[samsuksiri] frequently uses a laptop and has an external drive to store projects. The drive flops around on the end of its tether and gets in the way, so they repurposed their old iPod pouch and attached it to the laptop lid with double-sided tape. You can guess how that went — the weight of the drive caused the pocket to sag and eventually detach over time.
Then [samsuksiri] remembered that they had LEGO DOTS patch stashed somewhere. It’s an 8×8 plate with adhesive on the back so you can build almost anywhere. Then the problem was this: how to attach LEGO to the drive itself? You’d think this is where the hot glue comes in, but that didn’t work because the drive is too slippery.
Nothing worked, really — not until [samsuksiri] flipped the drive over to work with the dimpled side that has un-coated plastic. Finally, the answer turned out to be mounting tape. Now, [samsuksiri] can attach the drive in any orientation, or even attach a second drive. Be sure to check it out after the break.
Looking for slightly more astounding LEGO creations? Check out this hydroelectric dam.
Thanks to [Keith Olson] for the tip!
The “adhesive” that’s good for dried flower arrangements. Chewed bubble gum holds much better in the long run. There are lots of real glues fast and slow setting all better than that arts and crafts stuff.
Slow hack day? The guy has glued two things together.
Not a hard enough dopamine rush for you, s?
Adhesive backed 50mm velcro with the hook side on the laptop and a couple of 12mm strips of the loop side on the drive works perfectly. Perfect for USB adaptors and keep dongles safe when not in use.
Tip: do not use 50mm strips of the loop side on drives, you will struggle to get it off.
My thought too. Velco is just as useful as Duck Tape :) for sticky situations! Use Velcro a lot for battery hold down in r/c aircraft. My dad uses a strip of just the hook side on lid of his laptop so it doesn’t slip out of his unsteady hands.
DUCT tape….
https://www.duckbrand.com/products/duck-tape
He could just have a brand preference.
Important tip: Flame treatment makes slippery plastic glue-able.
I don’t know it it would work on the type of plastic mentioned here, but there’s a trivial method to get things to stick to slippery plastics like HDPE: All you need to do is hit it with the flame from a cigarette lighter, butane or propane torch.
You don’t need to heat it much, it’s the active ions in the flame that does the work for you. They attach themselves to the plastic molecules, increasing the “surface energy”, basically providing chemical “hooks” that adhesives or paint can stick to. I do usually get the plastic fairly hot, albeit well below the softening point, but suspect I could get away with a lot less heat.
I use this all the time to get labelmaker labels to stick to storage bins, and routinely is it any time I want to paint an HDPE part. I haven’t used it for gluing parts together, but paint adheres really well (won’t easily peel off with masking tape), so it should work for glues as well.
I’ve used this a lot for polyethylene, and suspect it would work for polypropylene too. I haven’t tried it, but suspect it wouldn’t work for Teflon, dunno about Delrin either.
Give it a try, I’ve found that most people don’t know about this, and it’s been a lifesaver for me on several projects.