Broken Red Bear

[dorenac]

I have a Red Bear pick that has broken in two. Is there an adhesive and/or method to repair it?

[BrianWilliam]

Money ;)

[UsuallyPickin]

I can't think of a good repair for this kind of material. Have you tried the website? If I was going to try I would use a super glue gel. IMO you will be better off purchasing a different or new pick. R/

[gtani7]

There are vintage fountain pens of the material, theyhave ways to repair them in FP forums: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/277823-casein-crack-repair/

[DHopkins]

Considering the stress that's put on a pick, I'd buy a new one. I'm not sure a repair would last long. Few things made out of the same material will have the same amount of stress put on them.

If you try the super glue and it doesn't work, try duct tape. It comes in colors, you know.

[Mike Snyder]

I super glued one a few years ago. Sandwiched it in waxed paper and duct tape and flattened it with a hardback copy of War and Peace. It was a seriously thick pick, which helped, and a very clean diagonal break, two clean pieces. It failed eventually, but worked good for a year at least. Blue Chips made that one obsolete.

[gtani7]

just occurred to me: would be easier to glue the piece with the tip between 2 Tortex picks or s.t. like that

[Bill McCall]

just asking, how did it break? They seem pretty tough to me. If it broke while playing, you might talk to Redbear.

[sblock]

Yes, Red Bear picks can definitely break (there are a number of previous threads about this), and it's not worth trying to execute a repair, which will be prone to failure. Consider trying & buying a BlueChip pick, made of a polyimide polymer. These wear incredibly well, are very nearly impossible to break under any normal playing conditions, and most of the users are very happy with them.

[JeffD]

just asking, how did it break? They seem pretty tough to me. If it broke while playing, you might talk to Redbear.

I have never broken one.

I have heard they get brittle or something when they get wet for extended periods, like being left in the pocket when the jeans are washed, or even when, as some do, putting the pick in your mouth while you change a string or something.

I also heard that if you deliberately go about trying to break it, trying to fold it in half, it will break.

With normal use and care I don't know what to think. I have two style C heavy with speed bevel, and twowith out, and I have had them many many years and never had a problem.

Actually I have never had any pick break ever.

[sgarrity]

Throw it in the trash where it belongs and buy a Blue Chip. The Red Bears break if you just look at them funny.

[Dave Hanson]

Goodness sake it's just a bit of plastic, throw it away and get a new one.

Dave H

[Mike Snyder]

I broke mine when it got into the hinge area of a case and I casually slammed the case shut. The fix was really good for a long time. Gel-type super glue. It was an early RB, black and extra thick. I have never been able to get the same tone out of the tortoise-looking ones.

[Elliot Luber]

This is the problem with Red Bear picks. I have a couple (you lose them and find them again) and love playing with them, but they break too easily and you're done.

[JeffD]

Do they break just using them or do you have to do something special, like catch them in the case lid described above.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

What Shaun said. I had at least one RB that broke on me; a friend sent me one in a regular envelop with no padding, and it arrived in pieces (presumably from the sorting machine). The one I still have now is still in one piece, but I avoid using it as I notice it has started warping from being held for too long. On top of that, it's not exactly easy to get a replacement if you want one. And lastly, I just honestly prefer the tone of a BC over a RB.

Get a Blue Chip and be done with it. You'll never look back.

[Bernie Daniel]

I stumbled on to this nearly 7 year old string quite by accident -- I picked up in a Google search about pick guard repair.

Anyway, I thought that I would share this observation about pick repair that I made close to a year ago.

I purchase a used casein pick from a fellow MC member via the MCC. I like casein better than any space-age plastic.

The pick was carefully attached to a with index care with a piece of clear packing tape. But it turns out that the surface of casein plastic must have a very rough surface at the microscopic scale because it was literally impossible to get that pick to release from the tape. I could not believe how tightly it was adhered. Anyway as you might have already predicted I snapped the pick trying to get it to release. (I did not want to use water or alcohol -- but maybe I should have). The seller and I quickly came to amicable terms.

But I thought since this primitive milk plastic had adhered so well to tape did that mean it was a good candidate for gluing up the break?

As it turns out the answer is yes.

The repair was as simple as it gets.

I laid the two pieces on a piece of kitchen wax paper pushed them into perfect alignment and slid four large, heavy metal washers gently up to each side to act as a "clamp" and keep the two pieces aligned. Then I laid a small bead of very thin cyanoacrylate glue along the crack. I counted on the glue wicking into the crack. After two hours, I turned the glued pick over and repeated with gluing on the the other side. Gave it 24 hours to cure.

I have now used the pick almost everyday for about 8 to 9 months. I've beaten the snot out of it with absolutely NO REGARD whatsoever for how I hold it or how hard that I beat on it. It's like the EveryReady bunny it takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

Just FYI.