Plastic Welding

[LSUTIGER1947]

Can anyone tell me the basics of using a plastic welder for making minor repairs to our boats. The type of tools needed, technique, do's and don'ts, etc. Geaux Tigers!

[woodNfish]

You can get a good quality plastic welder from Harbor Freight, but they don't carry the polyethelene rods. You can get those from Dick at Merrit Marine. Look for him in the tech forum.

As far as how to use a plastic welder and where to get more information, do a search in the forums for plastic welding or on my posts. I have links to several onlin tutorials and an excellent set of pdf manual you can download.

woodNfish

[cagrove]

Originally Posted by LSUTIGER1947

Can anyone tell me the basics of using a plastic welder for making minor repairs to our boats. The type of tools needed, technique, do's and don'ts, etc. Geaux Tigers!

I've found that if you have a small area to fix (screw hole, etc) that an electric soldering iron works great. Just keep it moving over the area and add some roplene shavings if needed and you're done in no time. Use a sharp wood chisel (bevel side down) to shave off any bumps and to flatten the area. (Thanks WoodnFish, that was a great idea ) Touch up with 600 grit sand paper if you think you need to and run a buffer over it to bring back the shine. Good as new!! I usually now omit the sandpaper and buffing, looks fine without it. I hope this helps.