can this handle be repaired?

when the 2 parts are put together they fit and you cant tell it's broken (you have to look close)

Yes, that can be repaired rather easily, by drilling in from the side, lengthwise along the handle. Then tap threads and bolt it back together. Or glue in a pin instead of the threads/bolt method.

Cheers

what would that cost to have it done? i dont have the skills or the tools to do it

I would charge EU15 for the service, but you would have to supply the necessary M2 machine screw tap, which I would also keep afterwards.

My local supplier-of-tiny-things has the M2x12mm screws, but not the taps. The taps are available from many places online, including the eBay.co.uk link above.

There's also airmail postage to consider, to/from Canada. You can save one direction by handing me the parts at the 10th Birthday Meet.

Cheers

Here's another possible source for the tap.

Another repair method, stronger but more intrusive, might be to slice a thin slot through the corner section (from bottom/side), and then fill it with an angled metal plate, pinned (rivets or screws) in place.

Cheers

it's an fair price (plus you can do the service for others)

will the screws be sticking out for will it be a flat surface?

what would the airmail postage be from canada?

One screw, flush. The screw head could be covered with expoxy and painted black afterwards, if you want an invisible repair.


EDIT: It should be in the range of CAD$8-16, one way.

oki... i just have to complete the harddisk check before i order the tap

going to order the tapset from expo

i would prefer the metod with drilling from the side and then use a flush mounted screw

since i know it's an repaired handle i also know to be more gentle with it, so the repair is more for cosmetics reasons, which would keep my GF happy

mark are you still up for trying the repair?

Sure. No guarantee that it will succeed (first time ever for this),
but I do think it is very likely to work out nicely.

Cheers

To be honest, I have more confidence in the other source -- I'm hoping they use HSS or something harder than basic carbon steel like expo. But for a single hole, the expo one should work.

Cheers

well expo is writing about HSS.. but either way if the tap breaks or snaps i will just order from the other source

sorry for beeing so quick at ordering

for me it seems strange to use two differnt kinds of metal in the same set.. mu guess is that they just have mixed up the words (with happens a lot these days)

No, that's pretty normal: HSS for drills is standard now. But carbon steel for taps is common, because it makes them easier to manufacture, and expo is selling to the plastic modeling crowd who don't have particularly high demands there.

All of my existing taps here use tungsten steel, which is harder even than HSS (but more brittle).

But for one hole in soft metal, the carbon steel one should work, so long as it doesn't snap off on me (Mmm.. less than 2mm thick.. Mmm..).

Cheers

i hope it does not kill or harm you

So what ever happened with this handle repair?

Sadly today, I dropped my empeg about 5 feet (after 10 years of no accidents) and it landed on concrete. I now suffer from a broken handle (I rebent all the other parts already back into shape).

My handle is broken in the same spot as the one pictured in the first page of the thread. Is anyone repairing them?

The repair attempt (for Boelle) failed --50/50 chance, and we hit the wrong 50.

I think any machinist could fix it for you, though, with better odds than 50/50.

Cheers

Same for me...

Epoxy - Fail

Gorilla Glue - Epic Fail

I guess I'll actively persue a machinist.

Welding (and grinding) seems the appropriate solution here.

What is the metal?

Probably an aluminium-magnesium alloy, cast into shape with a mold.

It should be weldable then, with TIG and 4043 filler.

The most difficult part will be holding shape tolerances.

I'd offer to try, but I don't have the equipment and haven't had a torch in my hand for almost 10 years.
Wow- time flies!

I'm not a very good welder, but I have access to the appropriate equipment. If I screw up, though, it might end up ruined.

My guess it it's probably zinc and other leftover stuff. See if someone has an expendable one to try welding first.

aka Pot Metal.
It's a bit tricky to weld.

Any blue people know for sure?

By the way, if anyone tries that stuff for an Empeg handle, please report your results, I want it in the FAQ if it works.

Just to be nit-picky...

From their FAQ
However, *anyone* who knows will tell you that 'welding' involves melting the base metal to form a common weld puddle.
If the base metal parts are not melted, then you are performing either brazing or soldering, depending on the melting temperature of the filler material.

At 350F, their product is technically 'soldering'.

Could be a very good option, none-the-less.

Yeah, I agree that it doesn't match my definition of "welding", but if "soldering" repairs an empeg handle enough to be usable again, that's plenty for our purposes.

Yeah, I didn't think that pot metal would be a term used on the other side of the pond.

I believe it's commonly referred to as "White Metal". It's very porous.

I'm kind of scared to put a torch on it as it will probably ruin whatever finish is on it. I was thinkin of drilling into the side of it and putting a flush mount self tapping screw into it. Then I could color the end of the screw with a black marker. They break in the metal is invisible if you push the two peices together hard enough so maybe a screw would hold the two pieces together. If it fits flush, it won't interfere with my dasbhoard.

That's what we tried here. But the thread tap broke off in the hole..

I wasn't going to tap it out, I was just going to make the hole large enough and use a self tapping screw. A very tiny one

Well, after calls to 11 machinists, the 12th said he would be happy to "take a look at it and try and help me out". Hopefully he'll be able to help me out

All of the other guys either won't touch white metal or don't do work for residential folks.

My other idea, which I may someday try on the broken handle I have here, is to slot the ends of the two pieces, and rivet a small spline into them, bridging the break. This will work, and will be very solid. Just takes a bit of effort.

Cheers

I was thinking of taking a cutoff wheel on a dremel tool and putting three small grooves/slots into the back of the handle where it's broken, then back filling it and smoothing it over with some type of super-expoxy (like JB Weld). That might work too but I'm going to try the machinist first...

I repaired SWMBO's broken handle.

The repair was crude, and the final results were not especially pretty, but it worked.

I used a small drill bit (probably a 5/64" or thereabouts) and drilled about a half-inch deep hole into each jagged broken end of the handle. Then I broke a 1" piece off the fluted end of the drill bit and inserted it with a generous dollop of JB Weld into each of the holes I had drilled, applied more JB Weld to the outside of the handle around the break, and held the handle tight together while the epoxy set.

This repair has lasted for more than a year with no problems.

tanstaafl.

I'll be forced to make replacement handles sooner or later. My empeg is sticking in its sled, so every time I remove it, the handle is at risk of breaking. It's only a matter of time before necessity drives me to making these.

Think I could get a bargain on extrusion and machining because of the down economy?

Have you checked the screws of your docking connector? I've had to take my dash apart to pop my empeg out when one screw came loose.

Sticking in the sled is a bad thing and should be fixed right away.

As was said, make sure your docking connector screws are tight.

If it's the little "bumps" on the sides of the sled making rough gouges in the sides of the player, I was able to solve that problem by pulling out the player, and from the inside of the sled outward, whapping the bumps with a hammer to bend them out a bit and make them push on the player less.

They look like cast aluminum to me. Of course the threads would most likely still need to be tapped in some fashion.

Stu

It's the bumps on the sled. They can't flex outward because the car's dash pocket has walls which cover them. My dash is currently apart (and has been for months) as I intend to cut holes for the tabs to bend into.

However, one of my empegs fits in the sled easily while another doesn't. I've never figured that out, but oh well.

Mine too, but banging on them real hard with a hammer (while the whole sled was fully mounted) solved the problem anyway.

The dash pocket is probably relatively soft plastic. The clue's in the word "soft". Just hit it until it complies.

As the Car Talk guys say, what CAN'T be solved with a hammer?

Those problems which can only be solved with a chainsaw.