Stars not joined?

[tooldini]

Hello, Today my neighbor came over to see if I could fix his windshield. His wife had just gotten two chips the other day. They were two tight stars with each having 3 or 4 half inch legs. They were almost connecting but not quite. I was wondering if I should have even attempted it, but wanted me to try so I did LOL. I warned him that it may not turn out he didn't care. Well I figured I would do them as two seperate repairs so I set up for one and did a vacuum cycle. As soon as I applied some pressure the damn thing cracked about 1/4 more so I just stopped and told him I didn't wanna continue. Should I have even done the repair? he was not mad at all but I felt kinda stupid. I was intimidating just looking at this damage,, even though it wasn't really that terrible. I had the temperature on the shield around 70 with defroster on. Both chips were really tight,, like they were just little nicks on the glass with cracks coming off and almost combining the two. Sorry to make this so long but never seen one like that before. Any ideas so I don't feel stupid again LOL

thanks
Jeff

[cure4glass]

I usually have success joining legs such as these with a bullseye in the center,then began filling at the bullseye,Allowing plenty of time for them to fill,and flex gently if necessary but allow the resin to fill as much as possible on it's own.If you'll be patient, the resin will do most of the work.Good Luck!

[tooldini]

I figured someone would say that. I guess I just need to see this done by someone before I attempt it myself. Thanks for the help cure4glass

Jeff

[Sneck]

Hi Tooldini,

I have had a few of these types of jobs pretty much exactly as you describe. These always make me a little nervous because you can almost tell that just by looking at them they want to crack-out on you. I always proceeded very gently - like holding a newborn baby.

The break(s) as you describe - I have seen them, I know what you mean. They are like small star-breaks with no center body of damage and cracks that seem too tight to fill.

You could drill and pop a mini bullsye to create a center "pocket" that will accept resin, and hopefully all the legs will be connected to the "mini-bullseye" and will fill completely.

You could also try filling by capillary action or "wicking" the resin into the break, but you may also need to flex the break to get the damage to open up in order to accept the resin.

Make sure your resin is 100 pecent UV blocked so you can keep it as thin as possible to tackle this tight break.

Since this is a double-break, and probably an ugly one at that, you did the right thing advising your customer that it may not turn out. But since he wanted you to go ahead and try anyway - that's cool - you have lowered your customers expectations.

Do the repair. If you succeed and get a good repair - you learned something. If you fail and cannot charge for the repair - well.... you also learned something there too!

[screenman]

I am going to upset a few people here. If you are not confident about doing any sort of repair you have not done enough practise. Keep smashing those practise screens making bigger and diffrent style of breaks and repairing them, remember if you live in a wet area make every chip wet before you start your repairs. This makes it more real life, keep going until you feel good.

[tooldini]

Well good advice from everyone and I am gonna use it on some laminate I have around the house for practice. I guess my main thing is to learn to pop a nice bullseye. Thank you everyone for the advice

Jeff

[Dave M]

Since you are going to practice, you need to get an actual windshield (used of course) not a flat piece of laminated glass.
Find a stand for the w/s so it is at an angle just like it was in a vehicle. If you have a heated garage start practicing there but as your repairs become better move outside to practice.
I've been repairing for 12 years and the breaks that you described can be tough for anyone. Good luck!

[CV Windshield Repair]

Make sure you use the thinnest resin possible, if you have any 10cps resin this will make the repair easier to do. This type of break usually requires a lot of flexing to get the resin to fill all the legs. It is usually safer to flex a cool windshield than a hot one,try not to use too much pressure from your injector. As has already been stated it will take a little more time to repair this type of break properly. I always drill into the center of the star and pop a bullseye which in combination with the procedures mentioned above work pretty well.

[tooldini]

Any idea were I could get a stand like that? Maybe at an art supply shop. I know I used one when I went to a 3 day class. I have been doing some practices on the flat glass and also windshields. Your right though I need to practice on a regular windshield. I will make sure I use the thiner resin. Thanks everyone.

Jeff

[repare-brise]

If you have the space have the local recycling yard bring you a car, I have an arangement with one of my local yards for when I do training. They bring me a car for $40, I practice(student practices) then they pickit up 3 days later(end of course. You might be able to get the same service, call around.

At Your Service