Haven’t caught one of these cool clips? Feast your eyes on this gem. Also: What is Lemon8 and why is everyone talking about it on TikTok? The concept is simple yet brilliant: use these “welding wizards” to fuse tiny metal staples into the fractures of cracked plastics – anything from rugged tool cases to the abundance of plastic adorning modern vehicles – and give a fresh lease on life to once-broken items. These things look seriously neat. But I had questions:
Do they actually work?Will my humble abode be reduced to ashes? Will the space ray gun tool give me an electric shock? Does melting metal staples into plastic unleash a torrent of noxious fumes?
There was only one way to unravel these mysteries – I had to take the plunge and buy one. For the money, you get the welder – which looks like a ray gun – a load of different metal staples, cutters, an array of different plastic rods to use as filler material for the cracks, and a tool to melt the rods into the plastic cracks. I have to admit that my expectations were low. There’s a lot of junk out there, and tools advertised heavily on social media usually fall into this category. As soon as the tool arrived, I set to work testing it – since I have no shortage of broken plastic things. I kicked off with a low-stakes project, something where I didn’t care if I made a mess of it – a broken carry case for an electric drill. I thought this would be good practice. Also: 3 chemicals you need in your workshop (and what to use them for) The kit comes all packed chaotically in a plastic box. Just a glance told me that repacking this puzzle would be quite the feat. The instructions, rather cryptic in nature, weren’t much help either. But armed with the knowledge gleaned from countless videos, I was raring to tackle the challenge! Using the tool is rather simple. You first fit a staple to the end of the welding gun, and then you press the trigger to heat up the staple. But be careful, the mold gets hot really fast! Then, let go of the trigger to turn off the heater and gently push the staple into the plastic across the crack. Once it’s sealed into the plastic, pull the gun out to release the mold. After melting some plastic filing on top of the staples for added strength, to my surprise, I was pleased with the result. Sure, the concoction looks like something out of Frankenstein’s workshop, but it’s a solid enough repair, and far better than the crack that was there previously!
The takeaways
I learned quite a few things from using the TikTik-recommended welding tool. Also: Repairing electronics with the wrong tools can be dangerous. How to stay safe Overall, I’m very pleased with the plastic welder, and it exceeded my expectations. I can see this being really useful for all sorts of cracked and broken plastic – from things like the trim or underbody bits of plastic on cars to carry cases and other household items.
