Not sure about using hot glue but where I work, we have a plastic welder
that can weld PE,PP,or ABS. We use it to fabricate mainly PP. The way it
works is that it is pneumatically fed melted .125 dia. plastic through the
gun and out a heated tip. The heated tip premelts the parent plastic and
simultaneously lays down a bead of new material. The trick is that the new
material does not have a chance to oxidize before it is in contact with the
parent material and it is at the correct temp. of course. The problem with
the welds is that the physical properties will be different then the molded
(?) parent part; i.e. different flex, elongation, etc.

All that said, it is an expensive tool; about $2400.00. Obviously not worth
it in your case. But I have seen a welder that Harbor Freight sells if I
recall. I'm not sure how it works, but knowing their tools, it may sorta
kinda work once or twice which may be good enough and cheap. Another option
might be to find someone who fabricates plastic chemical tanks. In my past
life I worked with platers who used fabricated plastic tanks, and those guys
used welders.


Good luck - it may be wise to stick close to shore in your polyboat.

Rob H


"Ignoramus32317" wrote in message
...
In addition to my 21 ft boat, I recently found a 4x8 plastic boat that
someone put out as garbage. It is kind of doublehulled and seems to be
made of high density polyethylene (HDPE), like plastic buckets. I am
delighted because I can use this boat on some little lakes nearby.

It seems super safe (double hull) and super stable.

It does have however a few small cracks in the hull that need
repair. What is the right way to repair HDPE? Can I use glue guns with
hot melt glue?

i