Plastruct Tubing & Elbows - Is there a trick to this?

[G3750]

I don't know about you, but I'm having massive problems making Plastruct tubing and elbows fit together to show a nice appearance. Components of the same size (supposedly) have badly sized plugs and connection points. They don't take CA very well and I'm fairly unhappy with the way they end up looking.

Am I missing something? Any suggestions as to how to get them to fit together better? I'm looking for some help here.

Thanks,

George

[Chris Rock]

I wouldn't think Plastruct would work with CA. I'd think you'd want to use Plastic Weld.

[G3750]

I wouldn't think Plastruct would work with CA. I'd think you'd want to use Plastic Weld.

Hmm. Well, there is a lot of my structures built with medium CA. But I could try the Plastic Weld on the tubing and see if it performs better.

Thank you.

George

[Chris Rock]

Me too, until I started building stuff out of Plastruct and Evergreen. Good luck.

[gregj410]

Are your cuts clean and tight? I don’t have much experience with plastruct however like bonding any mediums the more surface coverage you get with adhesives the better. Maybe priming the cuts with alcohol or lacquer thinner.

[jlong]

NWSL Chopper and True Sander work well for me when cutting and end prepping shapes.

[G3750]

OK, I think I solved my problem.

Here's what I've discovered:

• These elbows and other fittings are appropriate for the Butyrate tubing, not Fineline styrene tubing. It's a subtle difference and explains my difficulty. And the styrene tubing doesn't have fittings for it (at least not that I've discovered in my older print catalog).
• To fix my problem, I can use a piece of 3/16" styrene tubing inside the 1/4" styrene tubing. The nipple for the elbow will fit inside it and make for a more snug connection.
• Plastic Weld helps

George