Plastic Welding - Gas Savers

rvanengen · 05-25-2007, 08:47 AM

Hello...been thinking about all the aero mods I can do, and comparing them with buying a body kit for my car...and I think I am going to make my own parts. Sounds more fun...maybe not any cheaper, but I can hope!

That said, I don't want it to look *too* frankensteinish...so I am thinking it is time to learn to weld plastic (mostly just ABS). Does anyone have any suggestions, especially on a good (inexpensive) welder and any good online tutorials to help. I have found a couple ones that seem pretty good:

http://www.plasticsmag.com/welding.a...ec-00&aid=3052

http://www.plasticweldingschool.org/...le-welding.php

jwxr7 · 05-25-2007, 09:02 AM

here is a cheap plastic welder that I've often thought about getting

. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=41592

jwxr7 · 05-25-2007, 09:06 AM

it probably works better than a soldering iron or a magnifying glass on a sunny day

.

rvanengen · 05-25-2007, 09:26 AM

Looks about like what I was also seeing on Ebay...ranging from about $40 to $80 including rods. I suppose the best way to start is just get one and start...what's the worst that can happen?

Gary Palmer · 05-25-2007, 09:59 AM

I had the one from Harbor Freight. It worked fine, but I wrecked it 2x by setting it down to hard while it was still hot. It uses a heating element, sort of like a hair dryer and it gets red-white hot. I think when it's that hot the element must be extremely sensitive to any bumps. I didn't think I was being harsh in handling it, but I broke the element twice.

I don't know how well it works, I broke it before I really got a good test. It does melt the plastic, sort of similar to using an Aceylene torch.

Telco · 05-25-2007, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwxr7

it probably works better than a soldering iron or a magnifying glass on a sunny day

.

Soldering iron works great for cutting plastic, with the sharp point it'll cut the plastic like butter, and with a little care you can do fine, detailed work with it. Used one to modify a grill to install 88-89 Chevy truck sealed beam headlights into my 96 Tahoe. Light output was far better with the individually aimed sealed beams than with the half-assed composite headlights with their cloudy lenses and preaimed brights that allowed you to either set the lows or the highs to be effective, but not both.

basjoos · 05-25-2007, 06:42 PM

I've done a lot of plastic welding of polyethylene and PVC with just a heat gun with a narrowing tip on it.

jdham137 · 06-02-2007, 09:01 PM

I'm going to try to post an article on plastic welding in the article section. I haven't tried it yet but I have the components he recommends in the article.
John David

jdham137 · 06-02-2007, 09:05 PM

Couldn't figure it out. Anyone know how to post files in adobe acrobat format?
John David