Sealing Acrylic paint to cast Acrylic - Front side etch

How To Finishing
1

I am using black acrylic for a front side etch. I am considering painting the etch with acrylic paint.
I have not found a clear that doesn’t ruin the black surface.

Has anyone tried to spray CA glue as a sealant ? It seems to dry very clear.
The size is around 16" x 12"

Thanks

2

This is the Google search response

Summary

  • Spraying CA glue: Not an effective or recommended application method for sealing and can cause poor results.
  • Spraying Accelerator: A standard practice to speed up the curing of applied CA glue.
  • CA glue as a sealer: Achieved by applying thin, manual coats and sanding between applications. CA glue forms a permanent, waterproof, and hard “plastic-like” finish once cured.

Looks like door number three is the option

3

I am a turner and many people use CA glue for finishing pens and other small objects. The turning process puts the CA glue on with a paper towel and the lathe is turning around 300-400 RPM. So the glue gets spread out before it has a chance to dry. CA can work for objects you are turning but not sure how applying CA glue to a flat surface would work out. Plus the cost of CA glue compared to other finishes is rather expensive. If you try it I would recommend thin CA. You have a better chance of it leveling itself before drying. You can clean up CA glue with acetone. It works best if it is still fresh but if you let it soak long enough it will allow you to remove CA glue. Just remember acetone is flammable and you should dispose of your rags/paper towels in a bucket of water and move it outside until you dispose of them permanently.

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4

Just be careful not to use acetone for ca removal if the substrate is acrylic. I’m pretty sure that would just make a bad day worse as the acetone can damage the acrylic once the ca is gone.

5

I can’t say that I have tried what you are attempting. But I can say that I have successfully glued clear acrylic (sandwich style, surface to surface) with clear Gorilla Glue. Emphasis on “clear”. It is undetectable. So maybe that.

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6

Would you wipe the goriila glue then let it level itself ?

To @HeuristicBishop point, it is acrylic base, so I do not want to melt it.

7

Gray area. What I did was rub two piece of acrylic together in order to bond it. There is some working time. Whether it self levels after application is unknown. I would say just try it on some scrap. The glue does dry clear.

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