Fairing Plastic Welder?! | GTAMotorcycle.com

Fairing Plastic Welder?!

Awwww, thanks Chris! It's been a busy year!
 
I hear he's also super awesome.

not hard. you can find plastic welding tools on ebay but for small stuff just a cheapo $11 soldering iron will work.
 
It took me 2 years to learn to do it properly with a real plastic welder ... I went through a pile of scrap fairings in the process .... I receive a large number of fairings for repair , that people have attempted to repair themselves, and many are warped or damaged beyond repair .... If I am able to repair it , it usually involves a lot of extra time undoing the well intentioned work that the owner did ... Time = $$ ... Maybe you'll get it perfect , 1st time , with an $11 soldering gun .... For what I charge , for a professional job, I don't know why anyone would attempt it 1st time , on their own bike , ill equipped , with no experience , but what do I know ? My hourly rates are about half of what most body shops charge .... Sorry for the mini rant , just my .02 .... Cheers , Les


Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk
 
Understand where you are coming from but hey I'd rather mess up and learn something than just have it done.
Experience is the best teacher and I would like to learn even if I mess it up.
Failure leads to success...if I do mess up, i'll be in contact.
Your rant is completely understandable.

I'm up this late because i'm on a night shift.
 
cheekeebandito said:
It took me 2 years to learn to do it properly with a real plastic welder ... I went through a pile of scrap fairings in the process .... I receive a large number of fairings for repair , that people have attempted to repair themselves, and many are warped or damaged beyond repair .... If I am able to repair it , it usually involves a lot of extra time undoing the well intentioned work that the owner did ... Time = $$ ... Maybe you'll get it perfect , 1st time , with an $11 soldering gun .... For what I charge , for a professional job, I don't know why anyone would attempt it 1st time , on their own bike , ill equipped , with no experience , but what do I know ? My hourly rates are about half of what most body shops charge .... Sorry for the mini rant , just my .02 .... Cheers , Les


Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I can't see how it would take two years to learn how to plastic weld... That's a really long time... I finished my university degree in two years, I can't see how learning how to plastic weld would take two years. Don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit?
 
oren102 said:
I can't see how it would take two years to learn how to plastic weld... That's a really long time... I finished my university degree in two years, I can't see how learning how to plastic weld would take two years. Don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit?
Click to expand...

You obviously have never seen Cheekeebandito's work than?

He's a perfectionist. The stuff that people have given him, and what he brings it back too is unreal. Its back to OEM finish if not better ..
 
infernobuster said:
You obviously have never seen Cheekeebandito's work than?

He's a perfectionist. The stuff that people have given him, and what he brings it back too is unreal. Its back to OEM finish if not better ..
Click to expand...

I'm not doubting his perfectionism or quality, I'm just saying that two years is an exaggeration.

Also, we are not discussing oem paint finish, the topic is strictly limited to fixing plastic.
 
2 years to PERFECT it is what I should have said....... I've been doing it for about 8 years now..... There's always room for improvement..... I wouldn't call what I did "good" until about the 2 year point.... There is a lot of very bad advice given by so-called "experts" on this forum ...... Thanks again Chris
 
cheekeebandito said:
2 years to PERFECT it is what I should have said....... I've been doing it for about 8 years now..... There's always room for improvement..... I wouldn't call what I did "good" until about the 2 year point.... There is a lot of very bad advice given by so-called "experts" on this forum ...... Thanks again Chris
Click to expand...

My cheque is in the mail right? lol ..
 
cheekeebandito said:
It took me 2 years to learn to do it properly with a real plastic welder ... I went through a pile of scrap fairings in the process .... I receive a large number of fairings for repair , that people have attempted to repair themselves, and many are warped or damaged beyond repair .... If I am able to repair it , it usually involves a lot of extra time undoing the well intentioned work that the owner did ... Time = $$ ... Maybe you'll get it perfect , 1st time , with an $11 soldering gun .... For what I charge , for a professional job, I don't know why anyone would attempt it 1st time , on their own bike , ill equipped , with no experience , but what do I know ? My hourly rates are about half of what most body shops charge .... Sorry for the mini rant , just my .02 .... Cheers , Les
Click to expand...


Well I think my first time with a $20 plastic welder worked out just fine. feel free to look at the pics in my signature and let me know. in 3 years the fairing held up fine. it was my first time dealing with ABS. granted my background is a little different than most people, but still.

I see where you're coming from, I see how having to touch up botch jobs makes more work. I see how DIY takes business. I'm all for learnign whenever possible though and think everyone should be exposed to new things.
personally I wouldn't ever do plastic welding for anyone else just becuase of the toxic fumes involved. a little bit fine, but being around ABS fumes all the time? no thank you. resporatory or not that stuff will cling to walls and always be there whether you smell it or not.
 
Hi!

Anyone know of, or could recommend, a plastic welder in the Hamilton (or surrounding) area?

Thank you!
 
I do plastic welding, I am located in Oakville just off the QEW. We are a small express body shop and repairing and refinishing plastic parts is one thing we do a lot of. We are much much cheaper then full body shops too.

I realize I am a little late at posting this but if you still need work done you can contact me at Oakville Auto Dentist 905-847-2886

ps we also do pdr (paintless dent removal) which mean we can repair metal fuel tanks too.

Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom