Responding to Jerry Moos's question:
>> When is the last time anyone here patched a tube?
Mark Stonich wrote:
About once a year I have a tube patching night. I made a coarse buffing wheel out of some fine grade Scotchbrite. Stick it in the drill press at about 600 RPM. Almost seems to melt the rubber as much as it abrades it, giving a very good bond. Since I get tubes wholesale it doesn't save me much, but I get a nice "Green" feeling.
+++++++++++++++++++++++ My recipe differs, but is easy to use. I buy a box of 100 or so Rema "TipTop" patches every few years. I also buy a quart of "Rubber Buffer" or "Rub-R-Flux" solvent every few years. It does a great job of giving a very clean surface w/o mechanical buffing. Every few years, I also buy a container of regular old rubber cement. At my age, I tend to forget when I bought what, so "few years" might mean decade or more. :-) In any event, I just clean with the buffer on a rag, lay down some rubber cement, wait for it to dry, and then press on the patch. Often I'll do several at a time. I mark tubes that need repair by loosely knotting them, and often put a toothpick in the hole to mark it.
Your mileage may vary.
harvey sachs
mcLean va