CRACKED Spanish Fly
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CRACKED Spanish Fly
I crackedv my fly about a month ago on the Taylor in CO. Crack is directly under the saddle. Anyone else have this problem and/or know of a good sturdy fix? BOB
I've made lots of repairs to plastic hulls.
Drill holes at the end of the crack to prevent the crack from gettng worse.
Remove any outfitting from the area around the crack and clean the area of glue, dirt, etc.
Get some thin (~3mm) strips of plastic (try cutting strips from the inside of the cockpit or gunwales or what ever you call the opening of a freestyle open canoe)
Slowly heat the area around the crack and, at the same time, heat the strip of plastic. Lay off the hull if the plastic begins to look wet. When you have more experience welding plastic, you will want to stop heating before it looks wet. Ideally, you want to heat it only enough to get the plastic to bond. I use a heat gun, others use propane torches, or plastic welders. I've seen some small heat guns at crafts stores that look like they'd be perfect but I've never used one.
When the hull has been heated and the strip of plastic starts to bend under its own weight, slowly fill the holes you drilled and fill the crack while applying light heat. Be careful not to apply too much pressure to the hull so you don't change the shape. I usually use a pair of pliers or other metal surface to lightly press the plastic in place. I also usually twist the plastic in place and pull on it so only a thin, twisted strip fills the crack.
Once the crack is filled, I usually heat the repair again just a little bit to anneal it. Once it cools, you can sand it if necessary. If you do it right, you probably won't have to sand.
I'd recommend you get a junk piece of linear plastic and try it fisrt before you attempot the real fix.
Drill holes at the end of the crack to prevent the crack from gettng worse.
Remove any outfitting from the area around the crack and clean the area of glue, dirt, etc.
Get some thin (~3mm) strips of plastic (try cutting strips from the inside of the cockpit or gunwales or what ever you call the opening of a freestyle open canoe)
Slowly heat the area around the crack and, at the same time, heat the strip of plastic. Lay off the hull if the plastic begins to look wet. When you have more experience welding plastic, you will want to stop heating before it looks wet. Ideally, you want to heat it only enough to get the plastic to bond. I use a heat gun, others use propane torches, or plastic welders. I've seen some small heat guns at crafts stores that look like they'd be perfect but I've never used one.
When the hull has been heated and the strip of plastic starts to bend under its own weight, slowly fill the holes you drilled and fill the crack while applying light heat. Be careful not to apply too much pressure to the hull so you don't change the shape. I usually use a pair of pliers or other metal surface to lightly press the plastic in place. I also usually twist the plastic in place and pull on it so only a thin, twisted strip fills the crack.
Once the crack is filled, I usually heat the repair again just a little bit to anneal it. Once it cools, you can sand it if necessary. If you do it right, you probably won't have to sand.
I'd recommend you get a junk piece of linear plastic and try it fisrt before you attempot the real fix.