rrichardson86
Race Dog
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2009
- Messages
- 1,013
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- Bike
- BMW R80GS
A little trick I learnt this weekend. I had read up about using Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic and melting it in acetone to effect a repair on motorbike plastics but was skeptical as usual with all "miracle" things on the interwebs. Let me tell you though that this truly works like a dream.
On the internet it says that you should use Lego bricks but if you are like me and grew up playing with Lego then that is sacrilege! DO NOT USE LEGO! Lego is now bloody expensive too! The best thing to do is find an old BROKEN KEYBOARDS and use the keys as it is the exact same material!!! Put in a whole lot of keyboard pieces (which you can loosen using a screwdriver) into acetone and a glass jar and let it melt over night. Some videos say you need to drill the ABS into fine pieces but I found that the whole keys are fine and take about an hour or two to melt completely. The trick though is to use 100% acetone (R40 from Mica Hardware) and not nail polisher remover (which I didn't even bother with).
Once melted, the consistency of the melted ABS should be like honey. It just makes it easier to work with in my opinion but you can chose the consistency you like. If it is too runny just add in more keys to thicken it. The initial slurry is a grey colour. As the parts I wanted to repair were black I used some sort of black oxide that they use for cement to colour it black (R30 from Mica). Im sure you get a whole range of colours though. Mix and match. Apply it to the part with a toothpick and let it dry and harden. You can then use a light sandpaper to sand it down so you can't see anything. It is a great filler for fine cracks.
For my headlight mounting which was completely broken I used a strips of the space key on the keyboard to make a re-enforcement.
It is 10 times stronger than the Pratley's steel and adhesive which kept cracking and breaking off. I can honestly say it is the strongest bond I have come across and is ideally suited to motorbike plastics.
So before you buy a next part and send a whole bunch of monies give this a go. :thumleft: PM if you have any questions! :thumleft: Sorry I forgot to take photos!
On the internet it says that you should use Lego bricks but if you are like me and grew up playing with Lego then that is sacrilege! DO NOT USE LEGO! Lego is now bloody expensive too! The best thing to do is find an old BROKEN KEYBOARDS and use the keys as it is the exact same material!!! Put in a whole lot of keyboard pieces (which you can loosen using a screwdriver) into acetone and a glass jar and let it melt over night. Some videos say you need to drill the ABS into fine pieces but I found that the whole keys are fine and take about an hour or two to melt completely. The trick though is to use 100% acetone (R40 from Mica Hardware) and not nail polisher remover (which I didn't even bother with).
Once melted, the consistency of the melted ABS should be like honey. It just makes it easier to work with in my opinion but you can chose the consistency you like. If it is too runny just add in more keys to thicken it. The initial slurry is a grey colour. As the parts I wanted to repair were black I used some sort of black oxide that they use for cement to colour it black (R30 from Mica). Im sure you get a whole range of colours though. Mix and match. Apply it to the part with a toothpick and let it dry and harden. You can then use a light sandpaper to sand it down so you can't see anything. It is a great filler for fine cracks.
For my headlight mounting which was completely broken I used a strips of the space key on the keyboard to make a re-enforcement.
It is 10 times stronger than the Pratley's steel and adhesive which kept cracking and breaking off. I can honestly say it is the strongest bond I have come across and is ideally suited to motorbike plastics.
So before you buy a next part and send a whole bunch of monies give this a go. :thumleft: PM if you have any questions! :thumleft: Sorry I forgot to take photos!
