Bonding (gluing) with cling film (food wrap). IT WORKS!

[Daian1960]

great idea the warning re laser printers MAY be unneccesary (try your own experiment) as laminating machines do not re-melt the inks.

The use of weight to describe various gauges of paper, probably goes back to the earliest days of printing. until relatively recently (1800s) it was impossible to reliably measure thickness.
Our ingenious antecedents therefore described the thickness by virtue of its weight per unit area as both could be measured with relative ease. Two sheets of 65lb paper are indeed 130lb.
In Europe us metricated continentals (thanks Napoleon) describe paper thickness as xx gramme/sq metre. The american system appears to have abreviated the reference to area.

[Necroscope]

Originally Posted by Daian1960

great idea the warning re laser printers MAY be unneccesary (try your own experiment) as laminating machines do not re-melt the inks.

In my case toner from scrap-paper was melt and stick to detail.
Toner melting point is around 160-180 C, so iron set to *** will melts it.

[Leif Ohlsson]

Denis, what a joy to meet like this! Thank you again for identifying the technique from something you read in an almost totally unrelated context. That's what real ingenuity is about - taking something from one context and applying it in another.

Warm regards, Leif

PS. There are no polar bears walking in the streets of Goteborg either...

[Leif Ohlsson]

Daian & Denis, the discussion about toner melting and laminating machines suggests something else to me. Here it comes:

• Would it be possible to use a so called laminating machine, not to laminate plastic to the surface of paper, but to laminate two sheets of paper with plastic (or cling wrap) between the sheets, acting as glue?

Do you see the implications here? Just place cling wrap between two sheets, or two smaller pieces of paper, run it through the laminating machine, and, hey presto, you've got yourself a laminated part ready to cut out!

I owned such a machine once, picked up at a jumble sale for a pittance, but never used it (didn't make the connection that Denis made) and gave it to some Oxfam place or similar. I now regret that!

Could someone who owns such a machine (they are cheap) try out the method? Please make a comparative test, one layer of cling wrap compared to a double layer, etc. How many layers of cling wrap will provide the ideal amount of glue for various kinds of lamination (thin paper, thick paper, paper to card, etc)?

A common iron will do me just fine for the moment, but this seems even more elegant. If someone reports it will work, I am going to be on the look-out for a new such machine.

Leif

[Tex]

Howdy again, y'all!
Thanks for the extra explanation; bless my heart, sometimes I really don't know my butt from a hole in the ground ... I reckon I'm beginning to understand it now, though. It's more like the most even hot glue the (modeling) world has ever seen, right?
- Tex

[talls6]

Denis - Thank you for this technique. I am going to try this soon.
Leif - As Always, thank you for your detailed reports

I was having issues getting a consistant laminate that didn't have big glue blobs in the middle, but that was probably more because of my inexperiance. This looks like it could help me.

[maurice]

Thank's Necro, an interesting substitute for laminating former patterns to card for when I've finally exhausted my ancient stockpile of photo mounting film.

[RickTNRebel]

This is the reason I love the folks at this forum. You don't run out to the hobby store and buy some over-priced gadget or product to solve a problem. I think this limits a modeler's imagination to what's on the shelves at the hobby shop. You guys experiment, you innovate and frugality is always a part of your problem solving process. Sure, we could go to a wood veneering supplier and buy sheets of heat activated adhesives at a dear price. One roll of kitchen plastic wrap would be a lifetime supply of laminating adhesive for a paper modeler! Thanks Denis, you've saved my lungs from the damaging effects of spray adhesives! To add to what denis has discovered, here's something I picked up at a "make your own Iron-on T-shirt transfers" website: Get yourself a roll of "freezer paper". On the plastic coated side, use a paint roller and cover it with any plastic resin glue (good old Elmer's is fine) and let it dry. You now have your own sheets of heat activated adhesive. Iron it on to one surface, remove the backing and lay the second surface on the adhesive and iron again. This will activate at a lower temperature and bond line thickness can be adjusted by how much glue, or how many coats, you roll on to your backing. If your glue "beads up" on the freezer paper, add a few drops of glycerin or dishwashing liquid to your glue to break the surface tension.

[John Wagenseil]

@Necroscope

Great Idea and Posts. Your explanations are very clear.
Another source of a low temp heat activated adhesive is at fabric and sewing stores (and for US memebers stores like Micheals and JoAnn).
I have been going to these for a long time as a source for modelling supplies.
I had been walking past the displays of sheets and rolls of iron-on fabric adhesives on my way to get a can of spray on glue, and it never occurred to me to try to use the iron-on glues to laminate two sheets of paper (which is not much different than sticking two large sheets of cloth together).
I think plastic wrap would add more strength and tear resitance to laminated paper than the fabric glues, but it would still be worthwhile experimenting with some of these as well.

[amoebaboy]

this is quite a thing.
All great scientific discoveries that benefit mankind are named after their discoverers.

i propose this revolutionary method of sticking stuff together be named

"THE NECROSCOPE METHOD "

With a link back to this thread every time it is used in a build .

ED.