Patching Plastic Suitcase


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igb
igb
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I've just returned home from Washington to find an 8cm split in one of our rigid suitcases, presumably where a sharp-edged case was pushed against it in the plane or during handling.   The case is made of some sort of vacuum-formed Polypropylene, about 1mm thick.   It's not worth claiming on insurance: it's five years old, scuffed, and the hassle and no-claims issues make it a non-starter.  However, it's worth spending twenty quid to keep it going.

I've reinforced laptop lids and other flat surfaces in the past using carbon-fibre sheet and Araldite, but this is a slightly curved surface and the case is slightly flexible.  I think just running Araldite into the crack will fail, as the mating surface would be just the thickness of the plastic and the slight flexing in use would rapidly crack the adhesive. 

So I'm guessing that if I bought some Kevlar braid, soaked it in epoxy resin and laid it along the crack on the inside of the case, then that would be reasonably strong?
brasco
brasco
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i have the PERFECT product--

never seen or heard of it anywhere else--

patch

i do autobody repairs and i want to try this on a plastic bumper soon.


CarbonFiberCreations



Warren (Staff)
Warren (Staff)
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A patch type repair is definitely the way to go.  As a one off repair, our CarbonFibre Rapid Repair Kit has everything you need for that kind of repair.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
igb
igb
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Yes, thank you, I've ordered the kit.

Poking around your videos, I've found the one in which repairs are being made to a kayak, and I can adapt the technique.  But I have one problem: I'd like to be able to get a gloss surface on a slightly concave section, and the technique of stretching release film over the area obviously doesn't work for that?  Is there a technique, or do I need to accept the surface will need to be sanded and re-coated?
brasco
brasco
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sweet!


CarbonFiberCreations



Warren (Staff)
Warren (Staff)
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As you can't stretch it, you just have to smooth it by hand so there are no creases in the release film.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
GO

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