Ski Mender Base Repair Pistol

I picked up one of these a few seasons ago on Slide Wright.  
If you do your own repair work, this tool can save you a lot of time.  It's kind of like a caulking gun for P-Tex.  

It's perfect for what I would describe as small to medium sized lacerations:
 
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In general, the repairs hold-up pretty well.  This is some rework of a repair from last year

This is the only one that I have done so far, that has required rework.

Bottom Line: Good... but not Great.  Overall, it takes a lot of the mess out of candle work.  

Total investment for me was about $90 (60 for the tool, 30 for the P-Tex cartridges)  In terms of working with P-Tex, it's definitely quicker and cleaner.  Yesterday, I did 3 snowboards and 2 pairs of skis which amounted to 18 inches of P-Tex application in just under 2 hours.  This would have cost me $90 at my local shop.  It requires some practice to master the technique (which is not described in the instructions).  Once you have the technique down, simple base repairs can be done very quickly.  Essentially, this tool allows for much more precise application of the P-Tex.  This saves you a lot of time with the "finishing" work.  

That said, the quality of the tool feels a bit shabby.  There is no "auto shutdown" safety feature, and according to the instructions (which are virtually non-existent), if you leave it on for more than 60 minutes straight, not only will the tool burn-out, but you may also burn down your house.  

There is also an industrial strength version

I was wondering when someone would make a hot glue gun applicator for Ptex. The secret to getting the repair to stick is to preheat the base and then as minimal distance from the dripping candle to the application site so it has no time to cool in flight. You want it to melt the material it is hitting so they bond tightly, a chemical bond rather than a friction bond.

I use one of those things. They work pretty good. Unless you heat the base up they rip out quickly.

If you're down to the base or up against the edge, I have found that a thin layer of metal grip as a first and then p-tex as a top layer tends to make thr repairs last much longer than a straight p-tex repair job.

are you just running your iron over your bases to heat them up?

+1 on the metal grip

I have to get some of that metal grip.  I have heard people speaking about it but have never used it.  I get my bases ground once per year it like 8 bucks and I do the rest.  I only file the sides and most of the time it is with Diamond Stones, I don't use files often at all.  I have  roto brushes that take a lot of the work out of cleaning and scraping.

I had a few "welds" done at the WF shop, on deeper gouges by the edges.  I'm clueless as to what a "weld" is, but I wonder if it involves that metal grip....

I use a heat gun to warm the base up.