DIY Gear Repair / Restore

[MThockeydad 469]

Bought a set of EQ50 gloves when I first started out. The right palm was shot. I replaced it with some thin cowhide, doubled up across the palm, and used the original palm as a pattern. The replacement lasted 1.5 seasons.

The body of the glove was still in good shape, but I'm too much of a cheap ass to pay $50 for a new palm.

I had a pair of Costco work gloves with holes in the fingertips. When you don't straighten your fingers, they don't have to be as long on the palm side.

Old palm vs. donor

Here's the #2 replacement palm cut to size. My glove was a little too wide in the palm and a little too short (15"). I cut this new palm about 3/8" narrower than the original and 1/2" longer. You'd never want to try to make a 15" glove into a 13" glove, but there is some flexibility in leather and fabric to make these minor changes.

I also added some reinforcement at the heel of my hand and the web of my thumb as those are the areas my previous palm wore out. I topstitched those parts (and restitched the original palm reinforcement before hand sewing the new palm into the glove.

Sewn in:

I'll get a crisper pic with my DSLR.

[Caihlen 67]

Pretty awesome bro....

[MThockeydad 469]

New project. Upgrading/repairing the city's pond hockey goals.
I told the city parks superintendent if he'd buy nets that I'd fix and repaint the goal frames.

Old frames had square mitered corners top and bottom, base was the old 44" x 96" dimension (and it was square...you weren't skating around that baby!)
Old nets were repurposed volleyball nets ziptied and lashed with parachute cord.




Cut the top corners--fishmouth'ed them with a cutoff wheel in an angle grinder--and used a hammer to bang them round). Welded and ground round.




I cut 32" out of the base of each. Cut the mitered corner out and butt-welded the pipe there. Ground it smooth so it would slide through the pipe bender.
Used a cheapo Northern Tool pipe bender and walked it around the curve, a little bend every 3".
It's at the new 40" x 88" NHL dimension.




I need to find some pipe to make the top shelf. The new net will drape better if I add it instead of leaving it off.



Also bent up some 3/16" round bar to lace the net, old lacing points were links of chain welded on. I'll get some pics when I weld it on.

[MThockeydad 469]

Added the top shelf and welded the "wiggle bar" net tie bars on the bottom.

The old lacing spots were chain links. I took the old ones I cut off the bottom bar and welded them between the links I left on the uprights/crossbar so they're 5" apart instead of 10" apart.

Primed with POR-15. Awesome, but messy stuff.

[SirJW 207]

A true artist!

[IPv6Freely 2091]

That thing is reedonkulous

[Neal 41]

Added the top shelf and welded the "wiggle bar" net tie bars on the bottom.

The old lacing spots were chain links. I took the old ones I cut off the bottom bar and welded them between the links I left on the uprights/crossbar so they're 5" apart instead of 10" apart.

Primed with POR-15. Awesome, but messy stuff.

Awesome job! And yeah POR-15 is awesome, but horrible for you if you spray it and if you get it on anything you don't want it on, it is there until you sand it off or the skin dies under it.

One tip though, POR-15 doesn't like UV and if left outside in the sun, it will go chalky and look like crap. Durability supposedly isn't effected, but it really looks bad. If you have the time, you should scuff the POR-15 and topcoat it with some regular spray paint.

We did the frame for my dad's 68 Chevy truck with POR-15 and it sat outside for a few weeks before the cab was ready. The POR-15 looked horrible, faded and with grayish patches. Guess who got to scuff the whole damn thing and repaint it?

[Monty22 829]

He said he primed it w/POR-15. That would imply paint will go over it. That net looks awesome.

[MThockeydad 469]

Awesome job! And yeah POR-15 is awesome, but horrible for you if you spray it and if you get it on anything you don't want it on, it is there until you sand it off or the skin dies under it.

One tip though, POR-15 doesn't like UV and if left outside in the sun, it will go chalky and look like crap. Durability supposedly isn't effected, but it really looks bad. If you have the time, you should scuff the POR-15 and topcoat it with some regular spray paint.

We did the frame for my dad's 68 Chevy truck with POR-15 and it sat outside for a few weeks before the cab was ready. The POR-15 looked horrible, faded and with grayish patches. Guess who got to scuff the whole damn thing and repaint it?

Brother, you're not kidding!!!

This is my 3rd time using it, so I've definitely figured out its limitations (and mine!).

Its forced me to be 1000x neater in my painting habits. I actually did the whole thing with a $0.99 chip brush from Home Depot....in t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. I have a few tiny spatters on my toes and hands from doing the net tie bars. My first go-round I did a raft frame and had it on my arms from wrist to elbow, all over my fingernails, knees, and shoes, and ended up throwing away the pants I was wearing at the time. I then thought, "oh, my, how beautiful and glossy" and it turned chalky in the sun.

