Modular polo mallet head design

or if you're good with a soldering iron, there's plastic weld rods

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Plastic-welding-kit-plastic-repair-kit-plastic-glue_W0QQitemZ260524332048QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=be7fe0441200a0aad3063226fff947da

maybe someone should bite the bullet and buy one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Plastic-Hot-Air-Welding-Kit%2fPlastic-Welding-Hot-Air-Gun_W0QQitemZ170414435862QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=be7fe0441200a0aad3063226fff947da

seems like enough interest in this thread to pay for it right off

Had a mallet making session here in Melbourne last week and some of the guys were capping with circles of plastic chopping boards. Seems these are similar to/same as HDPE and can be drilled out with circular bits to the right diameter. Then just screwed or glued in. Don't know what glue would be best? Araldite?

well i think plastic weld cement will actually chemically melt PVC/ABS to form a molecular bond but i'm not sure if it would have the same effect on polypropelene (which i think those chopping boards are made of). epoxies don't take well to it since it's so soft, so screwing is probably a better plan, seems like a good idea as a material though. check the pound shops for cutting boards :)

I have a head capped with chopping board and screwed in place. It's heavier than I would like. The Lucky heads are much lighter. Glue seems like it wouldn't last too long?

Plastic welding seems interesting.

well i think plastic weld cement will actually chemically melt PVC/ABS to form a molecular bond but i'm not sure if it would have the same effect on polypropelene (which i think those chopping boards are made of). epoxies don't take well to it since it's so soft, so screwing is probably a better plan, seems like a good idea as a material though. check the pound shops for cutting boards :)

I don't know if this is the same thing you're all talking about.When I was at college the model makers used some liquid solution in tiny amounts to bond acrylic. Strong as. Could work on plastics (polypropylene?) but may dissolve it. I can investigate if required.

Can we get HDPE pipe over here? I've only been able to find it in crazy diameters so far...

why not ABS?? is but people got last time

Can we get HDPE pipe over here? I've only been able to find it in crazy diameters so far...
Gas and water pipe is HDPE.

maybe someone should bite the bullet and buy one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Plastic-Hot-Air-Welding-Kit%2fPlastic-Welding-Hot-Air-Gun_W0QQitemZ170414435862QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=be7fe0441200a0aad3063226fff947da

seems like enough interest in this thread to pay for it right off

go on, bite the bullet then.

I thought the yellow/blue stuff was MDPE?

ABS is polystyrene based so caps would have to be glued/screwed rather than fused.

if the caps and the pipe are made of the same material, I'm suposse they could be fuse together

ABS is beautiful to play with uncapped. It has a life of less than two weeks per haad though.

I just found this somewhere else

"using melted ABS is probably your best bet, you just need to chop up some scrap ABS into shavings (I used a big drill bit on some ABS and it made shavings very quickly), and then put them in some acetone. Play with the mixture until it comes out to your desired consistency. Make it in a squirt bottle, use it just like epoxy or whatever. This way, the entire work piece is made of ABS plastic so you shouldn't have problems with thermal expansion leading to cracks or separation like you can have with other materials."

"You only need acetone, no need for other products or ABS chips.
Just brush acetone on both pieces, join them and wait 5 minutes.
You will find that your two pieces now are literally one piece."

I thought the yellow/blue stuff was MDPE?
http://www.jmeagle.com/plastic-pipe/pe-pipe/mdpe-yellow-gas.html
Apparently you're right.

It seemed like there was enough interest in the Lucky heads to attempt to create them here for cheaper. The equipment and process is not exactly expensive/complicated but it would only work on HDPE/MDPE pipe. You basically buy a heat plate and a thermostat, clean/face the adjoining pipe/cap, heat them up to a specific tempterature and then join whilst applying the correct amount of force. The moleclues flow into each other and then crystalise when it cools.

It's not really worth doing to MDPE though so would rely on:

1) finding HDPE pipe and sheets
2) being able to machine HDPE caps
3) having space to do it all (I don't think the cat would like plastic fumes)

Other than that, it's flawless I tell you.

go on, bite the bullet then.

don't have anywhere to put it or use it unfortunately.

James, I think if we could find the caps already made (no need to machine them), find out what is the exact temperature and amount of force needed, we could give this a go in a DIY style.

we could use something like this to heat the pipe/cap, and this and this to press it together.

In terms of temperature, the one I've seen quoted for HDPE is 220 C. You are meant to heat it until the melted beads of plastic are around 1/8" in size. Too much force results (at worse) in a convex join so I think we would be able to work that out after a couple of attempts.

If we try it with ABS, the danger would be that too much heat will cause it to spontaneously burst into flames (because the plastic is polystyrene based this would be particulary nasty).

So the problem is ready made HDPE/MDPE caps...

what will be the most desirable material HDPE or MDPE??

HDPE - it's lighter and denser

i like ABS but the ABS i bought here is different then what we have in canada. our 2 1/4" is a lot thicker on the walls and is shatterproof. 2 heads i made of UK ABS shattered on the first day

the caps we got last time, and only time, were OK, they did eventually wear out and crack, but no in the first 3 months

I have found HDPE pipe here in the UK, but can find caps, can anybody help???

I think the Lucky ones are sheet HDPE machined into caps so I'm not even sure they exist - it's not stopping me looking though.