However, if gluing is the only suitable option, use the following steps and recommendations and do a little testing of your own. Mechanical or Coalescence are the strongest options for polymer since glues all have issues and shortcomings with polymer. So when determining what to use, consider what would be your strongest option. Think of welding or the making of glass beads. In the case of polymer, this occurs when we press raw polymer together and then have it meld in the curing process. This is the actual melding of materials together using heat. However, you can try using a polymer compatible sealant (water-based Varathane or the polymer manufacturer's sealants for instance) on cured polymer to help with adhesion. It seems that the problem with cured polymer is that it's slightly porous-not enough that this helps adhesives grab onto it-and it's not slick and sealed enough to cause suction. A complete seal between materials works like a suction cup and is very strong. It seems to come down to whether the adhesive has a rough enough surface to grip or, alternately, can get a good seal on the materials being glued. There does not seem to be a viable chemical reactive adhesive but solvent based glues can work well with polymer. Others use a solvent to keep molecules that would normally bond together on their own from bonding until they are needed but the chemical reaction is in the adhesive substance itself not between the items to be bonded and the adhesive. Some substances can cause a chemical reaction with other materials in such a way as to meld the materials together on a chemical level. It is not, however, always practical or possible to use this method. It can easily be one of the strongest options for polymer since metal items or the clay itself are the usual options. This bond is as strong as the material that is holding things in place. It includes things like the prongs on a gem setting, polymer pushed up around the edge of a crystal and then cured, screws and nails, and wire wrapping. This method involves situating materials around an object to hold it in place. There are three primary methods of bonding: In order to choose the best adhesive for the job, you will want to start thinking in terms of what method of adhesion will work best for the situation first. The good news, however, is that we can highly recommend a few so you don't have to test dozens but can start with a few that sound promising for you. We each will need to do some testing before putting our faith and our work into the hands of a particular adhesive. In other words, there is not going to be any single answer for what adhesive will be best for all of us. But other factors such as brands of polymer, the age of the polymer, the variations in other materials such as metal findings (some had sealants on them, some probably did not) and simply the way in which each person performed the tests even when strictly outlined also seemed to affect the outcome. This makes sense since moisture is what gets superglues to bond. Epoxies and thick tube glues seemed to have a harder time curing in high humidity but the opposite was true with cyanoacrylates (superglues). Humidity looked to be the primary factor in how well adhesives worked in different environments. We had staff in different parts of the country test some of the more promising adhesives to see if properties changed from place to place, and they sometimes did. Well, this is not quite that but it may come as close as one possibly can in the wacky world of adhesion. A truly definitive list would have the absolute right answer for every bonding issue we have. The subtitle here is a bit misleading I'm afraid.
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