Bee model with damages
Right in time for World Bee Day, our application engineer Mike helped a wounded bee – even if made of plastic – literally to get back on her feet.
More precisely, he repaired a damaged bee model. With the help of such a model, we can learn a lot about the anatomy of the most important workforce in agriculture. The fact that the bee mortality rate worldwide is a real danger to humans and the environment has been an open secret for years. In order to fully understand the huge importance of this small insect and thus to be able to protect it, we need to be aware of how bees “work“ and why they are so important to our ecosystem.
But now let’s take a look at Mike’s application: It all started with a company for beekeeping equipment, which also distributes those plastic bee models and ships them regularly, getting in touch with us. Unfortunately, during transport parts of the models sometimes break, in particluar the delicate legs and the plug connection between legs and body. So the bee expert asked for a WEICON adhesive he can use for repair works in the future. He also provided us with a broken model for test purposes.
Two adhesives are the first choice
Thanks to many years of experience with our adhesives, Mike was quick to find out which products were suited best for the repair of the model:
For the clean breaks with very thin fissures, Mike chose our Contact VA 8406 Cyanoacrylate Adhesive. This adhesive is especially suitable for plastic and rubber. Thanks to its low viscosity, it is a good choice for small bonding gaps like the one in our example.
Due to its very fast curing, Mike needed to be quick after applying the adhesive. He instantly joined the two pieces by applying gentle pressure. After a brief moment, the legs were whole again.
Important note: Before applying the VA 8406, Mike pretreated the breakages with our CA-Primer for Polyolefines. That way, the surface structure changes so that even plastics difficult to bond can be joined together.
For the larger bonding gaps between the legs and body, Mike used our Epoxy Minute Adhesive. This also cures fast, but is more viscous and thus suited better for bridging larger gaps. Mike thoroughly blended the adhesive contained in the double cartridge, before applying it quickly and then bonding the two adherends. After five minutes, the Minute Adhesive had cured and the bee model was as good as new.
Written by Annabelle Kreft
