Plastic welding

[Acidburn]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Plastic-weldin...d=p3286.c0.m14

I've been looking into getting the equipment so that I can repair two bumpers i've got and was looking on ebay at some, this one made me laugh as it just looks like a soldering iron with some plastic rods etc.

Anyone had any experience with plastic welding, i've got two different bumpers to repair with two different problems

One has a split at the top of it which needs just joining back together its all still there fine etc, I was tempted to use something like arldite/hot glue gun just to join it back together before it gets smoothed then sprayed.

The other is missing a corner on it so would need to be joined back together top/bottom.

[quattronutter]

you can use a soldering iron or mini blow torch and rods to weld plastic you need to fuse the plastic together,glue will just split apart

[Acidburn]

Cool i'll have a look into that as one of the bumpers (2door escort one) is just that hard to find so i'll give that a go and try get hold of some rods off the bay.

Then just checking with my old boss (injection moulding manager) to confirm what material the bumpers made out of, been a while since I did injection moulding.

[Nuvo]

Its likely to be made from GRP (glass reinforced plastic)

[quattronutter]

i use bits of old bumpers cut into strips as welding material

[Acidburn]

Cool, i'll have a look tommorow when i'm off work as its been about 6 ish years since I trained to do injection moulding. I've got to take the last couple of bits of tape off and see exactly how bad it is.

[Acidburn]

i use bits of old bumpers cut into strips as welding material

Cheers for that as I will be removing the front bumper from the car so could cut that up.

Take it that you just get the two bits that have to be joined, joined together then heat up the plastic and drip or push it onto what needs joining?

[quattronutter]

yes pretty much,the plastic doesnt stay molten for long,it will need sanding down carefully and filling with plastic filler after,repairing plastic takes a bit of practise

[Acidburn]

Cool might give that a go this weekend as I got 4 days to practise on it. Just have to do it on the car so it holds together then I can remove it and fill over it for extra strength before it gets sprayed.

[Flat on my back]

I found this...

http://www.tempatron.com/principles.htm