Will standard stationary glue work (Elmer's, Kokuyo, or similar), or does something stronger need to be use? Additionally, I also need to glue in magnets into my 3D prints. What is the best kind of glue for this use case, or will any do fine?

They will only be used for a few prints, so I would like to avoid very large containers. Small bottles and syringes are ideal

edit: I will probably go with cyanoacrylate (CA) glue then. 3D Gloop has also been recommended, but is not sold by any local retailers and international shipping will take too long for the project I need to use it for. Could be a neat option for some people though. Thanks, everyone!

Somebody has also suggested acrylic/plastic cement for chemically joining plastic parts together, but in my experience with laser cut acrylic, it's difficult to apply and can also affect the appearance of the print if you mess up. It also has a very short time window between application and fusing. I'm sure it works fine, and it will probably hold up better due to the plastics being chemically fused, but I will go with CA glue.

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[–] 22 points 5 months ago (10 children)

Cyanoacrylate, aka CA glue or superglue, is the best adhesive for PLA. After applying the glue, fixture or clamp together the parts you are planning to adhere and then leave them alone while the glue cures.

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago (9 children)

    You can buy CA accelerant which dramatically reduces the curing time of super glue.

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago (6 children)

    You can also mix in baking soda to drastically increase the strength of the bond

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    Woah, do you know why this works?

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago

    CA glue (aka super glue) works extremely well with PLA. I wouldn't recommend any special 3d print specific glue because it will probably be the same thing but with a higher price.

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  • [–] 9 points 5 months ago

    Super glue is fine. You don't need to waste money on expensive glues.

    It's so good that recovering magnets from prints I've made takes a lot of work because the super glue holds them to pla really well.

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  • Regular superglue for placing magnets, I like 3DGloop for sticking prints together

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago
    [–] 4 points 5 months ago* (4 children)

    Sci-Grip 16 for bonding PLA together. Sand the side of the magnet you are gluing in and use Cyano Acrylate (super glue).

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    I don't know sci-grip, does it leave white marks like super glue?

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago* (2 children)

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/edited-volume/9780815515814/handbook-of-plastics-joining pirate this and read chapter 17 it's really valuable

    I actually prefer other kinds of fastening for pla. Magnets can be melted into undersized holes via a soldering iron (just avoid cooking too hot, keep it around 100 degrees).

    Push fits and friction welds work well in certain applications.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (1 child)

    Friction welds sound pretty interesting. I'm guessig only on round joints?

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    If you have a vibratory tool you can join whatever since PLA melts so low but round shit you can put in a chuck will weld with a drill. They do wear down a bit though, so you need some extra material and you stop when it's in the right place.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    I use the starbond brand 'super fast thin high performance super glue' and it works really well, but damn, you really don't want to get that on your fingers, it's a pain to remove.

    I haven't used it on big prints, but for small models, tabletop terrain, and fixing miniatures it's been great.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    I know this isn't strictly an answer to your question, but maybe something to consider:

    I have a hot-air soldering station with different nozzle sizes, one of which is very small. It can be precisely controlled up to 480°C, and it's awesome to weld PLA or PETG together. I stopped using glue alltogether.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (3 children)

    I've been told that methyl ethyl ketone is a good solvent for PLA (similar to acetone and ABS).

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    MEK can be a great solvent, but also rather toxic. Not something you want to be working with without gloves and ventilation. Guy on a paint crew I worked with called it "methyl ethyl killya".

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  • [–] -4 points 5 months ago (15 children)

    Acetone dissolves PLA. You can use it for chemical polishing but also for assembling parts.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Since when does acetone dissolve PLA? For PLA one should use ethyl acetate or chloroform

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (11 children)

    You're thinking of ABS/ASA, acetone does not dissolve PLA.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    Thanks to this discussion I was tempted to try: I can't say if you can fully dissolve PLA in acetone, but you can definitely use acetone to glue PLA pieces together. Actually sticks very well. I'm amazed. Not sure if works for all PLA filaments though ?

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  • [–] 0 points 5 months ago (9 children)

    I used acetone to chemically-polish a PLA part this very afternoon. But if you say so 🙂

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago* (8 children)

    You might get some minor surface reaction, but you're sure as hell not able to dissolve PLA in acetone. Leaving a part printed of PLA in acetone will not turn it in to goo like it does with ABS/ASA.

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  • [–] -2 points 5 months ago (7 children)

    you’re sure as hell not able to dissolve PLA in acetone

    Why don't you try it before saying that?

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (5 children)

    I set this up a good 25min ago, let's see what happens. It's polymaker polyterra PLA, 3 walls, 15% gyroid infill and some fuzzy skin with default parameters from orca slicer.

    So far all I have is very slight color leeching out, but nothing has dissolved so far. I'll let it run for a few days and keep you updated.

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  • [–] 0 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    This is Prusament PLA dissolving in acetone in seconds:

    Prusament PLA dissolving in acetone in seconds

    I'll come back to it in 30 minutes and it'll be a messy soggy half-dissolved thing. And it'll be fully gone within the hour.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago* (3 children)

    Interesting if that happens, but that seems to be caused by additives used by prusa in their filaments then, because from a chemical standpoint the crystalline structure of PLA is simply not dissolvable by acetone. It can cause swelling and delamination of layers, but not actually dissolve it (without additives that mess with the polymer chains)

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago* (2 children)

    Melty melty...

    Prusament PLA dissolving in acetone - 30 minutes later

    caused by additives used by prusa in their filaments

    I'll drop Ultrafuse PLA PRO1 in the jar when this one is gone. It does the same thing

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I'm not actually seeing it dissolving at all though. It's softening, sure, but it's not dissolving like ABS does.

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