Mudguards

Possibly this should be in the Blue Peter / DIY thread…

Edscoble’s question of 29th November (Any question answered) started the thinking - outcome spawned by Edscoble’s Heinz mudflap and Fox’s ‘ziptie rubbish’ comment.

Buggered if I can get photos to embed – have to make do with thumbnails

Assemble tools and materials: domestic iron, scissors, greaseproof paper, plywood / MDF, polythene bag(s)
IMPORTANT – ALWAYS USE GREASEPROOF PAPER TO PROTECT THE IRON AND PREVENT MOLTEN PLASTIC STICKING TO SOMEONE ELSE’S DOMESTIC APPLIANCE. (consider yourself cautioned…)
Preheat iron to ‘cotton’ (no steam) – may have to experiment a bit to get a temperature that welds the plastic without melting holes in it.
Cut polythene to size – around 5cm bigger than mudflap size – 10 to 20 pieces depending on thickness.
Place add layer of polythene, cover with greaseproof paper top and bottom, iron, hold flat with second piece of plywood until cool. Repeat until stiff enough. I used a full bin bag, giving a total thickness of around 0.4mm.
Final optional layer – cut out shapes in another colour or carefully selected coloured area of chosen carrier bag. Fix with iron as above.
Cut to shape with sharp scissors. Make fixing holes with a hot nail / broken spoke – if hot enough, the polythene will melt and form a thicker lip to the hole.
Attach to existing mudguard by favourite method – cable ties, screws, rivets, chewing gum etc.

I suspect Ed’s idea of riding in the wet and my experience of ‘mud’ on the road are leading to different requirements: rainwater mostly runs off, Shropshire mud and shit sticks and builds up until it fouls the tyre no matter how much clearance there is, cured only by stopping and scraping it off with a stick.

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