Working Plastic-Welder Toy For Kids Sounds Like Lawsuit-In-Waiting

9:28PM August 8, 2008 | Kit Eaton

The Discovery Power Welder’s sales pitch is fantastic, and worrying: “discover the power to make and create with the tool that safely welds plastic to plastic.” And sure, the kit comes with specially-crafted parts that’ll let your little-ones knock together a plastic dinosaur, plane or car. But what happens then? Do they start tackling their Lego collection with it, or decide to weld your iPod to your vacuum cleaner? Ok… so it’s battery powered, and probably doesn’t get all that hot, but we know just how “inventively naughty” kids can be. For just US$30 this could allow your children to fuse your credit cards into one lump, never to be used again. [Product page via Random Good Stuff]

Comments

andy

October 4, 2008 at 3:54 PM

About 30 years ago I got a model aeroplane kit off santa that came with a plastic weld gun that worked the same as this one. It works by spinning the weld rod and making a spin friction weld on the parts. I remember being disapointed with the plane… (I was 8 years old and thought the plane would fly but it just rolled along the ground), but I had heaps of fun with the welding gun. I just wish they had ipods back then so I could have stuck them to the Hoover or something like the previous poster suggested.

Seriously though, I didn’t manage to damage anything and never got more than a first degree burn :-). Much safer than a glue gun. It was heaps of fun and one of the memorable toys I had as a kid. I will get one of these for mine.

Brad

April 21, 2009 at 9:28 PM

I had one and it was the best. Came with a car kit and the spin then connected to the wheel to wind in up an then you let it go. Loved it. My dad used the welder to repair a few plastic things around the house. It seemed to fix anything. I want one now.

Zylis

June 21, 2009 at 12:49 PM

That’s the concept of the one I had but mine was not battery powered, you had to pump that damn trigger like mad to make it spin fast enough to melt the little plastic rods it came with. It was a smashup car that you crash into a wall or other car then weld it back together wish I could find one for my kid now a days.