mend it bait glue

It all started with the plastic worm and has now mutated into a huge array of specialized offerings. Whose is the best and which one is your favorite? Come share your thoughts and opinions here.
FrankW
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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by FrankW » Wed May 06, 2015 1:33 am

I find for torn baits in the boat that a battery operated soldering iron works best. It is instant and does a good job for repairs. I am not talking about the battery operated tools sold with a wire bit for repairs. I am talking about a soldering iron with some heat to it. The only take a half a minute or less to heat up.

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GOOD YEAR 71
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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by GOOD YEAR 71 » Wed May 06, 2015 2:06 am

FrankW wrote:I find for torn baits in the boat that a battery operated soldering iron works best. It is instant and does a good job for repairs. I am not talking about the battery operated tools sold with a wire bit for repairs. I am talking about a soldering iron with some heat to it. The only take a half a minute or less to heat up.

Frank
I've been on this idea in years past, but didn't have success with it. I'm curious what heat setting you use? Do you actually touch or simply heat transfer? Help us with some operational tips, please. Thanks.

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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by FrankW » Wed May 06, 2015 6:29 am

I am using the Apex (Weller) BP645MP soldering iron. The tip is round and sharp but the best is a flat tip used with a corded soldering iron. The corded iron is only good at home. The unit uses three AA batteries and since I don't use it a whole lot the batteries last for a good while. There is also a WELLER BP865MP Pro Series Battery operated iron that uses four batteries. When I buy another I will be getting the BP865MP with the four batteries. I use rechargeable batteries so don't worry much about running them down.

Here is how I use it:

I have welded two separate parts together and it works but harder to line up. Mostly I fix torn worms or Sinkos. I heat the BP645MP iron by pushing forward on the switch. It takes about 15 to 20 seconds to come up to heat. I push the iron tip into the tear making sure I melt both side of the tear. Then I remove the iron tip and squeeze the bait between my fingers so the two melted sides are pushed together. Hold for a short time and the repair is done. It doesn't always leave a pretty looking repair but still catches fish. Sometimes I take the side of the tip and run over the repair if any little bit is pushed up.

The first thing you have to do before using a new soldering iron is to tin it with solder. You need the solder to transfer the heat. After you use it a bit it may not melt a bait as well and you need to clean the tip and re-tin. Works for me.

Apex Tool Group BP645MP Battery Powered Soldering Iron with Batteries
Image

Now if you have a corded iron that will take the tip in the picture below then you will have lots of power and better results. This tip is very thin and heats quickly. The long thin blade lays into a tear better than the round tip of the other iron. Put it into a tear like laying a hot dog in a bun and as you remove it squeeze the bait closed.

Image

Toadslayer72
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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by Toadslayer72 » Tue May 12, 2015 12:03 am

Ok people, I have some more to add. I hit up Matt Servant of Mattlures (and original creator of Med-It) on Facebook asking about the life of Mend-It. Here is his reply:

"It all depends. If you got a couple of years out of it then that's pretty good. If it's not all the way thickened you can save it by adding a little MEK."

So there you have it, if anyone reading this starts to experience a thickening of their Mend-It, add a little Methyl Ethyl Ketone, http://www.lowes.com/pd_156579-78-GME71 ... Id=3161261

Shout out to Matt too for the info!

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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by Jeffbro999 » Tue May 12, 2015 3:08 am

Toadslayer72 wrote:Ok people, I have some more to add. I hit up Matt Servant of Mattlures (and original creator of Med-It) on Facebook asking about the life of Mend-It. Here is his reply:

"It all depends. If you got a couple of years out of it then that's pretty good. If it's not all the way thickened you can save it by adding a little MEK."

So there you have it, if anyone reading this starts to experience a thickening of their Mend-It, add a little Methyl Ethyl Ketone, http://www.lowes.com/pd_156579-78-GME71 ... Id=3161261

Shout out to Matt too for the info!
Thanks for that info. Been looking for something to thin it out again. Used acetone and it worked ok but was still thick and dried out way to fast. Gonna give this a try.

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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by Toadslayer72 » Thu May 14, 2015 7:42 am

JBcrankaddict wrote:
Toadslayer72 wrote:Ok people, I have some more to add. I hit up Matt Servant of Mattlures (and original creator of Med-It) on Facebook asking about the life of Mend-It. Here is his reply:

"It all depends. If you got a couple of years out of it then that's pretty good. If it's not all the way thickened you can save it by adding a little MEK."

So there you have it, if anyone reading this starts to experience a thickening of their Mend-It, add a little Methyl Ethyl Ketone, http://www.lowes.com/pd_156579-78-GME71 ... Id=3161261

Shout out to Matt too for the info!
Thanks for that info. Been looking for something to thin it out again. Used acetone and it worked ok but was still thick and dried out way to fast. Gonna give this a try.

That's awesome man, genuinely glad you found it useful.

Westbankcougar
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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by Westbankcougar » Sun Apr 17, 2016 4:54 am

I have been using mend-it for quite some time. But i just recently encountered a softplastic it didnt seem to work with. I was trying to repair some jackall chunk craws and it just wasnt working with them. I repaired some swimbaits with now problem right before. Thiw is a first.

oops
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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by oops » Tue Apr 19, 2016 4:56 pm

This stuff is worth its weight in gold for pricey soft swimbaits like Hudds or even just Senkos since they have pretty terrible durability. When it comes to any bait I am fishing on a jighead (curl tails or paddle tails), I just use regular old cheap superglue, and if that won't help solve the problem, it's time for a new bait.

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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by wiel0059 » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:04 pm

I'm with everyone else, Mend It works GREAT to expend the life of otherwise junk plastics. It will pay for itself many times over once you get the hand of it.

Another thing that has saved me tons of money on Plastics (maybe it was mentioned and I missed it) is super gluing my plastics to the jig whenever possible. For example, if I'm throwing any type of jig (football, arkie, flippin', swim, etc) or chatterbait I pin the plastic to the jig head with super glue. I probably go through 1/4 the amount of plastics with these baits since switching to this method. Regular old Loctite super glue is all you need.

hungry_cow
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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by hungry_cow » Sun May 15, 2016 11:25 am

I just keep all my damaged plastics in a couple piles based on color and add to them at the end of fishing and every so often when the pile gets big enough I mend them. Great products that saves allot of money especially with the expensive soft plastics that anymore end up costing around a dollar each. And the high quality ones that get bit best tend to be the softest that get torn up the easiest.

C_diesel2
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Re: mend it bait glue

Post by C_diesel2 » Wed Aug 01, 2018 1:06 am

I have been using it for years...It brings the life back to many baits in my piles of used plastics. After I mend them, I will use for fun fishing or practice.

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