BUT, I've never found another primer that works as well. As a basecoat for paint, it's tougher than powder coating.

I sincerely appreciate the words of advice--if anyone else reading this wants to use the stuff, what Neal said is 100% true.

He said he primed it w/POR-15. That would imply paint will go over it. That net looks awesome.

Thanks!

You guys are fast.

But I'm fast, too! I got it painted last night.

Thanks to the advice of the guy at the auto paint store where I first bought POR-15 a few years ago, my new topcoat "system" is industrial enamel in the quart can from the hardware store, thinned with xylene, and with acrylic enamel hardener (from the auto paint store) as a catalyst. Mix 6-8oz of paint with two capfuls of xylene, and two small capfuls of acrylic hardener.

Brush on a thin tack coat to wet the surface, try to avoid putting it on so thick it runs.

Go back to where you were about 10min ago and with a wetter brush, go over everything with a good flow coat. The tack coat will help the top coat adhere, the xylene helps it flow out smoothly and evenly, and the hardener will help it kick off. It will be dry to the touch in about 30min and hard overnight. You get a coat that is about 10x thicker than you'd ever get with rattle cans, no overspray, and a lot cheaper.

Without xylene, you get a thick, saggy coat that runs everywhere, and when you try to go back to smooth it up, you leave brush marks.

Without the hardener, this stuff takes overnight to get dry to the touch and doesn't get fully hard, even in fresh air and sunshine for over a week. Long-term, it's very soft until its cured for several months, and still doesn't remain as glossy and scratch/chip resistant as with the hardener. I repainted our rink's goals this winter-over a somewhat resilient powdercoat--and it held up great. Puck marks, but no chips.

Thanks all for the comments.

[IPv6Freely 2091]

Absolutely incredible.

[Neal 41]

Brother, you're not kidding!!!

This is my 3rd time using it, so I've definitely figured out its limitations (and mine!).

Its forced me to be 1000x neater in my painting habits. I actually did the whole thing with a $0.99 chip brush from Home Depot....in t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. I have a few tiny spatters on my toes and hands from doing the net tie bars. My first go-round I did a raft frame and had it on my arms from wrist to elbow, all over my fingernails, knees, and shoes, and ended up throwing away the pants I was wearing at the time. I then thought, "oh, my, how beautiful and glossy" and it turned chalky in the sun.

BUT, I've never found another primer that works as well. As a basecoat for paint, it's tougher than powder coating.

I sincerely appreciate the words of advice--if anyone else reading this wants to use the stuff, what Neal said is 100% true.

Thanks!

You guys are fast.

But I'm fast, too! I got it painted last night.

Thanks to the advice of the guy at the auto paint store where I first bought POR-15 a few years ago, my new topcoat "system" is industrial enamel in the quart can from the hardware store, thinned with xylene, and with acrylic enamel hardener (from the auto paint store) as a catalyst. Mix 6-8oz of paint with two capfuls of xylene, and two small capfuls of acrylic hardener.

Brush on a thin tack coat to wet the surface, try to avoid putting it on so thick it runs.

Go back to where you were about 10min ago and with a wetter brush, go over everything with a good flow coat. The tack coat will help the top coat adhere, the xylene helps it flow out smoothly and evenly, and the hardener will help it kick off. It will be dry to the touch in about 30min and hard overnight. You get a coat that is about 10x thicker than you'd ever get with rattle cans, no overspray, and a lot cheaper.

Without xylene, you get a thick, saggy coat that runs everywhere, and when you try to go back to smooth it up, you leave brush marks.

Without the hardener, this stuff takes overnight to get dry to the touch and doesn't get fully hard, even in fresh air and sunshine for over a week. Long-term, it's very soft until its cured for several months, and still doesn't remain as glossy and scratch/chip resistant as with the hardener. I repainted our rink's goals this winter-over a somewhat resilient powdercoat--and it held up great. Puck marks, but no chips.

Thanks all for the comments.

That looks great. I hadn't heard of the technique you mentioned with the industrial enamel, hardener and xylene. I'll have to give that a shot it sounds like a great technique for where spraying is just too much of a mess and a perfect finish isn't required. If you don't mind what brand enamel and hardener did you use? If I can find the same stuff, great, but at least knowing what you used will let me look for something similar

[jonesy9020 77]

Jeez, man, don't do TOO good of a job or the parks dept. is going to start just dropping broken stuff off at your door whether you want to do it or not.

In all seriousness, kudos for offering up your time to the community and this is an awesome job.

[MThockeydad 469]

That looks great. I hadn't heard of the technique you mentioned with the industrial enamel, hardener and xylene. I'll have to give that a shot it sounds like a great technique for where spraying is just too much of a mess and a perfect finish isn't required. If you don't mind what brand enamel and hardener did you use? If I can find the same stuff, great, but at least knowing what you used will let me look for something similar

Honestly, it's the technique/process used that makes a bigger difference than the specific ingredients.

