I am new to the composite repair process but have been playing around with different products and repairs.

My present situation is that I have been trying to repair a composite hockey stick that has broken in the shaft. I have tried a couple of techniques with both being unsuccessful. I have tried the repair from the inside using a carbon fiber sleeve and resin. It holds up but definetly not strong enough for a game of hockey and eventually breaks where the repair was done.

I have also tried on the outside, which lasted longer, but it eventually broke where the repair occurred. I believe I am either using the wrong type of sleeve or I a missing something in trying to do the repair.

If someone has some expertise or suggestions of what to use it would be greatly appreciated. I know it can be done.

Thanks for your help

Laroo

Hi Laroo,

Thanks for the post. This type of repair certainly can be done and so, understanding why your repairs have not held up might require knowing a bit more about how you've been making the repairs you've done so far. For example what resin have you used, what type of reinforcement (I know you've mentioned carbon sleeve but how much, what thickness, any other reinforcement at the same time, how many layers?).

Please give me some more information about what you've done so far and I'll try to identify what needs to be done/changed.

--Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

I've tried two type of repairs: The first repair is done by taking the shaft of the stick and cutting on each side of the damaged area so the stick will fit perfectly together when joined. The next step is to take a dremel tool and engrave 3-4 gouges into the inside of the shaft on each end where the break was. Take a foam piece and place in the bottom end of the stick just below the break, this will stop the epoxy resin from going all the way done the stick. Take a carbon sleeve and place into the end where the plug was placed. Join the stick together placing the other end of the shaft over the carbon sleeve. When joined the carbon sleeve should be about 4 inches long and centered  where the break occurred. Clamp together so it will not move. Take your two part expoxy resin, I use west system epoxy. Ratio mixed accordingly. When ready pour in the top of the stick and let it run down. If down correctly the repair should work accordingly and  the break or join is not very noticeable. The problem I think I am having is that I need something in the middle of the carbon fiber sleeve (not sure if a foam or other carbon fiber) so when every thing cures and hardens it is solid. Just so you know there is the companies that do this already SRS technology is one that you see videos.

The second repair is done on the outside: The area where the break occurred is sanded down approximately 3 inches above and below the break. Once sanded a carbon fiber sleeve is placed over and the epoxy resin applied. Once allowed to dry the area is sanded down to blend in with the stick and painted a similar color to the stick and should be ready to go.

I think the problem I am having is with the sleeve. I am not sure if I have the proper sleeve. I don't think mine is carbon fiber. Can you cut a carbon fiber sleeve with normal scissors. Should I be using a unidirectional as there will be some twisting and torsion on the stick when in use. In the internal application what do I need to put inside the sleeve to make it work.

If you look at the SRS technology video shaft replacement system, that is the same thing I am trying to accomplish.

Thanks for you help,

Laroo.

I've fixed a lot of my sticks using the technique srs uses. The first thing that I think you may be doing wrong is you're use just a sleeve on the inside. what you should do is actually bundle the carbon fiber then put it in the shaft, put shaft together, pour epoxy, and let it sit for the allotted 93 hours once done with all of that for extra comfort I have put a sleeve on the outside like you had done. But you need to bundle the carbon fiber not just stick a sleeve in there.  My sticks have never been stronger.

I have also tried to repair ice hockey sticks. I attached two parts of the shaft with approx. 5 cm long piece of plastic and glued it with epoxy inside the shaft just to keep it nice and straight. After that i sanded the shaft 20 cm to both directions from the breaking point so that i could see the plain carbon. Then i wrapded one layer of CF and fixed it with electic tape, i also made few "holes" to the tape wrap with needle so that excess epoxy could run out. Wrap dried in a sauna + 30 degrees 10 hours, and actually it looked quite nice after that. Light sanding and another layer of CF, againg light sanding, some putty and sanding, finally some black paint and the stick was ready.  It looked very nice and was stiff, stiffer than the original stick was. I gave it to my friend (former pro player) for a try, and he snaped it into two pieces right away. Another stick i repaired in a same way lasted 1 hour of playing till it snaped also. The CF i used was 200 g plain weave http://www.biltema.fi/fi/Veneily/Kemikaalit/Lasi--ja-hiilikuitu/Hiilikuitukangas-30514/ 

Hello there, 

A picture would be good as it would help us to understand the depth of the damage and if it is merely a resin crack or more structural.

I’m confident we could supply you with materials and advice that would enable you to make your own hockey stick repair even if it was a structural problem.

There are some specialist techniques for certain aspects of hockey stick repair but in the main part the materials are very similar to other repair processes.

The resin to use would be our Rapid Repair Epoxy, it’s got a very high bond strength and a lot of flexural strength (good for taking impacts). The process you’ll be using mainly will be wet-lay and then binding the repair with shrink tape.

We don’t sell a hockey stick repair kit as such but the materials and products that will be of a lot of use to you are:

CarbonFibre Braided Sleeve (a type of tube/sleeve that can be slid over the stick).

EpoxyRapid Repair Resin (this is an extra high performance repair resin which bonds better and has more flexural strength).

CarbonFibre Unidirectional 250g (often used in hockey stick repairs).

CompositesHigh Shrink Tape (very useful for winding round the repair whilst the resin cures).

200g Plain Weave 3k Carbon Fibre (often used in repairs).

My suggestion would be to start with some resin, maybe an appropriate sized braid and also some  Unidirectional. I would paint resin onto the damaged area, position unidirectional material either side of the damaged area and then slide the braid over and stretch it tight. Wet the whole repair through with the epoxy and then bind it tight with the shrink tape.

Once the repair has cured, you can then sand and polish up the surface finish.

Hope this helps.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

I've made a little tutorial a while ago on how you could fix that problem...

Hi Matt,

I too am wondering about composite hockey stick shaft repair.  I noticed that this tread didn\'t answer Laroo's question. I am running into the same problem.  In the process Laroo mentioned there is foam plug used so the resin does not flow past the repair area as well as some sort of light weight "foam core" used so that the CF sleeve expands within the shaft. Can you advise on length and thickness of CF sleeve,proper epoxy/resin and the use of the foam plug and "foam core"?  




Thanks,

StraightLine2012

Use of foam plugs inside is very dependant on the exact damage and situation.  Youve got to get it in there to start with.

In terms of braid, again dependant on repair and stick itself.  You always want to ideally cover several inches past the damage on both ends to ensure you have a good overlap of fibres for strength. 

In terms of thickness, you need to replace at least the same thickness as was originally there.  You can use a thick braid or several thinner braids to achieve that. You also need to take into consideration the original carbon used.  Braid has good all round strength (as do normal fabrics) due to fibre orientation, however if a lot of unidirectional is used in the original, you need to take that into account in your repair. You can add UD fibre itself or add extra layers of braid, however the ideal solution is usually as closely matched to the original as possible.

Repairs inside the tube are always going to be a challenge to get right.  Outside repairs are much easier albeit not so cosmetically pleasing.

Hence its not so easy to be so precise when determining what is a best repair as every situation is different and as this very thread shows, there is often "several ways to string a cat" or different routes to the same end game.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant