(Topic ID: 172716)

Plastic Repair!

By Pinball-DOOD

7 years ago



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    #1 7 years ago

    I have a bent plastic on my Firepower and I would like to flatten it out! I do not own a heat gun so I was wondering if I could use a hair blow dryer instead. Would this work? Thanks

    #2 7 years ago

    Yes it should. might take longer but less chance of damage.

    #3 7 years ago
    Quoted from BioBa:

    Yes it should. might take longer but less chance of damage.

    Awesome, thanks. Do you have any tips before I go about doing this?

    #4 7 years ago

    There's lots of ways to flatten plastics. If you search here you'll come across them, including putting them in the oven. One of the easiest methods is to put the plastic between two sheets of playfield glass and put it out in the sun for a tick.

    #5 7 years ago
    Quoted from Skins:

    There's lots of ways to flatten plastics. If you search here you'll come across them, including putting them in the oven. One of the easiest methods is to put the plastic between two sheets of playfield glass and put it out in the sun for a tick.

    Cool! Will do, thanks!

    #6 7 years ago
    Quoted from Skins:

    There's lots of ways to flatten plastics. One of the easiest methods is to put the plastic between two sheets of playfield glass and put it out in the sun for a tick.

    I tried this. put a few plastics between two pieces of glass held with several spring clamps. I left it above my masonry heater (~150-170 degrees) for a couple months. It had little effect.

    #7 7 years ago

    I use a heat gun and lay the plastic on top of my glass stove top , It works great, you have to be gentle and heat it up slowly, I apply heat to the back side, plastic becomes very pliable and lays flat when its at the right temp, then I just put some weight on it to hold it flat until it cools

    #8 7 years ago

    Cool! I'm just going to use a blow dryer to be sure I don't burn the plastic because I am new to this

    1 week later
    #9 7 years ago

    I tried flattening all the plastics on my Stern Meteor this morning. It worked PERFECT! This was the first time I've tried flattening plastics in the oven. (I've tried outside in the sun, but that was just fair, results wise.)
    Here's my step by step process:
    1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
    2. Place plastic facing upward (you can look down on the artwork and see it just like you would if it were on the machine) on a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper between the sheet and the plastic.
    3. Put it in the oven for 10 minutes.
    4. Remove from oven and place a piece of parchment paper on top of the plastic.
    5. Place a couple of heavy books (I used a dictionary and a medical dictionary) over the plastic.
    6. Wait a good 20 minutes or until the baking sheet and plastic has completely cooled.
    7. Look at your beautiful flat plastics!

    All the dangers apply. If you don't watch this and forget you could have a melted blob. Also, oven temperatures can vary, so your mileage may vary as well. I was kinda scared on the first attempt. But it went so well that I did all the other plastics and every single one of them came out perfectly. Now, don't forget to get those bad boys nice and cleaned up before you do this. You don't want to get imbedded dirt and gunk into the plastic. Cheers!

    #10 7 years ago
    Quoted from Enaud:

    I tried flattening all the plastics on my Stern Meteor this morning. It worked PERFECT! This was the first time I've tried flattening plastics in the oven. (I've tried outside in the sun, but that was just fair, results wise.)
    Here's my step by step process:
    1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
    2. Place plastic facing upward (you can look down on the artwork and see it just like you would if it were on the machine) on a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper between the sheet and the plastic.
    3. Put it in the oven for 10 minutes.
    4. Remove from oven and place a piece of parchment paper on top of the plastic.
    5. Place a couple of heavy books (I used a dictionary and a medical dictionary) over the plastic.
    6. Wait a good 20 minutes or until the baking sheet and plastic has completely cooled.
    7. Look at your beautiful flat plastics!
    All the dangers apply. If you don't watch this and forget you could have a melted blob. Also, oven temperatures can vary, so your mileage may vary as well. I was kinda scared on the first attempt. But it went so well that I did all the other plastics and every single one of them came out perfectly. Now, don't forget to get those bad boys nice and cleaned up before you do this. You don't want to get imbedded dirt and gunk into the plastic. Cheers!

    Glad to hear it worked, my friend! I used a hair blow dryer on Firepower's plastics and it worked really well! Took a little longer but not too bad!

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