Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Thermoplastic Zipper Pull Repair”.
The best thing about rugged gear is that it lasts a long time and the worst thing about gear that lasts a long time is that the weak links show up pretty early in this case. It’S my zipper pulls they fell apart years ago, and while the trick of wrapping duct tape around a paper clip has been around for a long time. It’S a hack that lasts a week at best, and i wanted something that would hold for the duration. This fixer uses some sturdier materials binder clips and shape lock a rugged plastic that melts and becomes moldable when immersed in hot water. You can buy shape lock in the maker shed or from numerous other retailers we’ll start by taking apart a binder clip.
We only need one of the handles so set aside the rest for a future project fit the handle through the remaining structure of the zipper pull place a small twist into the open ends of the handle. This will give the plastic something to hold on to measure out a small portion of the plastic and pour it into a glass. A little goes a long way for this application, and you might use a little too much. That’S okay, pour boiling water over the plastic and wait for the pellets to turn transparent.
That’S your cue that they’re ready to be molded, remove the plastic from the glass and squeeze off any excess water taking care to avoid burns shape the plastic around the loose end of the handle make sure all parts get covered, but leave ample room around the zipper For any normal slack, if your blob of plastic is too large, that’s fine, just pull off any excess and scope the loose end back into the rest of the form. It’S easier to do this than to make too little and have to bond in extra application to an existing one. Let the plastic, cool and you’re done for these smaller poles we’ll be doing the same thing, but using a paperclip instead of a binder clip we’ll also use a smaller portion of plastic in this application. I’M taking care to keep the form fairly slim, as these zippers are on the wrist of my suit, and i don’t want to create pressure points.
Give these zipper pulls an hour to fully cure before you use them in practice. The plastic will melt at extreme temperatures, but otherwise will hold up to regular use. What are your favorite uses for shape? Lock? Let us know in the comments below thanks for watching you .
