic cement.
If you have ANY gaps it wont cement worth a hill of beans. Tenax is basically pure Perchloroethane (dry cleaning fluid).

Ambroid Pro-Weld was almost as good...but a little slower...joint strength as good as Tenax.

Plastruct makes like 3 different liquid cements. One is decent-a little slower than Ambroid, but strong. The other two flat out suck but I can't remember which is which.

Testors Liquid Cement now is the absolute worst. It is a jar of MEK with a brush. Takes forever to dry and is not very strong. Their old formula that was like 75% MIBK and 25% MEK was a decent but slow-drying liquid cement.

[raohara]

GH, if Tenax is good for parts that fit well, what is a good "gap-filling" plastic cement for those parts that don't have such a good fit?

- Rich

[jharding58]

If you have gaps in plastic then I would suggest Plasti-Zap. It is a moderately think CA adhesive which bonds plastic (polystryrene) to itself and other materials. Tenax is about the best for scale models in that it leaves little or no residue and tacks in quickly. It still (as indeed all liquid adhesives will have) a cure time.

Ambroid Pro-Weld is hard to find, but then again, so was Tenax last year.

[dlazarus6660]

Ambroid is alive and well and still in East Swanzy N.H.
My LHS carries Ambroid. I love the stuff, grew up using it. Best used for balsa and paper.
Use lots of ventilation or you will get a high!
Ambroid started in the Boston, MA area, it was never in VT.

[raohara]

Ambroid is alive and well and still in East Swanzy N.H.
Glad to hear that. Is it really made by Graphic Vision these days? I tried calling but no one picked up the phone.

- Rich

[tbzep]

Tenax can be used with gaps between parts. You just have to think a little different. I'm an old farm boy that grew up welding and brazing metals. To gap fill, just add in some scrap styrene and the Tenax will melt it into the gap. It fills just like a brass rod when you're brazing, or the rod from a stick welder, or wire from a MIG. ;)

[ScaleNut]

Tenax is not perchlorothenane or drycleaning fluid ..or whatever that guy said ..it's Butyl Acetate based

these are the main ingredients of some popular "hot" glues

Testor's liquid (glass bottle) = MEK + Ethyl acetate

Ambroid, pro weld = methylene chloride

Tenax = Butyl Acetate

Weld-on (the styrene products from them) = MEK

[tbzep]

Tenax is not perchlorothenane or drycleaning fluid ..or whatever that guy said ..it's Butyl Acetate based

Tenax = Butyl Acetate

MSDS says it's methylene chloride. :confused:

[jetlag]

I've never been a fan of the Ambroid wood glue in a tube. IIRC, I've seen balsa models built with this stuff just come apart. After some age, the glue seems to lift right off the wood in chunks. There is no penetration at all. Some of the worst adhesive for wood model airplane building I ever saw, next to that horrible Testor's wood glue that came in a dark green and white tube. That stuff truly sucked.

I've never used anything but the old Testor's for plastic or the Tenax. Really, after using the Tenax, why would I want to use anything else? It works fantastically (for plastic model building). For any gaps, I would use a filler compound. Squadron makes a couple of decent compounds, but you may want to thin them a bit, depending on ones need.

Allen

[ScaleNut]

MSDS says it's methylene chloride. :confused:

sorry I may have got it swapped with pro-weld..
one is methylene chloride the other is butyl acitate.

[ghrocketman]

Tenax may have changed it's formulation to be california compliant.
The old stock that I have most certainly is Perchloroethane (Tetrachloroethylene).
If the new stuff is methylene chloride, I won't be using it. That stuff is flat out nasty...I get a rash if even close to that chemical.
Butyl Acetate I can handle but not MeCl.
I bet good old fashioned Carbon Tetrachloride would make a good styrene cement.

For gaps when using Tenax, I follow the method suggested by tbzep. Just feed in some thin plastruct rod into the joint like a welding rod and let the tenax dissolve it.

[gpoehlein]

Just picked up a bottle of the new Tenax today - I used it to glue my helichopper nose cone to the hub (sawed off a PNC-50KA blow-molded nose cone and built the hub from .020 sheet styrene, so it's just styrene to styrene, but it ate into the styrene just like the old stuff did. When it's dry, I'll see how strong the joint is, but so far I'm happy! :D