Learning to plastic weld; tips? suggestions?

[spenceuiuc]

Attached is a brochure w/specific temps for general plastic welding.

[Snowhere]

Here is my plastic welder. I bought it about 20 years ago from an industrial supply house so it was not cheap. I got it for welding my motorcycle fairings and have only welded ABS plastic with it. You will find the better welders have a lot better temperature control and you will have better control of the weld quality.

[spenceuiuc]

So I went through and welded all the cracked spots. I haven't sanded anything yet to a finished product (and don't know if I will to be honest), but here are the pix of welding round 1. I know I know, it's sloppy.

I ended up using a variable temp heat gun ($35 @ Ace) for the heat supply and a set of tips for the heat gun ($6) which reduced the diameter of the tip of the heat gun for better accuracy. A crappy old spoon + fork were my only other tools necessary. This worked pretty well.

Since the EZG issue is that the cockpit rim flexes too much near the thigh braces, I came up with the idea to go ahead and weld a brace in the gap on the inside of the cockpit rim, as pictured. This really stiffened up the cockpit rim when you push where the thigh braces attach. I think this may help the issue of cracking on the EZG rim.

I just wanted to say thanks to Scott @ Confluence for the extra welding plastic from another boat--- it is really easy to go through a lot of plastic for a beginner at plastic welding. Thanks, Scott!
-Tony

[kayaker]

If you want to fix the cracks right, talk to the pros at Boulder Boat Works 720-565-0789 (Andy or Chris). These guys weld up co-polymer dories every day. They have fixed four cracked kayaks for me and they know more about temperature specifics and how to do bomber welds than anyone else I've ever found or even heard of.
I crushed the stern on a boat and cracked it in three places. Not only did they reform the stern, but the welds done on the cracks are now the strongest parts of the boats (three years afterward still holding strong).
Tell Andy that Craig sent you.
The $ you spend on the repairs with Boulder Boat works will resolve the cracks, strengthen the integrity of the boat and help to lengthen the life of the boat.

Buenos suertes!

-Craig

[rich1979]

Hi all i have been plastic welding for about 6yrs now

I have found this company Tempatron Ltd - plastic welding equipment
to be the best equipment so far fast and cheap ( the way i like it lol)

Hope this helps

Richard