If you go into a body shop and ask for acrylic enamel hardener, they'll sell you whatever brand they have on the shelf. It will work fine. (I googled, but couldn't find the exact one I used. I will snap a pic for you)

I have done this with Rustoleum, Krylon, and Ace enamels. They all work fine. This red and white were Krylon from WalMart.

I have a friend who uses a similar system, but uses naptha instead of xylene for the thinner. He said it does even better for eliminating brush marks. I'll try it once I run out of xylene.

I don't have a spray gun, so this is my process. I'm not perfect with bomb cans--that stuff is SO thin that it sags/runs badly anyway. I get a better finish when brushing.

Here is a closeup of the raft frame I was talking about

I sanded down the chalky POR-15 and brushed on a bright yellow (this one used POR HardNose paint and its own catalyst--to which I added xylene). Sanded that and brushed on a clear (POR Glisten PC--comes with a catalyst/hardener, again I added xylene) and it had PaintWithPearl gold pearl dust mixed in for the sparkle. You can see just a tiny bit of sag in the bottom. I could sand it out and recoat with clear, but its going to get drug across the rocks, have straps/buckle wear, hard dryboxes, coolers, etc abusing it.

Practice your brushing technique. If you learn to do it well, you can make it look as nice as any rattle can paint job, but you can get it a lot thicker/tougher in the end. Remember, this is $1 disposable brush, not a $500 spray gun. A great auto painter can kick my butt in the looks department, but I think this technique beats 99% of garage hobbyists using bomb cans or unmodified enamel paint in the quart can.

The imperfections you see in the glare on the red top tube are old paint underneath. I just hit the loose spots with a wire wheel in my angle grinder and then scuff-sanded the whole thing with 60-grit. I didn't spend hours prepping the old goal and sanding them down to bare metal. If I wanted to spend another 3-4 hours sanding, I could have made them as pretty and smooth as the raft frame, but I knew they'd ultimately get beat on with pucks.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Almost anyone can do this. If you can do a neat job with rattle cans, you can do this--but get a tougher, glossier, harder, thicker finish.

It's kind of an art and a science.

The science is the mix of paint, catalyst, and thinner.

Having the right touch with the brush, how much paint to apply and knowing how to "tip out" the paint with the brush is the art. (Rattle can technique is also an art!)

Jeez, man, don't do TOO good of a job or the parks dept. is going to start just dropping broken stuff off at your door whether you want to do it or not.

In all seriousness, kudos for offering up your time to the community and this is an awesome job.

My ulterior motive is keeping them happy and letting them know the hockey community cares....and I love playing pond hockey with my kids.

They did an absolutely lousy job keeping the pond clear the winter before last (2013-2014). They rarely ever swept the ice, and one time flooded it with 12" of snow sitting on it. It ruined it for a month until an unseasonable rain refroze on the top surface. Last year, while we didn't have a lot of snow after New Year's, they still had the roto broom out after every accumulation of more than 4-6" and did flood it twice. Everybody complains when it's bad--I took the time to thank them when it was good. Just like I've learned coaching: "Catch people doing something right and recognize them for it."

There are a lot of kids who play pond hockey for hours. Many of them can't afford to play at our rink (or parents can't commit to travel), but it makes me happy seeing all those kids out there enjoying the sport and playing outside in the winter instead of playing video games.

Our Association also gets a pretty sweet deal for the property our outdoor rink sits on (about 100yd from the pond), so it's another reason to stay friendly with the city.

Conversely, at the indoor rink 15mi away, the youth and adult hockey groups donated a $1.5M building 10 years ago, and the city/city parks are being stinkers about them using it.

[Neal 41]

Honestly, it's the technique/process used that makes a bigger difference than the specific ingredients.

If you go into a body shop and ask for acrylic enamel hardener, they'll sell you whatever brand they have on the shelf. It will work fine. (I googled, but couldn't find the exact one I used. I will snap a pic for you)

I have done this with Rustoleum, Krylon, and Ace enamels. They all work fine. This red and white were Krylon from WalMart.

I have a friend who uses a similar system, but uses naptha instead of xylene for the thinner. He said it does even better for eliminating brush marks. I'll try it once I run out of xylene.

I don't have a spray gun, so this is my process. I'm not perfect with bomb cans--that stuff is SO thin that it sags/runs badly anyway. I get a better finish when brushing.

The idea of using Naptha makes sense. Naptha kicks off or evaporates a bit slower, so the brush marks have more time to flow out. I think it is a touch thicker which might help with avoiding runs, but of course more time to dry means more time for runs to form. That Raft is cool looking, I especially like the pearl, if the Hardnose is half as tough as POR-15 it should be really durable.