Making your own plastic pants: PVC Welding tool

Status
Not open for further replies.
Adidas

Adidas

Est. Contributor
Messages
34
Role
  1. Diaper Lover
Dear readers,

I don't know how many of you are of the 'creative kind' and make their own stuff. From time to time I try to do that, and now I ran into a problem. Maybe someone here knows the answer to following question:

Did somebody here ever got his hand on a PVC welding tool? Any ideas how to do this?

The forum has some suggestions about soft PVC glue, but I do not find that the best solution. Sewing is another word for 'tiny leaking holes' I think. Welding is the way to go. Like beach balls and those beach alligators :biggrin:

I saw those 'impulse sealers', but they are fairly large.

Suggestions are welcome, many thanks !
 
I'm used to be a certified welder fabricator and while I don't know how to find that kind of thing I will talk to my friends who are welders because I know they at least know where to get one of those at least. I will return later to inform you accordingly but I think those are expensive.
 
I've had some success with parchment paper and an iron, but the seams end up really rigid and break easily unless you time it just perfectly.
 
I made my first so long ago from a shower curtain and elastics from old tighty-whities using an iron to seal the seams.
 
Acetone--available in drug stores as a nail polish removed--is often used in plumbing to weld PVC pipe fittings. It is a very effective PVC solvent, at least when it comes to that particular kind of PVC. If you have some samples of the PVC material you want to use, and a well-ventilated "laboratory", you might experiment and see if lightly moistening the area of contact with acetone forms an effective bond between two pieces. I suspect only a tiny quantity would be required.

Just a thunk!
 
I can only give knowledge about working with hard ABS plastic but I have 3 main ways of welding parts together.
1) Acetone - This makes a strong weld but has a tendency to fog ABS if used for too long. Its also hard to do without ending up with a pile of goop if used for too long.
2) Friction welding - Use a Dremel and spin another piece of plastic at the seam. The plastics will get hot and begin to meld together.
3) Soldering Iron - I use a temperature controlled soldering iron that has proved very reliable in forming good seams. Cooler creates a better weld while warmer goes faster.

Combining sewing with Aquaseal might eliminate the problem with holes. I have used Aquaseal to repair waders so it definitely waterproofs.
 
I'm an industrial designer, so I know how to weld together sheets of plastic with acetone, it just melts a little bit of it.
 
Impulse welders. They work great on solid materials, but will pull off PULs coating. As long as it is not a laminated favric they will work on it. Same technology used in sealing vacuum bags. They are generally less than $300 and come in various sizes. It works by using a timing circuit to heat the loop for a short time (you'll have to figure it out material by material) and instanly cutting the heat so it welds with out melting too much. Same coils are in it as a toaster, but the timing is way shorter. Then there is sonic welding that is used in making water beds. This one is much more expensive and generally a very large machine.
 
Unless you are in electrical, electronic engineering, or related field I would highly reccomend against trying to make a home-made one. If you plug a faulty or incorrectly built one into the wall the best outcome is an electrical fire, and the worst is being hit by 120v at 10+ amps which can kill you.
 
i've done a fair bit of this in my time:
View attachment 24119
of course, proper sealing requires a roller:
View attachment 24120

unless you get a roller for free, you'll have to make one (they're too costly to be worth buying).
a standard clothes iron will also do, but you may need to cover the pvc fabric with a damp cloth.

to be honest, though, if you double-fold the seam and use a narrow enough needle (don't forget to use a thimble), you should get a good enough seal (if you're using absorbant enough diapers, that is).
 
Thanks to you all, and thanks to Twiz: I did not know about these nifty devices :thumbsup:
So scanning the web -now finally knowing what I am searching for- brought me to this piece of gear: http://www.e-blister.com/epages/Ecobliss.sf?ObjectPath=/Shops/DemoShop/Products/EQ_UltrasonicSealer
Unfortunately, a bit expensive. It is an ultrasonic type of welder. So my conclusions so far are that impulse sealers -the longer types- are extremely good for long welds. This particular type can weld tiny spots, so ideal for 'precision plastic pant production, repair & modifications' :biggrin:
What I will do is watch Ebay for a while and hope one of those smaller types are for sale 2nd hand. One day I am going to weld PVC in a very professional way, that's certain.:educate:
 
Adidas said:
Sewing is another word for 'tiny leaking holes' I think.
Click to expand...

I quite like sewn seams actually, some of the classic UK plastic baby pants were sewn such as Boots Brumas and the Sandra baby pants and inco pants. I thought the welded seams were on the cheaper pants. If you're using an absorbent material inside them such as a cloth nappy / diaper, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. The holes would just be a problem if you wore the pants on their own and filled them with water / pee - but that just being silly (albeit fun!).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top