If i said i wanted to weld Aluminium to Steel i would get a few replys saying that by the time i had lavaflow on the steel
the alloy would be evaporated into smoke,just grab a drill and use screws or pop rivet them, the more savvy pointing out i
may wish to isloate the metals due to electrolosis with an insulating washer or compound.
Plastics are no different however most bonding is done by chemical means rather than heat, to create a fused join.
Some basics to help make it easier to understand are to learn the word polymer ( think of an atom type structure)
A process like GRP [Glass Reinforced Plastic]( Fibreglass=resin & mat) means that the resin, when hardener is added, allows these
"long chain"polymers to cross link, think of a line of fellas who all have their arms firmly wrapped around each others elbows so
they are all tightly & strongly bunched. Old resin will not allow this chemical process so the new polymers just sit on top of the old
without forming a strong or any cross linking chains, remember that repair that always just lifts off after a day or a week! To solve this
issue we have to make a "mechanical bond". So by roughing up the area with say 40 grit or a rasp the work area now has a lot of surface
area & the glue & mat will be firmly in place with all that contact, however this repair can still lift over time or from impact.
When we start mixing the type of plastics in a project it is no different to mixing metals where sometimes we can use fasteners or
solder or weld things, all we need to know is what is what. In the case of plastics or glues the buzz words are, and in the old
days we would just grab the encyclopedia or dictionary to find out about a new word-phrase, now we have google/bing etc,so finding
out the meaning of things like Thermoset & Thermosetting plastics is a breeze. Nothing worse than a Grandkid explaining stuff to us
as when i was growing up my Grandpa would always amaze me with knowlege= respect,almost 3 decades ago i fell in the trap of empowering
my kids with the programming of the VCR to record stuff i soon wised up so nowadays apart from gaming, that i have no interest in,
my Grandson listens to anything about computers tech etc as i have never wanted kids to tell me how to suck eggs or be glib telling the
old fossil about "new fangled stuff"
He will however check facts with his Dad to try & trip me up & keep it straight though!
