base welds with glue gun?

[rugbydave]

Ok, so I need to do some base repair on one of my skis and I was looking at the Tognar site to get some supplies and was looking at a base weld gun, it costs $130. Funny story, it looks just like a glue gun(that costs $7), fits the same size sticks, etc (although the temp on a glue gun is 400 instead of 550). So I picked one up at the craft store, anybody know if the temp difference makes any difference, anyone have any experiences?

[mountain_man]

Funny i thought of the same idea, but hadn't got as far as comparing temps but although 150 is a big difference, 400 is still alot hotter than dripping P-Tex. So why not just give it ago. I thought the only problem might be to do with, once the graphite stick is cooled it may either expand inside the gun or screw up the heating element. But ill give it a try when i get round to it, so we'll find out how well it holds when compared with a standard repair and a base weld.

[rugbydave]

well I guess I'll just give it a shot then

[marshalolson]

interested to hear the results...

[Tuckerman]

I think that a glue gun would be fine can you unscrew the tip? If so then you could get a flat ptex tip.

[danhikeski]

some glue gun tips unscrew, prolly not the creap ones though

[mrkristofo]

Just in case you are curious, a regular glue gun is not hot enough to melt p-tex.

For core shots on the edge, without pulling the edge out, I use PC-7 epoxy. Similar to JB weld epoxy. It is a 2 part paste epoxy that is very strong. It is drillable and tapable to hold threads.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=19813

this has been my experience, as well, when trying to use The "Techno Stix" sold at Tognar.

[Damian Sanders]

Tognar sells very hard ptex "repair ribbon", for use on sintered bases. Use this with a standard 40w soldering iron. It can be a little tricky to work with sometimes, but if you do it right, the patch will be nearly permanent, even on large coreshots. The key is to spread it into the gouge in thin layers, so it bonds to the fiberglass and ptex, then put more thin layers on top. Try not to put on extra, because its impossible to "scrape" off - it has to be planed off with a sharp knife, base planer, stone grind, etc. I do multiple repairs like this every year, works great.

P-tex guns are better than the candle drip method, but are not as good as the ribbon/soldering iron......they're more for shop use, where they patch skis multiple times a day.

[Mulletizer]

Funny you mention this, I was looking into it only yesterday. Most glue guns aren’t really hot enough but some are.
For example, this one is marketed as a p-tex gun (albeit with a different tip/nozzle) – and it quite clearly came from this glue gun supplier.
I found a Bosch with variable temperature settings and changable nozzles to adapt for p-tex. Will update as the project comes along.

edit: Houston, we have a winner.

[Krash]

The glue gun style will work OK for home repair. The P-tex stick you use in them are made of a softer compound so that it will melt and flow through the gun. Softer = less durable, but it is better than nothing. It can cause slow gliding, but I like flexable epoxys for durability.