Rehabilitating Plastics

[Big Hands]

I have tried Mend-It, and it's not a bad solution. . . . if. . . . . you can apply it to the damaged area of the bait. But holding a split apart and being able to brush the solution into the wound is not easy with only two hands. It's pretty easy to get the tip of a cautery pen into the affected area, but $30 (for one high temp pen) up to $50 for a "kit" (with extra tips and a plastic storage box) is not chump change.

 

Just curious how many here are rehabbing or repairing their plastics, and how you do it?

 

Once upon a time, I owned a Cobra Proweld cautery tool, and I am considering getting another one.

 

I pulled these out of the boat the other day, cleaned them up, and had a Mend-It repair session. I was able to try some of the repaired baits, and they seemed OK, and caught fish.

[Michigander]

Depends on how you rig, but if it's to a jig head, the bait is usually fine except for the nose getting wrecked and being unable to stay on the hook.

 

If I'm conserving baits then I put a section of silicone tubing on the nose and it's back in action.

 

Basically the same stuff as the G7 wacky rig system. I get mine on eBay instead of paying the 500% markup to have a company name on the package.

MendIt is a lot of work to do on a bunch of little baits. Big expensive swim baits sure, but I'm not going to waste my time gluing a bunch of Keitechs back together. A better bulk idea might be to try dipping the heads in clear plastisol when you get home to rehab them.

[Bankbeater]

A faster solution may be to heat a knife and run the blade through the tear.

[Hammer 4]

Fixing small baits with mendit is a PITA..Works o.k. on bigger baits as Michigander stated.

 

I gave up on trying to fix them..

[Michigander]

Looks like a soldering iron works to remelt the splits back together. Obviously use in a well ventilated area.

 

#SafetyFirst

[PhishLI]

48 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

I have tried Mend-It, and it's not a bad solution. . . . if. . . . . you can apply it to the damaged area of the bait. But holding a split apart and being able to brush the solution into the wound is not easy with only two hands.

With a fresh X-Acto knife blade I enlarge the tear or hole enough so that the brush fits in it easily. Works great. Don't worry about elongated cuts weakening the bait because it won't. I've made one worm out of two halves and done the same with much larger plastics that were nearly torn in half. The trick is to leave it be and let it cure. 1/2 hour minimum, but longer is best. The stuff's a miracle.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Mend It saves me 100$s every few months in Keitechs alone.  I can repair most baits 2 or 3 times before it is destroyed after a fish or 2.  For baits with blown out backs I used to use a toothpick or the applicator on the little brother bottles to open the tear a bit and apply a small amount with the brush.  Straws work as well, but the best tool ive found for that are the Pyrex eye droppers that come with E liquid bottles or liquid supplement bottles.

Small amounts seem to work better then saturating the tears.  If you actually flex a soft plastic so that the tear opens up, the mend it can melt all the way through ruining the bait.

[Bluebasser86]

I use Mendit on big softies, everything else is just a casualty of war when it gets ripped.

[Jig Man]

When I repair plastic I use Mend-It or my hot knife which ever is best for the situation.

[Cgolf]

I am with @Bluebasser86 and just figure that a bait torn beyond use is tossed out. That said over the years I tend to look for plastics that last 6-10 fish and catch them too. Lots of tubes, rage plastics, and grubs for me, and 20 years of bass fishing also means I have some plastics to work through too;). I haven't gotten into the soft swimbait game in a big way yet though. The little bit I have, seems like a tail grab means the bait is junk because the fish now has the tail, so I have shied away from them.

 

That said I really think that baits catch more fish as they get seasoned. I have caught over 20 fish on a menace and an Aresenal assault bug and it seemed the more chewed and torn they got the better they caught them.

[Bankc]

9 hours ago, Michigander said:

Looks like a soldering iron works to remelt the splits back together. Obviously use in a well ventilated area.

 

#SafetyFirst

I can't say that I've used it for soft plastics, but I've used one to repair the bill on crankbaits.  I've also used one to do all kinds of things to my kayak and pretty much anything else that's broken and made of plastic.  I use a 30 watt soldering iron, so it doesn't get too hot.  I also don't use the same soldering iron that I use for electronics (which is a variable temperature unit) because you'll ruin your tip melting plastic.  

 

In the same vein, I've also use chemicals to melt pieces of plastic together.  Acetone, MEK, etc.  Sometimes it helps to take a bit of plastic, melt it in a jar of the solvent, until you get a gummy solution.  Then use that as a glue to hold the plastic together.  As the solvent dries, it just turn back into normal plastic.  It's the same way that PVC is glued together.  You take a primer, which is just the solvent, and use it to soften up the PVC.  Then you apply the welder, which is the solvent, plus some pre-dissovled PVC in it, to weld the two pieces of pipe together.  Part of the key is knowing what kind of plastic you're trying to join together and using the same type of plastic in the glue solution.  Not all plastics are the same or compatible. 

 

But, like I said, I haven't ever tried to repair a soft plastic lure.  So while I like the theory of all of that, that's all it is to me.  Just a theory.  

[garroyo130]

Mend-it or for plastics it doesnt work on, the ol lighter

[Big Hands]

I thought I would encounter more that employed a mechanical welding solution rather than the chemical welding alternative. But it looks like many are using Mend-It (or other chemicals) and have their own special ways of making it work for them. 

 

What has surprised me most is that no one that uses an actual cautery pen has responded. Yet?

 

I appreciate all of the responses.

[PhishLI]

5 hours ago, Big Hands said:

I thought I would encounter more that employed a mechanical welding solution rather than the chemical welding alternative. But it looks like many are using Mend-It (or other chemicals) and have their own special ways of making it work for them. 

