plastic welding

[atc300r]

Iv been teaching myself plastic welding. I use a broken fender pieces, heat gun,wood burner tool and a old flat iron for ironing clothing. Iv been practicing on some of my old broken fenders. Heres some of the welding I did on my old 81 250r front fender. Once I get welding figured out I will do some sanding and polishing. I want to get to the point were I can weld,sand and polish and you cant tell it had ever been broke.This fender was crushed so far its coming along nicely for welding. I may weld it up and put it on the trike and take it for a few rides to see how durable the is. I have a bunch of old broken pieces to use as filler. Its a long process.

[hitmeup760]

If this catches on you sir will be very busy and very popular around here for some of us who want to fix plastics instead of replacing them.

[newby200x]

I've used this same type method numerous times, but I use a soldering iron. Main issue I always run into is getting black burnt plastic impurities into the weld. So after sanding and polishing there is still an area you can tell has been welded. Seems to hold up well though.

[Matt85'350x]

I work at a laser company in which we weld plastic together. We'll actually have a "rib" which is between the 2 surfaces that are being welded. Then that rib is heated up whilst at the same time the 2 surfaces are pressed together using a pneumatic clamp. What I'm saying is you definitely need some sacrificial filler materials (free from impurities) and you might try applying some pressure to the weld. Obviously you're not using a laser but a similar technique may be worth trying.

[T-Sox]

You need to reinforce the back side of the weld with some mesh. Aluminum or stainless window screen works good. Don't use galvanized screen or it will bleed out over time.

The blackening of the plastic comes from the heat being too high. Buy a plastic welding iron from Harbor Freight and you won't have that problem.

[cosmohawk]

Not that I'm paranoid...but you might want to keep this "fender fix" of yours on the DL.

Last thing you need, is two beefy guys showing up in black trench-coats on your doorstep...representatives from Zip-Tie International Ltd. asking questions about your plastic welding method.

I have actually been using Bondic as of late...not on fender plastics, but other stuff. Seems to work quite well.

[Ol Deuce]

Looking good Donny!! LoL

[f76]

Looks good! I attempted to fix a terribly cracked piece of my 200x winter fenders using air filter screen and a torch. Cut and fit the screen, then place on crack and heat with torch oh so lightly and press it into the plastic. Holding great and much sturdier than plastic alone.
It's nothing pretty but it will work just fine for my cut up winter plastics. I then used goop around the edges and in key areas to help hold it all together.