I went for it, took a shot at installing an SPH into one of my toys. Put it in yesterday, inflation and soap test this evening after work. It's sealed all the way around, honestly I expected to have to glue a bunch of small leaks. I'll leave it overnight to see how it looks tomorrow.
I used a Shosu DIY sph, and picked a helluva challenging first toy by choosing my pink Inflatable World skunk. One reason I went with the skunk is because the thing just begs for at least one SPH, and another reason is because both the toy and the SPH are transparent pink so it made things a lot easier orienting the vinyl surfaces.
It can be done, folks, the video shosu has on their site is a great starter guide. I worked way too fast, could have done things a lot better, but I learned a few tricks for the next time, in case anyone else is tempted by the idea.
Have your tools & materials all ready to go before you start, and one very important tool is plenty of light. Another good tip is rubber gloves, not against chemicals but to keep the vinyl clean as you work. Your hands will sweat.
1 - start with a smaller toy, a big toy is difficult to get spread out evenly where you are working because the rest of it has to be bunched up around your workspace. Work your way up.
2 - be patient. Don't rush.
3 - Acetone (nail polish remover, and not the organic hippy shit) is good for removing paint and doesn't hurt the vinyl. I need to ask Shosu if it's a necessary step, but I went for the side of caution and opted to remove the light blue paint from the vinyl where the surfaces mate. Better that than to have a failed seal that can't be fixed because the other 70% of the seal worked.
4 - be patient. Don't rush.
5 - massage the glue surface of the SPH before you start, pull it & stretch it around the circumference to help even out the vinyl. It's got folds & uneven spots around it since it comes in a vacuum packing, so doing this helps flatten it out and sort of destress it, which will make it a lot easier to mate the surfaces.
6 - be patient. Don't rush.
7 - measure twice, cut once. Hell, measure a third time just to be sure. Once you cut a 14cm hole there's no going back, so be sure about where you want to put it. On that note, the 15cm size listed on Shosu's video was too big for my sph, as mentioned i measured multiple times and made it smaller which gave me more mating surface and less risk of glue overrunning and sticking to the underside.
8 - be patient. Don't rush.
9 - work slowly, try to lay the glue down in sections. My work looks terrible, full of little wrinkles & bubbles because I tried to do it in one round, I can forgive myself because it's my first attempt and I learned from it. Glue a bit, work that bit of circumference down, glue a bit more, etc. And think before you glue, once it sets the surfaces can't be moved anymore. On that note, check now and then to make sure the underside of the toy hasn't been glued to top side.
After I'm satisfied with the overnight leak test I'll use this skunk to practice, one advantage to this very big toy is having plenty of good SPH positions. I'm scared to put weight on it, I expect the seal to just blow out
image.pngimage.png
I used a Shosu DIY sph, and picked a helluva challenging first toy by choosing my pink Inflatable World skunk. One reason I went with the skunk is because the thing just begs for at least one SPH, and another reason is because both the toy and the SPH are transparent pink so it made things a lot easier orienting the vinyl surfaces.
It can be done, folks, the video shosu has on their site is a great starter guide. I worked way too fast, could have done things a lot better, but I learned a few tricks for the next time, in case anyone else is tempted by the idea.
Have your tools & materials all ready to go before you start, and one very important tool is plenty of light. Another good tip is rubber gloves, not against chemicals but to keep the vinyl clean as you work. Your hands will sweat.
1 - start with a smaller toy, a big toy is difficult to get spread out evenly where you are working because the rest of it has to be bunched up around your workspace. Work your way up.
2 - be patient. Don't rush.
3 - Acetone (nail polish remover, and not the organic hippy shit) is good for removing paint and doesn't hurt the vinyl. I need to ask Shosu if it's a necessary step, but I went for the side of caution and opted to remove the light blue paint from the vinyl where the surfaces mate. Better that than to have a failed seal that can't be fixed because the other 70% of the seal worked.
4 - be patient. Don't rush.
5 - massage the glue surface of the SPH before you start, pull it & stretch it around the circumference to help even out the vinyl. It's got folds & uneven spots around it since it comes in a vacuum packing, so doing this helps flatten it out and sort of destress it, which will make it a lot easier to mate the surfaces.
6 - be patient. Don't rush.
7 - measure twice, cut once. Hell, measure a third time just to be sure. Once you cut a 14cm hole there's no going back, so be sure about where you want to put it. On that note, the 15cm size listed on Shosu's video was too big for my sph, as mentioned i measured multiple times and made it smaller which gave me more mating surface and less risk of glue overrunning and sticking to the underside.
8 - be patient. Don't rush.
9 - work slowly, try to lay the glue down in sections. My work looks terrible, full of little wrinkles & bubbles because I tried to do it in one round, I can forgive myself because it's my first attempt and I learned from it. Glue a bit, work that bit of circumference down, glue a bit more, etc. And think before you glue, once it sets the surfaces can't be moved anymore. On that note, check now and then to make sure the underside of the toy hasn't been glued to top side.
After I'm satisfied with the overnight leak test I'll use this skunk to practice, one advantage to this very big toy is having plenty of good SPH positions. I'm scared to put weight on it, I expect the seal to just blow out
image.pngimage.png
If there's a leak it's too tiny to worry about. And it means I get to keep enjoying my skunk for a long while to come!
My skills can only improve from here!
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