Glue is great, but it’s not exactly the most user-friendly stuff in the world. It’s messy, unwieldy, and difficult to apply with any degree of precision. But now, thanks to dentist-turned-inventor Dr. Thomas Offermann, there might a better alternative.
Instead of haphazardly squeezing some adhesive out of a tube, Offerman’s Bondic system allows you to join two materials together with liquid plastic that hardens under UV light. You know those little UV glue guns that dentists use to fill minor cavities before they get too serious? It’s basically the exact same adhesive technology, just tweaked a little and redesigned for a different purpose.
To use Bondic, you simply apply your desired amount of liquid plastic to whatever you’re hoping to repair. The goop can bond practically anything (plastic, metal, fiberglass, wood, fabric, etc.), and the high-precision extruder tip allows you to apply exactly as much adhesive as you need. This adhesive will remain in liquid form until you hit it with a blast of UV light, so you’re free to fiddle with it and make adjustments before you commit to hardening.
After about four seconds of direct UV exposure, the plastic becomes hard as a rock but not so hard that it resists sanding and finishing. You can file it down and smooth it out when you’re done or add extra layers for additional strength. Bondic’s creators stress that you actually need to use and think of it more like welding than gluing, which is rather intriguing.
And the best part? A Bondic starter kit (which includes the dispenser, UV hardening light, and a 4-gram tube of adhesive) is just 22 bucks.
