Method of splicing a thermoplastic mandrel and a mandrel made by said method

In a method of making a thermoplastic mandrel comprising the steps of providing at least two thermoplastic rods and thermally bonding the ends of said rods together, the improvement comprising the steps of:

• incorporating a metallic or metallic oxide filler in the thermoplastic material used to make said thermoplastic rods;
• forming said rods from said thermoplastic material;
• cutting the ends of said rods to form wedge shaped ends having apexes;
• turning said wedge shaped ends of said rods such that the apexes of said wedge shaped ends meet at an angle of rotation of between 5.degree. and 175.degree.;
• disposing said rods in a mold cavity with forced contact between the ends of said thermoplastic rods;
• subjecting said rods to a high voltage electrical induction field, the heat resulting from energizing the metallic material in said thermoplastic rods simultaneously causing the melting of both said thermoplastic rod ends;
• forcing said rod ends together, causing total flowing together of said thermoplastic rod ends;
• and cooling said rod ends, causing the rod ends to fuse together.