Glue

Scaletail

Hello,
I have a shower door, with a handle broken off. Plastic on plastic.
I repaired it a year ago using uhu glue.
It recently broke off again. A year isn't bad, but I thought I'd try something with a serious bonding action.
No more nails sounded pretty good, so I gave it a try. Left it for 24 hours, during which the bathroom was not used, certainly no showering, so it was dry in there.
Result, a pathetic performance. Came straight off in my hand. No more nails seems to have the adhesive properties of cream  cheese.
I have tried gorilla glue, evostick, unibond, nothing works. They all stay as soft as warm  marsh mallow.
I'd have thought modern technology would have created a half way decent glue.
Super glue is too brittle.
Before I resort to uhu again, does anyone have glue recommendation? I'm out of patience.
Hot glue is not an option, too expensive and a faff.

timbo46

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bond-Strong-Adhesive-Filler-Powder/dp/B06WW4DQG8/ref=pd_sbs_60_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06WW4DQG8&pd_rd_r=0bfb0e0a-28a8-11e9-9276-6799c164a91a&pd_rd_w=Mw0e2&pd_rd_wg=guLDZ&pf_rd_p=18edf98b-139a-41ee-bb40-d725dd59d1d3&pf_rd_r=19KVZV8NJ962JD3N05FX&psc=1&refRID=19KVZV8NJ962JD3N05FX
Try this stuff.

Scaletail

No one Star reviews. It just may work.

nheather

Is it possible to pin it?

By which I mean to drill matching holes in each part and insert metal pins (nails with heads cut off for example) as well as gluing.  I suspect that doing this is the only way you will get a lasting repair.

Cheers,

Nigel

xxGBHxx

A good two part epoxy should do it. I like Araldite as I've used it for 30  years but theres loads in the marketplace.

As a pure guess you might be squeezing all the glue out of the joint if you're clamping things together as plastic is completely non-porous. Means you'll get a wafer thin layer which is not going to be very strong. Try using an ever so slightly larger block of wood to space the handle 1/2mm away so you get a good layer of glue bonding the two surfaces together.

Alternatively perhaps change the handle to something you can mechanically fix. Mechanical fixing in those situations is ALWAYS superior and the only real way you're going to guarantee it's not going to fall off again.

G

nheather

It really depends on how much day to day force is exerted on the join - I’m assuming a reasonable abount as it is a handle.  Also depends on what type of plastic.

If polystyrene based then polystyrene glue would be very good because that slightly melts the mating plastic and forms a weld (like with airfix kits).

Unlikey it is polystyrene based though so that type of glue would be useless.

CA (superglue) works by getting into all the microscopic ridges in the surface.  But smooth materials like metal, plastic and glass have less of these so the bond is not always effective.  But even if you do get a good bond, as the OP says, CA is brittle.

Epoxy glue also works by grabbing onto the microscopic ridges but the bond is flexible so stands up to regular firces better than CA.

So using glue alone, epoxy is the best choice. You can improve the bond by roughening the mating surfaces to give it more to grip onto - for example putting in lots of criss-crossed score marks with a modelling or stanley knife.

But I’m afraid even if you do that, a repaired plastic handle that is regularly used will fail soon, maybe days, weeks, months but it won’t be a permanent repair.

If you want it to last longer then you need to consider additional support like adding pins or the equivalent of woodworking biscuits.

The best answer, if at all possible, is to see if you can get a replacement part from the manufacturer.

Cheers,

Nigel