ABS Plastic Sheet / BLACK-** READ DETAILS BELOW**

I had high hopes for my considerable investment in self-laminating numerous sheets of the Black ABS Plastic for three large cases. I was not able to find either of the two adhesives that DIY recommends at my local hardware stores. An employee at one of the stores recommended Scotch 77, so I purchased this. When I was done with the three cases they did in fact look great. Then I rolled them out of the workshop into the sunlight during cleanup and the ABS laminate immediately began to expand, buckle and delaminate over every surface exposed to the sun! I rolled the case back into the garage and the material shrunk as soon as it cooled and I was able to press it back tight onto the plywood surface. I let them sit overnight and the next day the same thing happened when I rolled them out into the sunlight. Now, other than the adhesive I followed all of DIY’s directions for laminating. I even applied as much pressures to the material as possible after pressing the two glue-coated surfaces together and working out any air bubbles. However, because my cases were of such large dimension (80 x 40 x 15), this was difficult. I know that DIY does not recommend full sheet to full sheet application without having access to proper machinery like in the factory, but my case dimensions dictated that some panels were in fact almost full sheet. After I saw the de-lamination for the second time, I drilled out all the rivets holding the components in place, removed everything, stripped the black laminate off and re-coated everything with a liberal coat of different brush-on contact cement, and then re-assembled the cases. Unfortunately the same thing happened again once the cases were moved into the sunlight. Unfortunately, after contacting DIY for help with my problem, I realized that the Scotch 77 adhesive, and the other contact cement, were not proper adhesives for laminating ABS Plastic to wood. DIY also explained some tips regarding the required pressure application for large panels. I had originally given this ABS a 1-star review thinking that the ABS was faulty, but I have changed my rating and review, as there was nothing wrong with my ABS. For anyone doing their own laminating, please be sure to use one of DIY’s recommended adhesives, even if you have to order the adhesive online from somewhere, or risk battling with de-lamination like I did. DIY ROAD CASES® RESPONSE :::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Unfortunately, Richard experienced what 99% of customers will experience when substitute adhesives are used outside of the two that we recommend. The two adhesives that we recommend were chosen after much experimentation in a DIY environment. Are there other laminating adhesives that work for laminating ABS and wood? Yes. However, most of those are industrial in nature, or come in liquid form in 1 gallon to 50 gallon containers for spray gun or roll-on use - too much product for the average DIY scenario, and creating application dilemmas as well. Cost, availability, and container quantities all prove to create too much expense for do-it-yourselfers. The two canned spray adhesives that we recommend are perfectly suited for DIY project applications. Regarding Richard’s unique scenario of extremely large case panels, some ingenuity on customers’ part will have to come into play in order to create the applied pressure step. With smaller panels, this is easy. With large panels, especially those that are almost a full 4’ x8’ sheet-to-sheet application, the logistics are not so easy. One recommendation that we have found to work great is this: Follow all of the standard laminating steps. However, you will have to spend extra time and elbow grease working out any potential air bubbles. The next step you may have to do this in separate steps with each large panel, but it is worth the extra days spent (sometimes you can do 2 like-size panels and then stack them for this). Once you have laminated and spent time working out potential air bubbles, lay your panels on the ground wherever you park a vehicle, and cover them with another piece of 3/4" plywood that is the same dimensions, or slightly larger, than your laminated panel(s). Then slowly pull your car/truck on top of the pile, so that either front tire comes to rest as perfectly centered on top of the stack as possible, and leave it for at lease 12-24 hours (the longer the better). It sounds funky, but the weight of the vehicle on top of the 3/4" top sheet of plywood, will disperse the vehicle weight onto the entire surface area of your laminated panel(s).

Cheaper than regular plastic laminate, as it is a single pour process rather than multiple layers like formica. Good looking stuff. Scuff back side as directed - may be some lumps from mfg process, but they sand off easily resulting in a nice smooth surface.I used regular contact cement rolled on, then cut panels - adhered well and machines super-clean.