Shop tips, tricks, and "stuff"!

Discussion in 'The Fabricators Corner' started by Fabman, May 1, 2015.

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  1. Ford Trucker Founding Member Canadian Chapter

    I dont like the taste of it but thats a good one Tom
     
  2. 1970something TOTM Winner Founding Member

    if you would like to. but close your eyes, it burns.

    if you can taste it, you are using too much silly!!!
     
  3. dustybumpers Article Contributor Founding Member

    Yeah, last time he was here, I kept hitting Gerry with starting fluid, and he never did start
    2012-07-30_17-35-05_456.jpg #ad
     
    FTZ HAIC and Ford Trucker like this.
  4. Ford Trucker Founding Member Canadian Chapter

    Yep thats me ^^^^ with my new running boards at Charlies place, man it was hot that day
     
  5. dustybumpers Article Contributor Founding Member

    Yeah. Shaun watched you work your azz off. I couldn't help, still couldn't bend over because of my back fusion

    Had plenty of tools, and a nice shop to use tho......
     
  6. Ford Trucker Founding Member Canadian Chapter

    You still helped me more than he did even with your sore back,

    but thats another thread
     
  7. 1970something TOTM Winner Founding Member

    i fixed it for ya Gerry.
     
  8. dustybumpers Article Contributor Founding Member

    None of us drink, but Shaun, and drinking is not allowed on my property, so that suked for him.....


    All I did was drag out tools and make suggestions. Chit gets stuck when that Canadian snalt gets on it year after year.
    If I remember right, We robbed a bunch of parts out of my storage bus and got-r- going again.
     
  9. dustybumpers Article Contributor Founding Member

    I tried to loose him in the woods here
    2012-07-30_15-27-41_541.jpg #ad
     
  10. 1970something TOTM Winner Founding Member

    yea, the drinking is a no go here too until all the tools are put away and everything is cleaned up. and even then it is usually never more than one beer, because most of us are now on life maintaining drugs that do not play well with alcohol.
    so we supervise as the kids do the work, clean up, and have a beer while we sit in the shade and tell lies...
     
    dustybumpers likes this.
  11. Greywolf Vet Zone Staff Alumni Founding Member

    TWO ways to repair Polypropylene parts...

    Since "Polly" is a thermo plastic that can be melted, but rejects all but a few very specialized adhesives, you can go with a mechanical fix if it isn't a cosmetic repair, or use a pistol type soldering iron with the right tip.

    The pic immediately below is before I found out 'glass would not hold very well. I was all set to try that method out and then looked up what that kind of plastic was.

    2014oct15step3.jpg #ad
    2014oct15step2.jpg #ad


    As far as it went, if this was a four wheeler or something I didn't care about the looks of - "FRANKENSTITCHING" alone would have done the job.

    But I wanted a better fix...

    It turns out that what is called a "Spreader Tip" can be had for an old pistol - type Weller soldering iron that can be used to work from the back and join the material just about invisibly from the front side.

    I wasn't being real fussy, but you can see how bad a crack that was.

    Here is my tool of choice, and a close up of the tip ($4.99 on Amazon), and how that all worked out...

    PlasticWelding 001.jpg #ad
    PlasticWelding 002.jpg #ad
    PlasticWelding 003.jpg #ad


    Again - I wasn't being fussy. But THAT is a solid join, with a tool I never used for anything but now do whenever I have a piece of trim like that. If you have colored plastic and have to match colors - you can take a small strip of material from somewhere that won't show and melt it in as "Filler Material"

    The beauty of it is that Polypropylene has a melting point of right about 350 degrees f, and soldering irons generally provide about 400 to 450 degrees of heat, so it's very close to begin with. The trigger action, and two heat settings make it a snap to work this kind of a repair!

    IT DOESN'T BURN IT! It just melts and flows...

    If you are real lucky, and very careful you can do a lot with the plain old chisel tip that most of these soldering irons come with, but the spreader tip does a marvellous job.

    * Look up "POLYPROPYLENE" online, and you can find out a lot about it, how to identify it, and what other tools are available.

    There is also a book out titled: "How to Repair Plastic Bodywork" by Kurt Lammon that has everything you need to know in it about all the types of plastics used in modern automotive manufacture and how to work with them.

    ~Dash panels
    ~Fender liners
    ~Interior trim panels
    ~Bumper covers and fascias

    And you probably thought a small crack meant they were trashed! THIS will save you money

    EVERY kind of plastic has a small triangular symbol on it that looks like three arrows forming a triangle, in the center is a number.

    POLYPROPYLENE has the number FIVE ('5')

    *POLYCARBONATE has the numeral 7, and is used for food grade water bottles
    Half an inch of polycarbonate will also resist a thirty caliber rifle bullet, just saying

    It was designed to resist anything sticking to it, including adhesives, and be very resistent to warping under expected temperatures.

    Go figure - would you want childrens crayons to mess up the inside of your new car?

    So it is slippery stuff, you can't mess it up.

    This also means there is only one way to work with it.

    ~ HEAT ~

    And it also had to be a heat level you won't have in a closed car in a parking lot with full sun on it. I once put an oven thermometer in a car I parked, and it got up to 140 f.

    That's half what this stuff needs to make it flow.

    ~ That is what it was designed to withstand.
     
    bigrigfixer likes this.
  12. Old 86

    My shop tip is how to quickly load a 12 pack into the fridge. Open both ends, set in fridge, put hand across 3 beers, hold them back while pulling the carton out from under/around them. This takes about 10 seconds, a real time saver. Haven't figured out how to do a 30 pack, yet! No offence to the non drinkers- they probably get a lot more work done. I just have more fun!;) Old 86
     
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