glue with no cracks ?

[angal]

help me please i need to glue the edge of my 4mm cut out shape to the side of a different part but when glue is on the side of the cut edge it has lots of little cracks come up and looks crap please help just need to glue a simple box together

[Mike]

what glue are you using?

Dave once recommended using Methylene Chloride, Dichloromethane for glueing acrylic. I dont know if that causes cracking

[Spooky]

Hiya Angal,

Mikes quite right, PK1 (Methylene Chloride + Acetic Acid) for extruded acrylic and for cast acrylic use Dichloromethane, Brand Names are PK1,Extrufix among others. You can save a LOT of money by buying the raw chemicals rather than brand names (PK1 is £20 for 500ml, DCM in raw form is £7 a litre)

Both are pretty nasty chemicals and have some evil long term exposure effects (Ensure you get the MSDS for it before use)
The cracking you refer to is caused by stresses in the material (I'd guess it's probably extruded as that is far more prone to it) being part relieved by the laser beam.The minute you put a solvent on it the cracks can vent and release hence the "shattered" edge look.

hope that helps

best wishes

Dave