My attempt at fixing plastic shrouds

Ok, I'm sure most of you have seen my thread where I busted my 440's shrouds with my hand when the saw kicked back on start up. If not, here's a pic of the damage...



I popped the cracked pieces back out (they were never totally broken off).



Next, I gathered my supplies for the fix. Normally, I would use 90% isopropyl alcohol here instead of tolulene but I was at work and we didn't have the isopropyl. That is a 5 min 2 part epoxy by Permatex.



To be continued...

 

Now, I used some 150 grit sand paper to rough up the inside of each shroud.





I cut some metal screen to fit into the broken areas.



I then used compressed air, then the tolulene to make sure the sanded area is clean. I mixed up some epoxy and spread it liberally on the plastic. I like to let this stuff set for a minute or two if I'm applying some type of mesh over the fix (as I did here). So a few moments later I stuck the screen to the half set-up epoxy. A few minutes later, I mixed up another batch of epoxy to cover the screen.

 

Here's the finished product.

 

Of course, I made a slight mess with the epoxy on the outside of the covers. For what it's worth, the tolulene cleaned it right up without damaging the factory finish. Granted, it wasn't quite cured yet.

I forgot to get pictures of the parts on the saw, I'll grab some later. You can still tell they were cracked, but this fix should keep them together and resisting more damage from general use.

I seen a thread on AS of a guy using Bondo fiberglass repair kit, I would have loved to do that but didn't feel like hunting it down. This is just stuff I had laying around the shop at home.

 

G.I. Joe approved!



Mmmmm, 440's!

 

Looks great!..you saved a lot of cash vs replacement. Let us know how it holds up

 

That epoxy is the bomb. I've fixed thousands of $ worth of stuff with a couple $5 tubes.
Nice work.

 

Nice work!! Looks great - good job! Cheers!

 

looks really good. That epoxy works wonders...

 

Come on, tell us the truth........................You punched your saw, didn't you!!!

 

Great idea on that fix, looks good. You can barely tell it's cracked

 

Smart........very smart.

 

Is that like window screen or metal mesh screen similar to what guys use to keep chips out of the saws and for muffler outlet screen?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Ste...01CU0GV0/ref=pd_zg_rss_ms_indust_industrial_7

 

I just used some old metal window screen I had laying around for this fix.

 

I was in the wrong thread.

The link I posted is the screen we use in muffler mods. lol