*sigh*

Archives and Stickys guys... I've mentioned the use of MEK as a solvent glue MANY times... and the wonderfully useful Touch'n'Flow applicator (and my habit of snapping the glass tube!)

Staight MEK is cheap at a plastics shop (you can get a quart for the price of that 2oz bottle of Tenax!) and can be used for styrene, ABS, polycarbonate (lexan) and even as a debonder for all the former, and for superglue too! Heck, it can even soften epoxies like JBWeld...

And the Touch'n'Flow is a great tool. I always order two as I tend to bust at least one every 6 months to a year. And I've found the ~perfect~ pipette bulb for it... the drip chamber from an IV tubing set:



For those with medical supply access - its a 27 guage needle tube on the end of the glass pipette, held there with dental alginate (which WONT dissolve in MEK) so if you are going to use an applicator bottle, make sure its got a 27 ga tube, otherwise the solvent-glue will run out too fast! I know from considerable experince and testing... (and trying to do things on the cheap!)

Now if they'd only market a pipette bulb to go with them. I saved a supply of drip-bulbs a while back for this purpose, but no-one took me up on the offer. If I find 'em, I'll post and its first-come-first-serve. Oh, if you're careful, a small 1ml syringe might do, if you ream the Luer tip a bit to fit onto the pipette. Just don't overfill, the solvent will wreck the syringe-plunger!

And their method of filling? WATCH OUT - you flick it, and that solvent can splatter up and out.

WhiteWolf
veteran, but not expert by any means...

PS: oh, and clogs? A fine metal guitar string will fit through the 27 guage needle. I think its .079 in. Always handy, as sometimes the plastic can clog it, and its not always easy to get out.

PPS: OH BOTHER. I guess Deluxe Materials has topped the T'n'F, as it HAS a replacable tip. I ~may~ have to buy one just for comparison... (and because I have 27ga needles, and wouldn't have to worry about clogs!) Convenient, Great Hobbies supposedly carries it, they have a store locally now (Trainyards) and I am out there for St. Hubert's chicken... (*yum*)