Has anyone tried? My kayak has formed a crack and its really not in a bad place but im wondering if a little dremmel tool with a real small radius polished smooth tip will have enough RPM's and balls torque wise to pull this off - suggestions? --- insults? different cockamaimie idea's? pictures of your sisters underwear? (everyone except Mr. Hosie)
Friction stirring plastic
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Don't know about the friction welding, but one product that comes to mind is gutter seam sealer. Specifically Seamermate, made by Amerimax:
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I've used, and swear by, this stuff sold in the caulking tube size. The smaller tube is probably the same.
I've only used it on metal gutters, but those were smooth shiny surfaces, so I'd expect it to adhere to kayak type plastics too.
It takes a day or two to fully cure, but when it does it becomes a VERY tough, leathery material that's darn near impossible to remove. Literally have to carve it away with a sharp knife.
Cures to a dark gray in color.
Sticky as all "get out!" DO NOT let it dry on your hands!Last edited by lynnl; 07-14-2011, 12:38 PM.Lynn (Huntsville, AL)
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Originally posted by lakeside53What "plastic"? or is it Royalex?
Im almost positive it's High-Density Polyethylene, and im almost positive its not the HDP crosslinked as that would be unrepairable.
I will find out for sure before I attempt anything. thanks.
Thanks Lynn but want to keep boat looking un-repaired and it's florescent green.Last edited by A.K. Boomer; 07-14-2011, 12:48 PM.
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First question:- what caused the crack? Sunlight degradation, impact? second question:- what is the plastic? Polypropylene, polyethylene, etc.?
If it is one of the thermoplastics, then a plastic welding hot air unit and filler rod would probably be best. If it was caused by sunlight, then you may be chasing a will-o-the-whisp.
Someone on this board is A LOT more knowledgeable than I am, but my instinct is NOT to try "magic goo" first, since it might preclude a "proper" repair later.Duffy, Gatineau, Quebec
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It is just standard HDP and it's NOT crosslinked, so it's totally repairable.
Paul I don't think the manufacturers like this idea cuz they like to sell boats - I know there's allot of guys that "weld" the fixable ones and I believe they do it with a heated tool of some kind like a soldering iron --- Ideally it would be nice to have a heated friction stir bit,
The plastic must have taken a shot during spring melt when the water is cold - it's not from UV degradation at all, plastic is very supple and has full color.
My question is do you think a dremmel will have enough balls and speed to pull this off?
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As for the Dremmel, what I see happening, is very localized melting right under the contact area, which cools off immediately when the spinning tool is moved away.
I would think that with any sort of rotary/friction device to produce enough heat, you're going to have to have considerable pressure against the area in question. That will mean the material will want to deform and flow away, which will mean some filler material will be in order.
I'd think you're likely to have better success with one of those hot air plastic welder devices@ like Duffy mentioned. HF did sell them a few years back; don't know as I've seen them in their ads lately. I have one, but have only tried it a few times, mostly just experimenting, and not with what I'd call resounding success.
But this is all just speculation until it's tried. Give it a go and report back.
@ - if you're not familiar with those plastic welders, FYI - they do look something like a soldering iron, with an air hose attached.Last edited by lynnl; 07-14-2011, 01:32 PM.Lynn (Huntsville, AL)
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Problem with Dremel tools is that they use a "universal joint" between the motor and chuck that is a piece of aquarium tubing. Stall it out and the tubing goes away/breaks/melts. Since most folks never even think about opening up the tool, just throw it away when it stops working, the company can get away with that. I don't recall the size of the tubing, but it's not much!
DavidDavid Kaiser
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Iv seen the rubber coupleing type.
And yea, I do NOT suspect a dremel will do anything except make the plastic shiny. Maybe mess it up some.
What you want is a proper repair! Do you wanna be out in the middle of a lake only to realise you gotta swim back?
Personaly, id probley go ape**** on it. Drill out the tips of the crack to prevent spreading, Fill with.... mmmm.. Not sure. Depends how flexable the hull is. If its VERY stiff, Id use epoxy, or research something better for the plastic in question (Check for the recycleing number symbol?), if it was more flexable.. some kinda silicone?
And id put a large 'patch' over the crack, Like a sheet of plastic glued down, So its reenforced insted of weakened, And if the crack leaks it won't leak into the boat. Maybe even patch the outside as well as inside.Play Brutal Nature, Black Moons free to play highly realistic voxel sandbox game.
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Friction welding of HDPE is standard practice. The difficulty will be in producing a melted area deep enough to produce a reliable repair.
I would be inclined to treat it like a regular weld and gouge it out into a V half the depth of the material. Then fill it with a bit of plastic that you can probably trim off some other area where it won't show. Preaheat the area to be filled with a very small torch such as the little ones that run using a lighter as the fuel source or something similar. The only problem with those torches is that they don't work well at your altitude.
Then lay in the filler in the preheated cut using a soldering iron with a flat copper tip attached. It will be ugly until it is well filled. Then after it has cooled for a while you can smooth it out with the soldering iron and it will look pretty good.Free software for calculating bolt circles and similar: Click Here
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I'd use hot air... like on a pro air plastic welding gun.. but that's because I have one. I bought it on ebay used for about $150 to fix the nylon tanks on chainsaws and it works great. Use the correct filler rod of course.
Since that time I bought a temperature controlled Bosch heat gun, and with the correct nozzle/tip, it works better (better temperature control). I can set the temp in 10F steps all the way up to 1200F, but of course you'll use something lower!
If you don't want to take the opportunity to invest in new tool (Bosch heat gun), drag your kayak to one of the local body shops -those guys fix plastic bumpers, and can make it look close to perfect.
Heat gun : http://www.toolup.com/bosch_1944lcdk...&utm_medium=CALast edited by lakeside53; 07-14-2011, 03:51 PM.
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