Great video, David! And to go a little further than one other comment, this is the only video I have been able to find for bonding inexpensive thin blue poly tarp together. Surely it also works for heavy duty poly tarps. I tested on an old, cheap, thin blue tarp, figuring if I could weld it together, I could weld any of the poly tarps together. The best temp setting I found was just a hair below the wool setting. Also, when bonding two overlapping pieces together to make a combined larger tarp, I found it to be critical to overlap the pieces for a width greater than the width of the iron (e.g., about 7+ inches overlap for a 5" wide iron), and critical to only bond inside the overlap, never to the edge of the overlap. Going to the edge of the overlap, or beyond, weakened the single tarp layer so much that it easily tore after bonding. Done properly, the bond was stronger than the tarp material. Also, I applied heat first from one side to form an initial weld, then afterward flipped the weld over and applied heat from the other side, with the hope of producing the strongest weld I could make. I trimmed off the excess flaps on each side of the weld to make the appearance a little neater. While there was some darkening and shrinking of the blue tarp in the bond area, my objective was simply to get a strong functional bond without weakening the unbonded area, not to get a perfect appearance. While it may be possible to "peel" the bond apart, the bond was so strong that when I tried to pull the pieces apart in the same plane (i.e., shear force), the tarp material tore while the entire weld remained intact. Weld shear strength is the strength that counts for most tarp end uses. Finally, the weld was "flexible," i.e., did not crack when bent or folded. Thanks, David!!
Not sure you have seen this, but commercial sheet plastic welders, even those used for food storage in the freezer, have a heated wheel, or bar often made with a Teflon skin and have a strip of metal for the other side of the plastic. Once the best temperature is applied through the heated wheel, or bar, the other metal strip reflects the heat through the plastic sheets to make the bond.
I used my daughters flat curling iron. during my "test welds" I discovered that if you use a damp/wet cloth it speeds up the cooling process and you can remove the parchment paper quicker without the plastic stretching or sticking to it... Back on here to find other peoples ideas, what they did
This video helped me a lot. Joining two plastic became easier. This method is effective unlike using clear cellotape which peel off with time. Thank you👍
Thank you for sharing. If you change the title of your video to "How to weld Polyethylene (or Polyethene) cheap lightweight tarps" or so, I am quite sure you will get much more views. I was trawling the net for methods of welding these some time back ago wanting to make a work tent, to no luck. Post date your upload. I found this video now by mere chance outside todays relevance. I had no luck back then finding other videos to my search criterias adressing this issue. I guess few knows how, inspite it is the most sold consumer type of tarp material. Wfr, Ogre
Parchment paper or tin foil seems to work and an iron. Similar to the industrial machines. A high heat source. A separator material like metal and then fusing your plastic together. Thanks for the video it helped me gather ideas together as I'm going to be sealing some thick plastic mattress covers
Edge hem is what I’m after for custom sizes and shapes repair’s etc. without breaking the bank. Looks like you’re on to something. I plan to put this technique to the test. I use a lot of tarps for various jobs and need a solution that’s not found on RU-vid and that’s practical. Thank you a lot my good man.
Has it withheld the test of time? Curios if the plastic is compromised by the sudden heat, and flaking away, similar to reaction concluding prolong sun exposure, respectfully
this is great i was looking to seem together different color pieces of plastic trash bags using 50 gallon trash bags to make one huge round piece of plastic about 203 x 203 inches in diameter one inch shot of 17 feet in diameter
We were in Honduras so we bought some cheap plastic they had available the problem we did have was that after exactly a year the plastic begin to come apart from the Sun
@@davidwester8550 True, the cheat tarps normally don't have a UV, or sunlight resistant rating so they will not resist exposure for more than half a year, or so. What you must buy if the need is longer is UV rated greenhouse plastic film.
0:42 (and other parts too) can i get captions? *update:* reading other comments: parchment paper (1:56 so meeeee hehe 2:15 did u try using tape to hold those folds together??
Parchment paper, baking paper, or bakery release paper is cellulose-based paper that has been treated or coated to make it non-stick. It is used in baking as a disposable non-stick surface. It should not be confused with wax paper or waxed paper, which is paper that has been coated in wax.
