Plastic Welding (usury's Project Karma)
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2019 10:56 am
Bad smells but great results with the ~$16 (USD) Harbor Freight "Plastic Welding" kit
It's more like an 80W soldering iron with a thick triangular tip, but it gets the job done...
The portion of the rear cover (above the tail light) where the screw fastens it to the bike was missing. I had imagined buidling it up with fiberglass or epoxy, but I wanted to try the inexpensive plastic welder before I got into all that.
It worked great - here is during and after (with some Bondo)...
So I tackled the crack in the rear plastic...
And the broken (but crudely reattached with JB Weld) front tab on the rear plastic. This was actually the first piece that I did. I figured start small and inconspicious. I should have taken the time to remove all the paint from the area. The paint does burn off, but it makes a much yuckier and crustier repair...
Worked really well on the cracked and splintered rear fender/under seat plastics...
Take care to not burn yourself. Use in a well ventilated area. Take your time. Like any welding, take care to control the amount of heat in your work piece.
It's more like an 80W soldering iron with a thick triangular tip, but it gets the job done...
The portion of the rear cover (above the tail light) where the screw fastens it to the bike was missing. I had imagined buidling it up with fiberglass or epoxy, but I wanted to try the inexpensive plastic welder before I got into all that.
It worked great - here is during and after (with some Bondo)...
So I tackled the crack in the rear plastic...
And the broken (but crudely reattached with JB Weld) front tab on the rear plastic. This was actually the first piece that I did. I figured start small and inconspicious. I should have taken the time to remove all the paint from the area. The paint does burn off, but it makes a much yuckier and crustier repair...
Worked really well on the cracked and splintered rear fender/under seat plastics...
Take care to not burn yourself. Use in a well ventilated area. Take your time. Like any welding, take care to control the amount of heat in your work piece.