Here’s something that may be of interest to all the reprappers, vacuum formers, and other plastic fabbers out there: ultrasonic welding of plastics. If you’ve ever wanted to join two pieces of plastic without melting them together with acetone or screwing them together, [circuitguru] is your guy.
Ultrasonic welder setups are usually reserved for companies that don’t mind spending tens of thousands of dollars on a piece equipment. There are smaller versions made for heat staking – melting plastic pillars into rivets on the work piece – and [circuitguru] was lucky enough a somewhat reasonable price.
Because the heat staking gun was a handheld unit, a rotary tool drill press was put to work. The end result is a relatively inexpensive way to join two plastic parts without screws, glue, or solvents. The bond is pretty strong, too. Check out the video after the break to see [circuitguru] join two pieces of a plastic enclosure and try to tear them apart.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=fc1tCWhGX4g&w=470]
Please proofread your articles!
Well that’s disapointing. I was hoping this was a hack or an actual DIY build. He just picked up a piece of industrial equipment cheap and put it to use.
@BitMage +1
Is this what Sandisk seals their flash drives with? I’ve taken to using a paper slicer or a hacksaw to open them now because I’m tired of getting shanked by plastic shards.
Most thumb drives are sealed with a glue, similar to super glue, but I wouldn’t doubt that they would do this to speed it up and make them last longer.
I’ve been wondering if the ultrasonic transducer from an ultrasonic humidifier could be put to exciting use like this. I suspect it can probably put out enough power to do a little ultrasonic welding, and you could probably build your own amp/signal generator if the setup for humidifying isn’t appropriate to welding.
For that matter there are probably some tweeters out there that could go high enough to weld or do other ultrasonic tasks
The ultrasonic welders I have seen are pretty big, the power supplies that drive the ultrasonic horn are about the size of an ultrasonic humidifier itself. So no, I don’t think it will work.
You might be able to start out with a used ultrasonic driver for a big US cleaner tank. I see those go for cheap.
Bad thing about ultrasonic welding is they can create a of noise when putting inserts in. Makes finger nails on a chalkboard sound pleasant.
Agree, all his DIY stuff listed is quite honestly pathetic, all he’s listed is stuff he’s bought. Why don’t you make your HD camera, that would be DIY.
I was also disappointed in this. This is just re-using something, not really DIY except for using a pre made drill press for a mount.
than post after creating diy computer and internet
I know ultrasonic cleaners can affect crystals on PCB boards… what are the “gotchas” that can arise when sealing electronics with ultrasonic welding?
Improper frequency and/or power settings can literally shake the metal legs completely off of surface mount chips.
please define … DIY … it just seams like he made a mount for a drill press for something already advertised as a plastic welder … also may i add these are far from cheap
it cant be THAT hard to make your own high frequency welder they have been around seance the 40s
He is being facetious.
XOIIO: Really? That went right over your head? *facepalm*
Well the (s) I replied to have disappeared so mine doesn’t have any context now, of course it doesn’t make sense.
Comment(S)
If you knew the people I did and have seen stuff like I’ve seen one you’d think it was some retarded person who thought it was DIY too.
I think the point is that low-cost sonic welding for plastics would be very useful for many DIY projects in general, so has a strong application in the DIY field in general.
I’d bet you could use an electric engraver if you swapped the pointed tip for something blunt…
Omg, I can’t believe it, HAD yanking comments? Yea, yank profanity, but yanking someone 2cents, hmmm… Gonna lose support
Soooo, he designed a mount?
This was rather disappointing. Might as well sum it up as ‘how to build an ultrasonic welder; Step 1 go buy an ultrasonic welder’
hey guys, check out my new submission, diy full color e-reader (i put a wrist strap on my nook)!
Look into the TIDE BUZZ stain remover pen. Unmodified I can weld styrene sheets easily and re seal bister paks. I have considered making a sonic screwdriver out of Buzz parts.
That is some bit of really interesting information! What thicknesses could you weld and what materials? I was looking for a solution to weld plastic foils for quite some time now and would buy the device (is it that one [0]?) right away if it was not for the heavy shipping and taxes to europe.
It would be great if you could provide more details so I can be sure not to waste 70$ on a useless device.
[0] http://amzn.com/B000228KJY
I just got a used Buzz, and it doesn’t seem to do anything to polypropylene. Is there any way to tell if it’s working or broken?
Check if the following is true:
* Does it make a buzzing noise?
* Does it start to glide easier over surfaces if you press the button?
* Does it feel weird and get hot if you touch the tip with your finger (actually do not do that, it can hurt a lot)?
* Does it turn water into mist if you touch the surface of some water with the tip?
Nope, nope, nope. It’s broken, DOA. Thanks.
I remember there was a sensor which only let you activate the ultrasonic module if the water pump is activated. Sometimes this sensor could corrode and then you can not activate the ultrasonic module at all. Because this annoyed me I opened the thing and short-circuited the sensor. Maybe you just open it and see what is going on. The electronics was not that complicated …
Ah-ha! Yes, it does need to have liquid in it. I even read the instructions, but don’t remember seeing that detail. Now it buzzes. It barely makes a mark in a thick piece of plastic, but a very thin heat-stake will indeed be squashed. Many thanks!!!
Awesome! Try different surfaces to work on (I remember metal working quite good) and use a ruler if you want to make strong and straight seams. What is you project btw?
My project is assembling circuit boards into cases. The gizmo makes a sound that helps autistic people learn better. http://noitresearch.org (there’s a picture on the “ordering for home use” page but I didn’t want to link straight to the commercial page.)
I did the injection molds for the cases, and the circuit board design… in fact the whole thing. The concept isn’t mine but the engineering is.
Thank you for your comment! It sounds like a beginning electronics project.
The project was a lot more DIY than the description given here.
http://circuitguru.com/117/diy-ultrasonic-welder-press-for-plastics/
He had to modify the drill press for better precision, add a spring-loaded slide for force control, fabricate a bracket, bring in parts from another piece of equipment…
So he didn’t build the ultrasonic generator, but he did build the hardware to provide control over the welding operation.
Hi,http://www.circuitguru.com/,this web can’t be opened. Could you Please introduce the circuit to me ?
He did a lot more than what’s described here. He modified the drill press three different ways, including fabricating parts. He had the welding head, but needed to build a pressure-clamp system for it to be useful.
http://circuitguru.com/117/diy-ultrasonic-welder-press-for-plastics/
Sonitek makes these: http://www.sonitek.com/ultrasonics/hand-held.html
well … if u want to try there is the ultrasonic cleaner made for jewelary and glasses i bout it used for 10 $ , it sold new in range 30 -50 $ , u can built the generator by urself cuz mine has a fixed frequency and i’m sure it will work much better than any ultrasonic pen either buzz or even dental one , its about 10 cm x 15 cm , and yes it make a buzz noise and make wierd feeling when u touch and it mist water when turned on m it even destoy a foil sheet and make strange wholes in it . but didnt try it yet on plastic .. i think this might help
Hello,the website“http://www.circuitguru.com/” can not be open,so I could not see the full information.Pls give another link about the circuit.Tks.
Too bad the site isn’t around anymore – would have been interesting to see more. And there aren’t more than 2 videos on his Youtube account which looks abandoned.
It’s interesting to see this kind of welding. Had no idea it could be so resistant but from what I saw, it’s pretty strong. Wish there was more shown in the video – too short for such a thing.