Racquet Repair

[leonardtay]

I have a PS 85 St Vincent which has seen a lot of abuse but no cracks and structurally still sound. However, the paint is horribly patchy and there is a fairly big chip of the edge of the rim near one of the PWS bulges. Was wondering if anyone out there knows of any material that can be used to fill this chip (about 1 cm long and 0.5 cm wide) so that the overall profile of the racquet could be restored before a complete strip down and repaint. Thinking of making a racquet with a really unique look... of course will use a red primer to keep the St Vincent authenticity. I thought of perhaps taking it to a car bodywork shop to do the filler work... unless someone knows of a suitable material that can be used to patch racquets.
Any views or advice?

 

[Banks]

dont do anything to it... it has character.

 

[leonardtay]

dont do anything to it... it has character.

That's one way of looking at it.

 

[Bunky]

Use Bondo auto body filler, available at any of the auto supply stores. It's cheap and does the job. An auto body place will charge you a fortune for such a small repair.

 

[leonardtay]

Use Bondo auto body filler, available at any of the auto supply stores. It's cheap and does the job. An auto body place will charge you a fortune for such a small repair.

Thanks for the suggestion. Will try that.

 

[AirTechChallenge]

Wouldn't that ruin the balance of the racket? Making it Left/Right side heavy?

 

[TheShaun]

bondo is a very heavy material. if you really must repair using bondo then use very sparingly.

 

[Revman]

Try using shoe goo. Apply it, let it harden for a couple of days, then sand to a fit. It's lighter than bondo and should work fine.

 

[Loco4Tennis]

ive seen and repainted one of my racquets for provably the same reason,
warning, repainting how ever will not look as good since manufacturers use ovens and such to cure the paint jobs,
when i repainted mine and appplied the 2 or 3 coats of clear coat on the racquet finish it looked clean and shiny,
i dont know exactly how much but it does change the weight characteristics of your frame, my advise would be to weigh the racquet every step of the way if this is a concern, i was mainly going for the look and did not care too much with the outcome if i messed it up, came out good though and i carry it with me all the time.

 

[leonardtay]

ive seen and repainted one of my racquets for provably the same reason,
warning, repainting how ever will not look as good since manufacturers use ovens and such to cure the paint jobs,
when i repainted mine and appplied the 2 or 3 coats of clear coat on the racquet finish it looked clean and shiny,
i dont know exactly how much but it does change the weight characteristics of your frame, my advise would be to weigh the racquet every step of the way if this is a concern, i was mainly going for the look and did not care too much with the outcome if i messed it up, came out good though and i carry it with me all the time.

Thanks for the advice. I have a friend who runs an autobody paintshop so I have access to an oven! I will treat him to dinner and see if I can get some oven time....