I have a 30 gallon plastic bucket that I cut a large square out of it and I have molded the acrylic sheet to the right shape, but is there anyway I can bond the acrylic to the plastic? It needs to be water proof and not leech any chemicals. It will be filled up with water and will hold some fish.
All the plastic buckets I've seen so far are from PA, PP or PE - plastics chosen for their chemical inertness, which in turn also means that they're d*mn near impossible to glue (pretreatment with hot concentrated nitric acid is among the more accessible methods....). As is acrylic, btw. You might be able to weld them (chemically or thermally), but I wouldn't trust this weld if I did it for the life of the fish. If the overlapping area is large enough and the acrylic sheet goes on the inside of the bucket (so that the water pressure actually compresses the seam), you might try fish tank silicone. It won't really glue the parts together, but might stick well enough (probably until someone tries to poke it :-( ). But I doubt that you'll get that stuff in oe of the big box stores - ordinary builder's silicone or bathroom silicone are no good - they'll leach acetic acid and, in case of bathroom silicone, fungicides.
I can't answer your question. First of all, acrylic sheet IS plastic. There are many different types of plastic and bonding agents vary with each one. Furthermore, certain plastics do not bond well together. You need to go to a plastic supplier and let them know what your plastic bucket is made of. Or, if you take it with you, they should be able to tell and recommend the correct adhesive for you. I doubt that Home Depot or Lowes would be able to help you, but you can give them a try.
