On Fri, 12 Mar 1999 SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com wrote: [sssnipp] ABS can be welded... try using one of the small forced-air heat guns designed for heat-shrink, or a metal tube from a larger heat gun will work. It has to be *hot*, 350 - 500 deg F, and it helps if you have a small strip of the same material to use as a 'welding rod', ie. to fill in the joint as you go. I have done a lot of ABS and Delrin welding... commercial welding outfits are made (air torches) for the purpose. In some locales they can be rented. Also... many of the larger plastics companies will have them... and can often do the job for cheap bucks. Cheerz John

SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com wrote: Not true. I don't recall the method for gluing PTFE, but hot air welding will work with Polyethelyne (sp). I should say that hot air won't work as it will oxidize the plastic, but using an inert gas in the process works well. Air can be used though to weld polypro although IIRC a better joint is made if an inert gas is used rather than air. With teflon circuit boards, I used to use Tetraetch to etch the surface and give it enough bite so that the copper in the plated-thru-holes would have reasonable adhesion. I think a similar process was used for bonding PTFE together but I don't recall anything more about the process. I have heard that hot air welding also works with ABS although I have not done any welding on ABS.