Got given an old Windsurfer(brand) board ,it has a couple of small holes and shatters on it.What can I use to repair it that will stick to the polyethylene type material?Also it has no rig,is it necessary to find a Windsurfer sail and mast etc(obviously you've got to use a mast foot which suits the slot)or can other types of sail ,boom etc be used.I know it is old technology etc and not worthwhile, but I would like to get it to a useable condition.
if it has shatters it it is brittle.
polyethylene is ice cream bucket
i.e. you can twist it plenty and nothing happens
old polyethylene is best returned to the earth
it is like a violet crumble bar.
Give it back and tell him to take it to the tip himself
. There is plenty of big old gear floating around (the town that is, not the ocean) cheap if you want to try it out. Can anyone is SA lend this guy a rig and a few pointers?
i think a power saw and a garbage bin... buy another good on of ebay for a few hundred bucks..
Yep thanks, generally incredibly helpful.If you have no idea the answer is I don't know.
a: nothing sticks to polyethylene
b: nothing sticks to polyethylene
c: nothing sticks to polyethylene
try this,
mix up some epoxy in an ice cream bucket and let it set.
then twist the bucket.
the epoxy will break away
sorry about the bad news. however you could sand the areas with 60# sandpaper
and use epoxy resin and glass cloth. but that will break away fairly quickly.
or try epiglass epifill white to fill the holes and cross your fingers.
available from marine shops
I am not sure if this will work seeing as the wally is filled with foam, but I have repaired many white water kayaks by plastic welding them.
To do this you will need some of the same sort of plastic the wally is made out of, preferably around the same thickness. The heat the plastic up on the wally a little, and heat the extra bit you have up to very very soft and almost melt, then jujst use heat to weld the two bits together.
You might also be able to use this technique to weld a small finbox track (just cut one to fit snug) into the deck of the wally so you can use a std mast base with it.
I know on kayaks and canoes this works a treat, not sure how well it will work with the wally, but hey if you got it for free what do you have to loose. Google kayak repair and you will prob find more info.
Otherwise, just fill the holes with white all purpose filler (the stuff you use in bathrooms etc). Wont be pretty, but should work.
nice one jamie good to see you back in qld!
we used to try welding wallys but could never get the plastics to bond, something to do with the cross linked polyethylene.
maybe bumper bar welders could help
yeah been back for a while, just very quiet...till now :)
shame I have to be up here in Brisneland for work, would love to be on the coast again.
back on topic, you could be right about the crosslinked poly...so just use some sika flex, I haven't seen much that stuff wont stick to.
if you really whant to ceep sailing the board gets some sikaflex 292 it a high strength adhesive avalble from all good ship chandelers
Thanks very much there are some good suggestions to try there,should be able to make it watertight at least.It is only an old clunker but the family and grand kids want to use it as a paddle board, and I would like to find a rig for it and relive my mistakes of yester year.Thanks
it may be possible to experiment with a hot glue gun
sounds too simple but I remember someone mentioning it to me when I had my one designs, never tried it as i never had the need to..and always thought plastic welding the go..although i know the internal foam wont like that .
try the glue if its hot enough perhaps it will bond to the plastic,if not it may stay in long enough to only need replacing every now and then.
I still have an original windsurfer in good nick [although i am currently selling it as I have too many boards.. about 10 other boards [mostly boards with centreboards]] and still think windsurfers and one designs are the best no nonsense boards...if kept out of the sun for the last 30 years they really are virtually indestructable
have fun with it..part of the fun is solving your problems and sailing it knowing it cost you nothing and you repared it..what do you loose ..a few sticks of hotglue.
do you have a mast foot...use the correct one.dont simply screw in a fake one..dont create problems with screw holes or the like.they easily work loose under the pressure.
admittedly the spade of the original mast base can slide out while sailing [if it is perhaps well worn due to sand wearing the plastic ]
..a simple if rather funny solution is to put a sock over it and insert into hole..thus increasing friction fit....
If it cost you nothing and it is dieing plastic then just hotglue it and ab/use it.
it will still take it...and you will love it so much you will want a mint one or a one design.
regards the rig
you can use any rig from any period to get it going.
but for fun you really dont need bigger than a 6m and a smaller one for the kids say 3.5 to 4.5 or 5m depending on their size.It comes down to what you want to spend old gear is cheap and some free..but good moderner sails and boom makes an enjoyable experience on an old board...keep in mind what you spend on rig may be better in buying someone's complete package of other types of boards or a better original windsurfer or one design.
Often as someone is getting rid of a complete package the entire price is worth less than the individual pieces as people just like to move the garage clutter...i mean windsurfing gear.
as long as you have the original mast base you can use any mast..[you can sleeve the mast base up to take a standard mast as the windsurfer mast is a couple mm smaller internal diameter...hydrodynamics tyronsea has a sleeve to suit, that is under $10 or simply use tape around the mast base .You dont need this sleeve though if you have an original windsurfer mast.It is also possible to change the mast cup on the mast base if using larger mast.
get yourself a cheap mast sail and boom and have fun...but having said that if you pay too much for the rig you may find you could have bought a complete board with rig for the price.
but if you are missing the mast base,and the dagger board and the fin you will be better to buy a complete board and rig
the mast bases are hard to find and use a uni joint which wears out.,and one that isnt flogged out is rare..[if you are after one contact me]
the dagger boards are also hard to find [you could easily sail it with out one but you loose one of the big advantages of sailing a longboard.
but i believe that fins may still be available as they fit the one design too. so perhaps you can buy this from the sellers of one designs.
These early windsurfers and one designs have copped the jokes for a long time..now they are coming back...with one designs being raced and socialised thanks to Chris and others who have the passion..I only gave up on them due to health reasons and thier one downfall for me was their physical weight..other than that I would never have went to epoxy longboards .
You can leave your board in the sun int the backyard ,let the kids play on it,slide over rocks, slide it along the sand,and know that basically it will handle it,and as yours is rough anyway..who cares./..it cost nothing...you wouldnt do that if it was epoxy.
enjoy the board that bought more people into windsurfing than any other board..
