How to Repair a Hockey Stick With a Cracked Handle
Ice hockey is a rough sport, and hockey equipment takes repeated beatings. Although modern hockey gear is designed to take the abuse, wooden hockey sticks are still fairly vulnerable to cracking. A cracked blade usually means that the stick is done for, but a cracked handle can often be mended.
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Things You'll Need
- Hockey stick
- Epoxy
- Toothpick
- Paper plate
- Paper towels
- Vise clamp
- Durable hockey stick tape
Instructions
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1
Find a strong epoxy that comes in two separate tubes. Pour a small amount of each tube's contents onto a paper plate and stir them together well with a toothpick.
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2
Carefully pull apart the cracked section of the hockey stick so that you can fit the toothpick into the crack. Use the toothpick to apply a thin layer of epoxy to both sides of the exposed wood, covering as large a surface area as possible. When you're finished applying the glue, squeeze the stick tightly around the crack and hold it for a few minutes.
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3
Tear a paper towel in half and fold each half into a small square. Place the vise grips over the center of the cracked area and tighten down most of the way. Slide the small squares of paper towel in between the metal clamps on the vice grips and the stick so that you can avoid denting the handle, then tighten the grips the rest of the way. Keep the grips in place as your hockey stick dries for several hours.
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4
Remove the vise grips when the epoxy is completely dry. Wrap the cracked area in a single layer of durable hockey stick tape before using it in play.
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Tips & Warnings
Always practice with a repaired stick before using it in a game. You might discover that your repair job wasn't quite effective enough, and it's best to make that discovery when not in the middle of game play.
Keep a spare stick on hand, since you never know when a hard knock will result in a broken stick.
Wrap the patched crack in tape, just in case the stick breaks again in the same place. If the same crack breaks open and no tape is in place, it can expose a large, sharp end or a series of dangerous splinters.
