Thanks Alex. Good info. I've wondered about welding kayaks for awhile. I've heard good and not so good. Looks like you found something that'll work. Again THANKS!!
Love it Alex! I have the same type of unit with the air hose... Maybe remind people to turn everything on low temperature and let everything cool off with air blowing through it... Open pod ring one of the "Stapler" units myself.... You kind of show what I was figuring on how it would work! Maybe put a little paddle wax on that dead Blow hammer next time so it doesn't get away from you! 😂 Love your authenticity brother!
Thanks for the great info Alex! I love how you made your period of boredom super productive video-wise 😆. Will definitely check out that « hot glue »-style welder. Also your stapler tool made me think of something I tried on my cousin’s and my younger brother’s old OC1s. Based on advice we got from an older guy of the local OC1 club, we cut pieces of stainless steel mesh from cheap strainers and melted them into the plastic right after welding and we covered them with donor plastic. Definitely messy (and we had to be careful with distorsion ) but those cracks never reappeared. Also probably not something I would be willing to try on a new-ish boat.
I've cut apart a few boats with mesh repairs. The strainer I think was a key bit of advice. All the ones I have seen were bug mesh or something way too light to work. They are need to be melted quite deep into the boat with a soldering iron or something.
@@AlexBarham haha I can understand that, my brothers, cousin and I were on the opposite side of that situation (on a Grand Canyon trip) during the holidays last year. I heard Christmas and New Year’s Eve dinners came out a bit dull at the time 😅
@@AlexBarham yeah this why I would most likely go with the stapler tool for a newer boat. We definitely had to apply a lot of heat for the mesh to really sink in. I think we used a hot air gun to make the plastic a little soft then pushed it in with a soldering iron piece by piece while maintaining pressure on the opposite side of the hull. It definitely helped that those welds were on large and mostly flat surfaces
I probably fix 5 to 10 kayaks a week. The hot staplers are SO good for fixing cracks in a part of the boat that will see a lot of flex ie the hull or around the thigh braces. Then grind them down and weld over the top...good strong weld.
It really all comes back to what the final condition of the area is. A bad job where there is poor adhesion, weakening or distorting of the surrounding area, etc is a time bomb. A good job where the temperatures are monitored and the filler is adequate can last a long time.
As for returning to whitewater that comes down to a few factors. A piton crack can probably go right back out as it is likely to be dry until the next hit. If the crack is from wearing the hull down under the seat until the material is thin that probably will not handle any abuse
![Plastic Welding 101 [How to Plastic Weld]](/img/n.gif)
Welding Staple Gun: amzn.to/3U4UlLF
Hot Air Welder: amzn.to/3HrY92g
Hot Air Welder Nozzle: amzn.to/48ECqjC
Plastic Welding Rods: amzn.to/47KBfhl
No mercy with the hammer test 😂 great vid, thanks Alex
They don't call it destructive testing for nothing! 🤣
Thanks Alex. Good info. I've wondered about welding kayaks for awhile. I've heard good and not so good. Looks like you found something that'll work. Again THANKS!!
After doing it the wrong way enough times I decided it might be worth it. Cheers!
I made a wide bit for my soldering iron, works fine .
Those often don't get the same bond as an air gun
Love it Alex! I have the same type of unit with the air hose... Maybe remind people to turn everything on low temperature and let everything cool off with air blowing through it... Open pod ring one of the "Stapler" units myself.... You kind of show what I was figuring on how it would work! Maybe put a little paddle wax on that dead Blow hammer next time so it doesn't get away from you! 😂 Love your authenticity brother!
Oh you taught me something! Didn't know I needed to cool it down.
Haha yeah new hammer is slippery! Finally blew the face off old faithful last month and I can't find another one like it.
Thanks for the great info Alex! I love how you made your period of boredom super productive video-wise 😆. Will definitely check out that « hot glue »-style welder. Also your stapler tool made me think of something I tried on my cousin’s and my younger brother’s old OC1s. Based on advice we got from an older guy of the local OC1 club, we cut pieces of stainless steel mesh from cheap strainers and melted them into the plastic right after welding and we covered them with donor plastic. Definitely messy (and we had to be careful with distorsion ) but those cracks never reappeared. Also probably not something I would be willing to try on a new-ish boat.
Yeah can you tell Hannah is in the Grand Canyon for a month? Lol
I've cut apart a few boats with mesh repairs. The strainer I think was a key bit of advice. All the ones I have seen were bug mesh or something way too light to work. They are need to be melted quite deep into the boat with a soldering iron or something.
@@AlexBarham haha I can understand that, my brothers, cousin and I were on the opposite side of that situation (on a Grand Canyon trip) during the holidays last year. I heard Christmas and New Year’s Eve dinners came out a bit dull at the time 😅
@@AlexBarham yeah this why I would most likely go with the stapler tool for a newer boat. We definitely had to apply a lot of heat for the mesh to really sink in. I think we used a hot air gun to make the plastic a little soft then pushed it in with a soldering iron piece by piece while maintaining pressure on the opposite side of the hull. It definitely helped that those welds were on large and mostly flat surfaces
@JF.Rivest that makes sense. As said the main thing is the distortion that would probably result would be a problem
I probably fix 5 to 10 kayaks a week. The hot staplers are SO good for fixing cracks in a part of the boat that will see a lot of flex ie the hull or around the thigh braces.
Then grind them down and weld over the top...good strong weld.
What are you doing to break that many boats!?
@@AlexBarham im a rotational moulder and I fix boats as a side gig. Loads of rivers and paddlers around where I live
@DGYSAM lol think I can guess. Right on thanks for the feedback! Really appreciate it
Great testing, looks like a good combination.
How much do you trust welded boats? Do they make it back onto WW or saved for easy/flat runs?
It really all comes back to what the final condition of the area is. A bad job where there is poor adhesion, weakening or distorting of the surrounding area, etc is a time bomb. A good job where the temperatures are monitored and the filler is adequate can last a long time.
As for returning to whitewater that comes down to a few factors. A piton crack can probably go right back out as it is likely to be dry until the next hit. If the crack is from wearing the hull down under the seat until the material is thin that probably will not handle any abuse
weld inside too
When I can reach I do
first ?
Indeed! However there are no prizes