Well did a DIY ball repair (using Ye oldie tip)

[bowl1820]

Sorry I forgot to take the before pic.

I noticed My girlfriends ball (a white dot she's had for several years now) the other night. Had lost some chunks around the finger and thumb holes (its had a ton of cracks around them for a few years now. But the WD's hold up).

So I decided to do the repair job myself. I used a old DIY ball repair tip, I used a product called "Devcon Plastic Welder" now known as "ITW Plastic Welder". I picked up at Autozone

click here for ITW Performance Polymers/Off white 15 min. plastic welding system




Here's the out come ( I haven't done this in awhile)



(The red arrows indicate the filled areas)

Most times I use some superglue and Master Kwik-set accelerator (which is basically what the Master Kwik- Patch Kit is), but this time the size of the repair I felt need more. So dusted off this oldie, I picked up years back.

First thing I did was sanded around the holes some. Then I cleaned the damaged areas with some alcohol (to remove debris and any oils).

Next I mixed a small amount of plastic welder, once mixed you work quick it will start setting up in about 2-3 mins.

I filled in damaged area (I left the inserts in to keep the shape of the hole) and put some on the cracked areas (Hoping some would enter the cracks to help reinforce them), as it was setting I used a small wood dowel to roll over the area just to make sure it filled every where.

It was set in about 15 mins. but I let it set over night for for max hardness.

After letting it set all night, I then used a bevel knife and smoothed off the excess (I don't have plug cutter.) Then on the spinner I resurfaced it and put my favorite spare ball surface (800 grit base then polished)

It came out pretty good, That little place on the bridge was covered by the insert edge so didn't get filled then pulled back later. Not a problem when I replace the grips, I'm going to bevel the holes again and it will be gone.

It's a cheap, down and dirty repair but it gets the job done on the cheap.

The plastic welder only comes in cream color, but I was told it would accept ball plug colors. But I don't know I never tried it.