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

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