How to Adhere silicone to Plastic or Lexan??? FLUKE QUESTION

[Trident True]

I am very curious about this as im making my own monofin.

for others that have made their own monofin, how did you adhere the two halves to the monofin?

as i know silicone won't stick to plastics.

does anyone have any ideas


its got me stumped.

[Elle]

Where is pealiemae when you need her. She made her own monofin. I'm still trying to work out how I'm going to get mine to stick to my hydra because of the rubber that goes down the sides.

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

What I did was make a sleeve of power mesh that fit over the monofin. I glued it to the monofin in several places so it couldn't shift around, then stuck the two halves of the fluke on, with the silicone soaking into the mesh. It has worked really well!


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[Trident True]

what glue did you use to adhere the power mesh to the monofin?

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

Just super glue. It stuck really really well, and the fluke is glued down very solidly with silicone. I left drainage channels too, they work very well

[PearlieMae]

EDITED TO CHANGE BAD INFORMATION!!!
DO NOT USE POLYZAP ON POLYCARBONATE THAT NEEDS TO STAY FLEXIBLE, LIKE A MONOFIN

PolyZap changes the structure of polycarbonate (Lexan, Makrolon, etc.) and make it brittle CAUSING THE POLYCARBONATE TO BREAK!

NO > Use PolyZap glue on polycarbonate. <

Draw thin lines of glue on the Lexan, lay the powermesh on top. The glue will stick to the powermesh and the silicone will stick to the powermesh in the areas that aren't glued. Don't forget to leave channels for drainage (I wouldn't leave exposed powermesh in the channels, it'll hold water and mold will grow on it inside the fluke).

[malinghi]

Kate and PearlieMae, that's so clever! I assumed it was impossible to bond silicone to polycarbonate!

When you say to create drainage channels, how do you do that?

[PearlieMae]

I just leave a few long, vertical areas unglued, myself. The pressure of the water will eventually lift the silicone off the smooth surface of the Lexan and I don't seal the fluke halves at the bottom of the unglued areas.

After that, the water just goes through from the foot area through the channels and out through the bottom. Does that make sense?

[malinghi]

Yeah, that totally makes sense. Thanks!

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

Yep, I pretty much did the same, I put straws in to hold them open too. Couldn't get them all out, so some are still in there, but you can't really see them :p


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[Lily]

This is the next step for me in building my tail. I can't seem to find PolyZap locally - would Loctite (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-1-fl-oz-Vinyl-Fabric-and-Plastic-Adhesive-1360694/202487188) work? I'm using a Competitor, which is fiberglass.

Edit: Or perhaps this one? http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/cntct_silicone/overview/Loctite-Clear-Silicone-Waterproof-Sealant.htm I assume if it can be used in aquariums, it's waterproof...

[PearlieMae]

Www.thistothat.com can answer a lot of adhesive questions. Polyzap is for polycarbonate, but it doesn't stick to silicone. I don't know if it sticks to fiberglass.

Look up "lace method" here, it describes one way to attach flukes to fins. Good luck!

EDITED TO UPDATE BAD INFO:
DO NOT USE POLYZAP ON POLYCARBONATE THAT NEEDS TO STAY FLEXIBLE, LIKE A MONOFIN!

Polyzap IS for polycarbonate, but meant for pieces that are supposed to stay static, not flexible. If you had a polycarbonate box that was broken, you could use Polyzap, but for a monofin, it will become brittle and break.

[Dancing Fish]

AAAK! Well, hell...is there another glue that sticks to Lexan? Poly Zap is the only glue I ever heard of that works!

[PearlieMae]

I'm looking into flexible marine epoxy, but haven't tried it yet. After that, I don't know what else to try!

[Dancing Fish]

Is it really essential to have the fin fully adhered? With the drainage holes shouldn't the water keep it mostly in place with even a weaker adhesive?

[PearlieMae]

Well, my personal fluke isn't adhered at all, lots of drainage channels and openings at the bottom the keep the fluke halves together but enough openings to drain fast, but not expose the fin inside.

Ashton said something interesting about sticking the fuzzy side of Velcro to the polycarbonate and letting the silicone adhere to the fuzzy top.

I'm not convinced the sticky back Velcro is strong enough to permanently stick to the polycarbonate, but I'd like to test the concept.

[LouLouBelle]

That's a great idea with the Velcro. The industrial strength stuff might adhere to the fin, but it tends to feel smooth and plastic-y so I'm not sure if it would adhere to the silicone... Depending on exactly where it was, would it be possible to punch a few needle holes in the fin and sew the Velcro to it with fishing line or the like?


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[Dancing Fish]

Ooh! Now that is rather brilliant. You wouldn't need that many and they could be really itty bitty. It might weaken the lexan to drill too many. But my lexan already has holes for straps and others drill holes for bolts, so....

[merwandering]

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!:( I saw this just now and...I had read in multiple places that polyzap was the way to go- that's how I attached a sleeve around my monofin. How bad is it? Bad enough that I should take apart my fluke and cut a new monofin?

[PearlieMae]

That's a great idea with the Velcro. The industrial strength stuff might adhere to the fin, but it tends to feel smooth and plastic-y so I'm not sure if it would adhere to the silicone... Depending on exactly where it was, would it be possible to punch a few needle holes in the fin and sew the Velcro to it with fishing line or the like?


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No! You just use the one side of the Velcro! The sticky back sticks to the Lexan, the silicone seeps into the fuzzy side! You don't use the hook side of the Velcro at all! The industrial strength Velcro doesn't have the necessary fuzzy part!

Also: Don't cut out your fin until it fails. The PolyZap might not have much of an effect on a sleeve around your fin. I had attached a footplate of Lexan to the fin Lexan and it became brittle and broke, but I was also covering a very large area.

[LouLouBelle]

No! You just use the one side of the Velcro! The sticky back sticks to the Lexan, the silicone seeps into the fuzzy side! You don't use the hook side of the Velcro at all! The industrial strength Velcro doesn't have the necessary fuzzy part!

.

I know! What I meant was the adhesive back on the industrial loop side might be strong enough to adhere to the monofin, but because it's smooth and plastic-y rather than fuzzy, I doubt the silicone would seep in and adhere.

The adhesive back on the standard stuff doesn't stick very well at all (we use it at work for certain straps on polypropylene leg splints, and it always peels off in the end - I've seen some parents use superglue to stick it back down!) So... Would punching a few needle size holes in the monofin allow you to effectively sew the Velcro on instead?

I hope that's a bit clearer... I'm not always the greatest at explaining things, although my posts always make sense to me! [emoji23]


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[PearlieMae]

I don't really know, it's theory for me at this point. That's why I want to test the flexible marine epoxy for the sticky back of the velcro. :D