Joining

=Joining. = 

Few products or systems are made of just one part. Most require various parts to be joined together, some times permanently. You need to know some of the techniques we can use to join materials and components. Remeber all the techniques we have used in our studio work: nuts, bolts, screws, pop rivets, hinges, soft solder, silver solder, hard solder (brazing) arc welding as well as various adhesives (contact adhesive, PVA, acetone, epoxy resin, superglue, mortar).


 * **__Friction welding.__**

We use the heat generated by the firction between the two parts being joined to produce a very high quality weld.

Note that only one part is rotating while the other part is placed in a fixed vice, the weld is then tidied up by turning off the excess. || media type="custom" key="3398630" ||


 * media type="google" key="5166716086711924962&hl=en&fs=true" width="400" height="326" || **__Plastic welding.__**

Friction welding can be used for welding thermoplastics but we can also use hot air to weld these plastics. In addition to this some adhesives can be used to melt the surfaces of the plastics together. ||

The techniques above are considered to be permanent joining techniques. When we join parts permanently it is very difficult to change them if they break. This can lead us to throwing 'away' things that, if designed slightly differently, could be repaired relatively easily. Though in some societies this is deemed an advantage more and more people are starting to see the negative environmental impact this form of [|planned obsolescence] is having. Adhesives are considered to be permanent joining techniques, though a number of manufactureres are using thermo adhesives that allow materials to be sorted for recycling at the end of their useful life.