PennyTech "Plastic Surgery"

Intro: PennyTech "Plastic Surgery"

Over the years i see a few diferent ways to repair broken plastic parts from thermoset, thermoplastics,etc but all of them lack from "Style" and they are ussually clumssy, tedius and dificult to deal with, the sistem i develop usses a single strand of "Safety wire" so is a continuos circuit with out any strands sticking out but also provides a "Close circuit benefit, so if any part breaks again, they whole thing does not fall apart...

let me see if i can explain it with my chessy Ingles..

STEP 1: Findidng Something to Fix

the whole process start by breaking something first, at that sadlly i'm really good at, in this case is one of my motorcycle fairings after a big fall...

STEP 2: Basic Concept and Detail of the Corner

I ussually make holes at about 1/4' of a inch apart and about a 1/4' from the crack, i also try to make the holes on the other side aling so everything is simetrical.

First thing is to cut a strand of wire about two feet long (much more than that is just a pain because it gets entangle to easy) of the thinnest you can find (sorry I don't remenber the gauge) I start by I inserting the wire from the "Back side" and then chose one of the holes (does not really matter what side) to start the spin, i ussually do five turns (by hand, no need for pliers) that is about the right amount of tension for a 1/4" distance, after i finish spining the two wires I procede to the next hole on the same side, I insert one of the two wires (I try to keep it even so i don't end up with one wire much longer than the other one) to go into the "back side" and the other one goes to the opossite side on the surface were i start the process again on the oposite side so i get this "zig-zag" look

STEP 3: The Underside of Another Repair

this is the underside of the beak ( same as any other repair) you can see that is no strands of safety wire to cut your fingers and get "Velcro" to your gloves, cleaning rags and clothes) and in fact it looks like a fancy shoe lace work (you can also select to use this as the visible side) sometimes if the crack is to long i will use more than one piece of wire and i simply cover the extra "spyke" wire with more lacing.

Comments

[bayyagg]

Hmm...
That was good, but it is better to take it all off first, use a soldering iron to fix it together by melting the plastic in the inside part, then put some resin on it, dry and you have a better and stronger plastic!

[I)AVI)]

Prettty cool way to make it work AND have a Frankenstein effect! Just in time for Halloween... What model BMW is that?

[soulman76]

This works great, I did the exact thing on an old Honda ATV over ten years ago when the "plastic weld" wouldn't hold a broken fender together (rough trails and all)

[ricardo]

I think I did soething wrong and the first picture end up on the second slot,sorry about that, is my first time posting here...

anyway the picture in green is another bike i fix for a friend and hopefully have better contrast so you gals and guys can see the results even better..

[ricardo]

Here is the Missing foto showing how the same piece of plastic was put togheter and made it ridlable again

[ricardo]

sorry i did something wrong and the pictures are not exactlly in the proper sequence hopefully i can find a way to fix it..,

[ricardo]

the whole process start by breaking something first,at that sadlly i'm really good...

[ricardo]

Over the years i see a few diferent ways to repair broken plastic(thermoset, thermoplastics,etc) but all of them lack from "Style" and they are ussually clumssy, tedius and dificult to deal with, the sistem i develop usses a single strand of "Safety wire" so is a continuos circuit with out any strands sticking out...

let me see if i can explain it with my chessy Ingles..