selhardt
Well Known Member
Well, I finally got up the nerve to do it.
I started with my cracked canopy clecoe'd to the frame and screwed and clamped to some saw horses. My shop temperature was 88 degrees here in balmy Minnesota.
I had purchased some options that I thought that I would fly with, along with one from my tool box that I thought might work too.
I purchased these from the folks at
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=LH01
I then donned some safety glasses and gloves and crawled under the canopy with my tools. I was careful to be as close to where I will actually sit as possible to make sure I didn't have more leverage than I really would. I first made 3 hammer blows on the right side of the canopy. The blows resulted in 2" by 3" pieces flying away opening a hole large enough to get my hand into and after there were holes, further blows resulted in larger pieces flying away.
I then made 2 blows to the left side of the canopy with the Pick. The first blow only resulted in a mark (actually 2 marks due to bounce) on the canopy.
The second blow resulted in a crack in the left side. There was bounce back on all blows with the pick.
I finally tried the spring loaded center punch on a part of the canopy further back and could never create a crack or hole with it - go figure.
In disposing of the canopy, I tried breaking it up with both the hammer and pick. The hammer tool was by far the most effective. It nearly always resulted in a piece physically flying away from the canopy opening a hole, while the pick NEVER did.
There may be cooler hammers available, but for $15 bucks, this one is pretty good!
YMMV as always.
I started with my cracked canopy clecoe'd to the frame and screwed and clamped to some saw horses. My shop temperature was 88 degrees here in balmy Minnesota.
![2qv41v5.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.tinypic.com%2F2qv41v5.jpg&hash=a955c00a33fa4016bd4264d76f19dc76)
I had purchased some options that I thought that I would fly with, along with one from my tool box that I thought might work too.
![2ilj676.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.tinypic.com%2F2ilj676.jpg&hash=cf47524114f5f512654c913f67963bec)
I purchased these from the folks at
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=LH01
I then donned some safety glasses and gloves and crawled under the canopy with my tools. I was careful to be as close to where I will actually sit as possible to make sure I didn't have more leverage than I really would. I first made 3 hammer blows on the right side of the canopy. The blows resulted in 2" by 3" pieces flying away opening a hole large enough to get my hand into and after there were holes, further blows resulted in larger pieces flying away.
![2lw3lzq.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.tinypic.com%2F2lw3lzq.jpg&hash=932b4b2bdc06301aa3b4063a08a6f99a)
I then made 2 blows to the left side of the canopy with the Pick. The first blow only resulted in a mark (actually 2 marks due to bounce) on the canopy.
![zmkyd.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.tinypic.com%2Fzmkyd.jpg&hash=b1d93c32f49dae6e8598a3b13dcc1842)
The second blow resulted in a crack in the left side. There was bounce back on all blows with the pick.
![b5ikc8.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi28.tinypic.com%2Fb5ikc8.jpg&hash=a88fb22676d9dc2b76b07437a2ebdec3)
I finally tried the spring loaded center punch on a part of the canopy further back and could never create a crack or hole with it - go figure.
In disposing of the canopy, I tried breaking it up with both the hammer and pick. The hammer tool was by far the most effective. It nearly always resulted in a piece physically flying away from the canopy opening a hole, while the pick NEVER did.
There may be cooler hammers available, but for $15 bucks, this one is pretty good!
YMMV as always.