Parchment paper has a long history and has been made from animal skins for a very long time. These days cheaper things are used and coated with various compounds to resist heat and still be food grade. One issue has been the Teflon coatings, most of which finally were taken away from use with food, like your non-stick pans and skillets.
Parchment paper is sold in most stores in the cooking area you can lay it down on a metal sheet and place cookies are things like that on it. I think that we use parchment paper because it was high temperature would not burn with the iron.
You need to look for baking paper to use for cookies in the oven. You could use aluminum foil, but would likely find it a nuisance to work with since it is so thin. You could try folding the aluminum foil for a three inch wide strip with, or without a spray glue to bond the foil and see if that is thick enough to be manageable as a heating strip.
Great video! I have been looking for some sort of tool or machine to do this kind of job, but your solution seems way more straightforward and easy. Thanks for sharing!
I used to build RC airplanes when I was younger. The skin used is a plastic sheeting that is ironed onto the wings and body in much the same way as you are doing. the only real difference is that I used a cloth sock to surround the iron with, so i never had to use non stick paper. works great.
Indeed, and the little irons are small with a handle and cord to plug into the wall. The catch is the film used to cover RC aircraft balsa frames is a lower temperature plastic with glue that melts a little as it is heated. Some of those tiny hobby irons for the various brands of plastic film covering might get hot enough for use as shown and discussed here, and some won't. Another detail is the "sock" to slide and tie on the iron is made of cotton so it won't be easily harmed by the heat, or stick to slightly melted plastic film. Another detail to notice is the hobby irons have a temperature adjustment option on the top of the iron for obvious reasons. All hobby aircraft films are not the same, making it necessary to be able to adjust the heat setting.
Might try it. No glue sticks to it. Blue tarp is worst there is. Does not last long. Silver tarp the best but even that does not stay water proof after some time of use. I done it all.
Doing some research before i use an old btoken pool floaty to make a cool bikini top for a music festival ! I was hoping this would work thNk u for the video confirming so!!!
Wonderful, I am trying to see if I can join wasted compost/soil bag to make a sheet, and then use it in outdoor small pond. Will try this idea, thanks.
isn't parchment just wax paper? I am wondering if silicone sheeting would be satisfactory substiture for parchement paper? I have some of that that. I think it can withstand up to about 500 degrees temp? I think parchment paper is rated for up to about 450 degrees faranheit?
Some baking papers do have a rating as high as 450 degrees F, but the paper tends to burn a little on the edges. Not good for making cookies. As to other options, there are many, but it all comes down to how much heat they can tolerate and for how long before damage is noticed. When bonding plastic sheet in a welding method, it is rare the heat setting needs to be as high as 400 degrees F and how long the heat is applied with pressure becomes an issue. Pressure is needed to "force" the bond and the two sheets of plastic need to be the same material, or one will melt before it bonds to the other.
He said the iron had no heat setting, so it is safe to assume it got hot enough for cotton and wool, but might be slow going on those materials to get the wrinkles out.
This was just the impetus I needed to complete my project of putting a temporary liner in the tub in my apartment so that I could wash out my silkscreens without worrying about staining the tub's finish. Using your technique, I was able to weld a PE drain insert to a clear LDPE sheet with a ring of tarp (also PE) material to finish it off. Thanks! You rock!
it is to stop the plastic sticking to the iron and the towel, you just re use the same piece of paper over and over again. It's called parchment paper, but also known as baking paper or grease proof paper.
David a lot of things are available where you are, the expression is wrong, I am certainly that where you are, plenty of things are available that you can't find where you come from. David, I rather you say the United States cause Honduras is part of America, Hispanic American, would you agree?
where we lived the hardware stores only carry this blue type of plastic which was not sunlight resistant also it came in small tubes of about 2 meters. what we were looking for was sunlight resistant sheets of plastic that would have been something like 20 by 20. also the folks that I live with and served would not have called them self Hispanic Americans they are from Central America and very proud to be called Hondurans
Eveyone from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego is American. People from USA are North Americans (Canadians too). People from Honduras are Celtral Americans. It's simply not correct to use the word American as "from USA" but that's the way they do in English. The words US American and United Statesian has been suggested.
@@titaniopr Partially correct, but I have not heard or read United Statesian yet. That is a new one on me. People from all over the world have labels they use for everyone else, so it can be hard to keep up with all the options one can hear, or read.
