Anyone had problems with FG Knee armor cracking?

I was suiting up last night, for the first time, and caught my machined knee darts on the afghan on my bed on thew way to the bathroom mirror.

It broke off right at the line where the "dart block" meets the knee. Clean snap. So I fiberglassed inside the remaining 3 knee tabs, and used velcro to hold the broken side together for now- I don't think it'll take to fixing very well. That's where RA attaches the sides to the knee, but it broke the piece that he glues to the back for reinforcement.

I guess I should have seen it coming....I glued elastic straps to them, and had to slide them all the way on. I probably weakened it- It's only styrene

Anyone else have a similar problem? Did fixing them help any, or should I just replace them?

That sucks really bad. I've actually been dreading that for a few years. I have RA's, and that heavy block of resin just taunts me everytime I put them on. I have a feeling mine aren't gonna hold up to much longer.

If it broke off cleanly at the join line then they should be relatively easy to fix. I would dremmel off most of the old reinforcing strip & glue another, thicker piece of styrene there. Fill the seam with a paintable silicone that will flex as the knee flexes & will not crack. In fact, you could use a good silicone to glue the styrene supports in. That way, they will also allow a little bit of movement. The last thing you want is something super rigid that is going to be subject to a lot of flexing, it will eventually fail.

Thanks.

Broke mine the first time I tried on my entire costume and took pics- happened when I was unsnapping my armor- right where I had put an extra piece of sintra for strength! I superglued and bondoed the inside of mine- mind you mine are my own and not RA

Well that makes me feel better. Not that it's better- just that I'm not the only one.

How do people with fiberglass knees do? Are they too rigid?

Knee gaurd snapped ''oh bummer''. This is one of the reasons my knee gaurds are metal..

Rodann wrote:


How do people with fiberglass knees do? Are they too rigid?

Interesting question....I was wondering the same thing days ago...are they more reliable than ABS plastic (vacuuformed)?

Robert

Has anyone had their knee armor crack/break on them? I was prepping my right knee for primer by wet sanding in the sink (much to my wife's dismay ). It stated to crack near the narrow part on the side of the knee darts. It did not break all the way through but enough to worry me. Is this normal and if so can I expect this to occur in the future?

I am planning on buying an automotive FG repair kit and reinforcing the knees from behind.

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and how you fixed it?

Thanks in advance,

Loranar

I was afraid of that very thing happening to me also.To avoid this I used 1/8" aluminum flat bar and hand bent/hammered/cut a peice for each knee to fit perfectly into the back side of it.I then used epoxy to attach it for an indestructable knee.It added considerable weight but not enough where the elastic won't hold it up.Hope this helps.

You definately want to patch/reinforce it before you strap them on or Murphy's Law will kick in (been there, done that). The metal brace idea is one that will do the trick. If you reinforce it with fiberglass cloth (not just the resin compound), then that may work as well. In fact, a combo of the two may be your best bet.

Awesome idea on the aluminum bar plus FG cloth. I was leaning down the FG cloth route but a combination of the two will probably work the best. Thanks for the input!

Loranar

I have RA's knees and mine popped apart where the little tab on the dart piece meets the big front piece. UGH! DL44 mentioned using a thin aluminum flatbar for a brace on the inside. I used to have fiberglass knees and they snapped too when I knelt on one knee. But they went back together with epoxy.

Mine are fiberglass(of course) and I never had a problem, even kneeling, though it's a bit unconfortable.

Great ideas everyone!

My FG pieces are starting to trickle in and I'd like to do whatever I can to protect them.

On a similar note, has anyone tried the FG cloth to reinforce styrene gauntlets? They seem pretty susceptible to getting beat up and will probably need the most help.

Just an update that I reinforced the knees on Saturday with both the aluminum and FG repair kit. It appears to have worked great as the knees are extremely strong now. Here is what I did:

1) sand all of the gel coat / paint from the backside of the knees (make the sanded area at least 1.5 to 2 inches wide)
2) take 1/8th aluminum flatbar and bend in a vise with the armor for reference. Take time on this to make sure that your curve in the flatbar is the same as the knee armor
3) prepare the FG cloth, cut strips into 2 inch long pieces - it is hard to work with longer pieces
4) clean the sanded area on the armor with rubbing alcohol
5) mix your FG epoxy (little at a time as you can always make more)
6) saturate the cloth and place on the armor, then work any air out - repeat with other strips by overlapping until complete area is covered
7) apply a healthy dose of epoxy onto the aluminum bar and the repair area
8) insert the bar and clamp in place - allow to dry (I waited 24 hours just in case)

This procedure worked great for me and I feel confident I should not have any further problems - unless I do not handle the knees carefully

BTW - I did the same thing on my gauntlets (minus the aluminum flatbar) and it appears to have worked well. That is I reinforced them with FG. The most important thing is to make sure you use a COLD CURE epoxy. This epoxy takes a lot longer to cure but it does not create heat. With regular epoxy you may melt your gauntlets due to the chemical reaction (also the rubbing alcohol could melt them too - I think)

Thanks again for everyone's input

Loranar

I've had problems with FG knees too - I think they have their share of problems because they are not as flexible.

Mind you I just reinforced them and they appear very strong now - but you never know

dengar99 wrote:

On a similar note, has anyone tried the FG cloth to reinforce styrene gauntlets? They seem pretty susceptible to getting beat up and will probably need the most help.

That may actually be a bad idea. The resin may very likely melt your styrene or, at the very least, cause it to get mooshy. I'd try it on a test piece and see what happens.

BobaFettish wrote:

dengar99 wrote:

On a similar note, has anyone tried the FG cloth to reinforce styrene gauntlets? They seem pretty susceptible to getting beat up and will probably need the most help.

That may actually be a bad idea. The resin may very likely melt your styrene or, at the very least, cause it to get mooshy. I'd try it on a test piece and see what happens.

I agree with BF. Regular epoxy may melt your gauntlets. Try the cold cure epoxy pictured at this website <A HREF="http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=677245&PR ODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=739031&bmUID=1079417575949
" TARGET="_blank"> Cold Cure Epoxy </A> - it worked great on my Ruffkintoy gauntlets. There was no distortion of the styrene. Mind you I would double check on a sample of your own peices first before taking my word.

The website is for a Canadian Outdoors Co-op and the epoxy is for boat/paddling repairs. I posted it for reference, I am sure there is something similar everywhere. It is used in situations where using regular epoxy is not ideal (sea kayaking, mountian lakes etc). Although, I do think they ship worldwide.

It is odd actually, I shop here all the time for my other hobby (camping/backpacking) - who would have thought my two (seemingly unrelated) hobbies colliding.

Good luck,

Loranar

Great stuff everyone, thanks so much!