I get where some guys see certain baits as disposable, but since I found this stuff locally last year I now fix everything that's made with plastisol over and over again. I don't waste time doing this while I'm fishing, but instead I just chuck my torn baits in a bag and wait for some down time and fix them as a fill in. Babysitting my grand daughter, and while she's cutting Zs, seems to be perfect. 

 

You can repair the same bait endlessly with Mend-it, not just 2 or three times. I've rarely needed to open any of the new bags of plastics that I bought during last years BF sale. I just keep fixing my most used baits. If you fish worms or Keitechs don't try to drip Mend-it into a torn nose or ripped out hook slot. Split those areas straight through lengthwise with a sharp razor just beyond the depth of the tear, dab it, close it up, set it aside, then let it dry. This takes about 30 seconds and the bait's as good as new. You can use this technique on any plastic bait that's compatible with this stuff.

 

 I've even grafted claws on craw plastics where I had two of them where each one was missing an appendage leaving me with a donor. A 1oz bottle of this stuff plus half of another of has saved me hundred$ this year. I find tons of freshly discarded torn up plastics on the shore when I wade. I fix them all then add them to my stash.

[looking45]

Search Amazon for  Bead Smith thread zap. Works great to repair baits. Inexpensive too

 

[Big Hands]

22 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

If you fish worms or Keitechs don't try to drip Mend-it into a torn nose or ripped hook out slot. Split those areas straight through lengthwise with a sharp razor just beyond the depth of the tear, dab it, close it up, set it aside, then let it dry. This takes about 30 seconds and the bait's as good as new. You can use this technique on any plastic bait that's compatible with this stuff.

This has been the lion's share of the plastic repairing I have been doing recently, and I will be slicing them going forward.

[Cgolf]

34 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

I get where some guys see certain baits as disposable, but since I found this stuff locally last year I now fix everything that's made with plastisol over and over again. I don't waste time doing this while I'm fishing, but instead I just chuck my torn baits in a bag and wait for some down time and fix them as a fill in. Babysitting my grand daughter when she's cutting Zs seems to be perfect. 

 

You can repair the same bait endlessly with Mend-it, not just 2 or three times. I've rarely needed to open any of the new bags of plastics that I bought during last years BF sale. I just keep fixing my most used baits. If you fish worms or Keitechs don't try to drip Mend-it into a torn nose or ripped hook out slot. Split those areas straight through lengthwise with a sharp razor just beyond the depth of the tear, dab it, close it up, set it aside, then let it dry. This takes about 30 seconds and the bait's as good as new. You can use this technique on any plastic bait that's compatible with this stuff.

 

 I've even grafted claws on craw plastics where I had two of them where each one was missing an appendage leaving me with a donor. A 1oz bottle this stuff plus half of another of has saved me hundred$ this year. I find tons of freshly discarded torn up plastics on the shore when I wade. I fix them all then add them to my stash.

 

The problem for me is I have so many plastics to use up, I need to thin it out a bit. I get on average probably 10 fish a soft plastic, some considerably more, some less. If I were just starting out or when I have a few less my thought process might change. My problem is maybe fishing baits too long lol. I even quit buying multi layered colors like moon juice because I can't flip them and still catch fish. So I guess without fixing them, I still get a lot of mileage out of them.

[JustJames]

I used to use mend it a lot for most everything big and small. It helped saving some lures especially Fluke (Yamamoto D shad) and Senko. I tried with smaller body plastic and it hit and missed. I think my first one only good for half bottle than got dry.

The more mend-it is not always better, especially on the nose piece. It would make plastics hollow not firm and hook wouldn’t stay on. I found if I can glue two pieces together better than patching just a hole.

Nowadays I don’t use mend-it much. I save for some expensive plastic (Yamamoto bait) or damage to body where I can remove the damage section and glue two parts together.

Another great tool from what I’ve heard is Solder iron with flat tip. I was gonna try that but cannot find my flat tip anywhere.

[Big Hands]

43 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

I used to use mend it a lot for most everything big and small. It helped saving some lures especially Fluke (Yamamoto D shad) and Senko. I tried with smaller body plastic and it hit and missed. I think my first one only good for half bottle than got dry.

The more mend-it is not always better, especially on the nose piece. It would make plastics hollow not firm and hook wouldn’t stay on. I found if I can glue two pieces together better than patching just a hole.

Nowadays I don’t use mend-it much. I save for some expensive plastic (Yamamoto bait) or damage to body where I can remove the damage section and glue two parts together.

Another great tool from what I’ve heard is Solder iron with flat tip. I was gonna try that but cannot find my flat tip anywhere.

I use my 1/4" chisel tip on a 40w soldering iron at times too. I think the tips that would be most effective are also probably the most delicate.

[WRB]

19 hours ago, Big Hands said:

I have tried Mend-It, and it's not a bad solution. . . . if. . . . . you can apply it to the damaged area of the bait. But holding a split apart and being able to brush the solution into the wound is not easy with only two hands. It's pretty easy to get the tip of a cautery pen into the affected area, but $30 (for one high temp pen) up to $50 for a "kit" (with extra tips and a plastic storage box) is not chump change.

 

Just curious how many here are rehabbing or repairing their plastics, and how you do it?

 

Once upon a time, I owned a Cobra Proweld cautery tool, and I am considering getting another one.

 

I pulled these out of the boat the other day, cleaned them up, and had a Mend-It repair session. I was able to try some of the repaired baits, and they seemed OK, and caught fish.

I have a Pro Weld 2 tip Wormize kit if you want it.

Tom

[Big Hands]

30 minutes ago, WRB said:

I have a Pro Weld 2 tip Wormize kit if you want it.

Tom

I do.