How to bond Teflon to Teflon?

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dullard

dullard

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May 21, 2001
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As we all know, Teflon is resistant to most chemical reactions - and thus just about anything will slide right off of it. But Teflon will bind to itself (that is how the non-stick coatings stick to the pan). I have two chunks of Teflon and need to bond them. Does anyone know how to do that?
 
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mryellow2

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Dec 2, 2000
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AFAIK it's a combination of high heat and special paste/chem that is a highly guarded secret.
 
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manly

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Jan 25, 2000
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Ummm no, some type of adhesive is used to adhere teflon to the metal pan.
 
dullard

dullard

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Originally posted by: zzzz
use uv light.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've done the google search and that comes up. But the article says UV light alters Teflon so that it can be later bonded (but neglects what to use to glue them together).

 
dullard

dullard

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May 21, 2001
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Originally posted by: manly
Ummm no, some type of adhesive is used to adhere teflon to the metal pan.
Click to expand...
"To move beyond mere mechanics, the frying-pan engineers added a sticky molecule to the non-stick molecule. Non-stick was now applied in coats, with the bottom coat containing the sticky additive that held to both the metal pan and the non-stick molecules. A coat of non-sticky non-stick went over that, non-stick and non-stick clinging together lovingly. A final non-stick layer, spiked with teensy bits of ceramic or other tougheners, protected the softer guts."
Link

Basically that adhesive you mention is Teflon which has been chemically modified so that portions are sticky. Then more Teflon sticks to the Teflon in the adhesive.
 
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zzzz

Diamond Member
Sep 1, 2000
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go to mcmaster.com. They have some "teflon bonding adhesives and kits"
 
dullard

dullard

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May 21, 2001
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Originally posted by: zzzz
go to mcmaster.com. They have some "teflon bonding adhesives and kits"
Click to expand...
Thank you very much, zzzz. I specifically looked through a McMaster-Carr catalog for something like this (it was my first place to look since McMaster is such a great company). But I didn't see it. It must be a very new product since it isn't in their catalog #107 (dated 2001). That epoxy looks like exactly what I want. In fact it is better than what I had asked for above - since my ideal goal is to bond it to wood, which this product can do. The $43 + $180 + shipping price tag is quite steep though. Oh well, you always have to pay through the teeth for products that do just what you want them to do.
 
dullard

dullard

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May 21, 2001
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Originally posted by: dman
OK, I'll bite, whatcha working on?
Click to expand...
I've discussed it in other threads, but I don't mind saying it again. It is a PCR machine. PCR (stands for polymerase chain reaction) is probably the most commonly run test in biology - used in labs, research, medical diagnosis, etc. Typical commercial machines can do PCR in 1-3 hours (with 10 minutes being the extreme rarely usable case). My machine can do it in 5 minutes (under 1 minute in an extreme rarely usable case).

Suppose you go to your doctor with some symptoms of a disease. The doctor takes a sample and sends it off to the lab. The lab has a backload of PCR reactions to run and with each taking 1-3 hours, you get your answer from the doctor in a couple of days. Our final goal is to have this machine in the hospital or the doctors office so you know the answer quickly. Think about the possibilities with diseases that can kill within a day or two. Heck we even got a sample of anthrax DNA from USAMRIID and could detect it in 2-3 minutes. Great for military use as well.

How does this relate to Teflon? Well we work with high temperature gas. The better insulation we find, the better the performance. Stragely wood is one of the best insulating materials we can get - but it is porous. There are specialty plastics that would be better but those costs $1000+ for a small piece, where wood costs pennies. We are broke so wood is the answer for now. But to solve the porous question, I machined a Teflon liner out of material we had (ie free material). If I could bind the teflon to itself it would form a seal, but even better would be to also bind the Teflon to the wood.

But of course this is just a temporary solution for research (otherwise I wouldn't tell any details). We will eventually have the money for specialty polymers....
 
B

BG4533

Golden Member
Oct 15, 2001
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Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: dman
OK, I'll bite, whatcha working on?
Click to expand...
I've discussed it in other threads, but I don't mind saying it again. It is a PCR machine. PCR (stands for polymerase chain reaction) is probably the most commonly run test in biology - used in labs, research, medical diagnosis, etc. Typical commercial machines can do PCR in 1-3 hours (with 10 minutes being the extreme rarely usable case). My machine can do it in 5 minutes (under 1 minute in an extreme rarely usable case).

Suppose you go to your doctor with some symptoms of a disease. The doctor takes a sample and sends it off to the lab. The lab has a backload of PCR reactions to run and with each taking 1-3 hours, you get your answer from the doctor in a couple of days. Our final goal is to have this machine in the hospital or the doctors office so you know the answer quickly. Think about the possibilities with diseases that can kill within a day or two. Heck we even got a sample of anthrax DNA from USAMRIID and could detect it in 2-3 minutes. Great for military use as well.

How does this relate to Teflon? Well we work with high temperature gas. The better insulation we find, the better the performance. Stragely wood is one of the best insulating materials we can get - but it is porous. There are specialty plastics that would be better but those costs $1000+ for a small piece, where wood costs pennies. We are broke so wood is the answer for now. But to solve the porous question, I machined a Teflon liner out of material we had (ie free material). If I could bind the teflon to itself it would form a seal, but even better would be to also bind the Teflon to the wood.

But of course this is just a temporary solution for research (otherwise I wouldn't tell any details). We will eventually have the money for specialty polymers....
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. Hopefully it works out as you plan.

 
O

ols1

Junior Member
Aug 12, 2003
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0
Originally posted by: dullard
As we all know, Teflon is resistant to most chemical reactions - and thus just about anything will slide right off of it. But Teflon will bind to itself (that is how the non-stick coatings stick to the pan). I have two chunks of Teflon and need to bond them. Does anyone know how to do that?
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, the way things are bonded to Teflon is by etching (roughing up the surface) of Teflon on the side being bonded. You can etch mechanically (similar to sandpaper) or with chemicals (like sodium napthylate). Mostly these bond are done industrially because they are hard to do.

If it's thin Teflon (.002"-.010" thick), you can bond it 2 possible ways: 1) If you heat it up to about 710 deg F, it will bond. You don't want to do that for very long (about 2 min dwell time). It's tricky. Branding irons are avail on internet via Packaging Sites or 2) Take a piece of low-melt FEP (a form of Teflon), heat it to approx 400-500deg F and it becomes a bonding agent. Again, use branding iron & accessories.


You could try double-sided adhesive but it won't hold very well or very long. 3M has an 800 Help Line (Call 800-555-1212 for 3M's #). They might have a liquid adhesive for this use.
Hope that helps. SObrien42



 
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