Is searing worth it?

lemon_squeezer2 · Post by **lemon_squeezer2** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 2:36 pm

Usually when I have a broken Lego piece - beyond repair and pretty much useless - I throw it away.

I have a dark grey round shield though that broke when my brother stepped on it

I've tried glueing the handle back on, but over such a small area, the bond is pretty weak. So, my idea is to hold the broken off handle to a flame until the desired point is tacky and then quickly press it on the shield - or something like that.

Does this work? Any comments, suggestions?

Thanks

forester3291 · Post by **forester3291** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 2:43 pm

I actually tried this once with a broken lightsaber and a lance. It wirked out fairly well.

What I did was well...I struck a match, held it to the one side of the broken lightsber blade. And after a few seconds( or maybe ten or so) the plastic was melted just enough. I then quickly put the other end right to it. Well to tell the truth it didn't work out all that great considering it didn't dry right away and some plastic sorta bent and bubbled

The lance though is another story. It was broken off at the hilt. It turned out nice sine the hily sort of stopped the plastic from bending.

I think the shield would turn out nice since some plastic would be okay melting into the shield a bit.

Good luck on fixing.

I sympathize with you completely. My sisters have broken a number of things when coming is my room asking to play with my LEGO.

lemon_squeezer2 · Post by **lemon_squeezer2** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 4:40 pm

Well, I tried it, and I really don't know if I should call it a success or a failure. Maybe I'll call it a successful failure

Three times I tried melting the tip of the broken off handle, and three times the plastic dried too fast. If you can imagine the handle as a "T", the side that connects to the actual shield was disappearing fast. Finally, I just let the thing catch on fire, and then forced it right on. That worked. However, the handle set at a bit of an angle, so it tilts up a bit. Oh well.

At least I have a round shield that can be handled with now. I think I've gotten the hang of it.

This raises a question though. Would a "purist" do this or throw it away? Is this "orthodox"?

TwoTonic Knight · Post by **TwoTonic Knight** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:12 pm

You can try it but I don't advise it. The plastic tends to have two states and transitions quickly from one to the other very quickly. Instead of softening and becoming tacky, it tends to be either hard plastic or instantly fluid. It will ball up and lose its shape completely down to the point that it remains solid.

J1A3L5 · Post by **J1A3L5** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 1:12 am

lemon_squeezer2 wrote:This raises a question though. Would a "purist" do this or throw it away? Is this "orthodox"?

I'd throw it away.

I do, however, keep a small collection of broken pieces. I have an idea for them...sometime...

Was the broken piece officially made by LEGO? Technically, the pieces were made by LEGO, but were not intended for that.

porschecm2 · Post by **porschecm2** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:57 am

Hmmm...I've messed around with melted ABS a bit. I wouldn't recommend repairing broken pieces by heating/melting them together. It sounds simple enough in theory, but it's not that simple. I would go for a very strong super glue, or better yet, a 2 part epoxy. A strong 2 part epoxy that you mix together just prior to using should create a bond that's as hard as the original plastic. Any excess can be later filed/sanded off. I've got some broken pieces that were repaired this way years ago, and they've held up fine, even under heavy play.

And I never throw away broken pieces, even if they're beyond repair(like broken clips).

Cm2