mark poulson

I wipe down with alcohol after the first coat is set, 24hrs. I don't use alcohol to smooth the first coat, only to prep for the next coat. I was told by the tech at Envirotex that it was unnecessary to sand between coats, provided I wiped with alcohol between coats. If I have a really rough spot after the first coat has set, I will sand with 400 grit, and then recoat. But I only sand the rough spot, not the whole lure, and then do my alcohol wipe down and recoat.

We use mixing nozzles on the job for structural epoxy. I never knew they were available for hobby epoxy. Silly me! Where do you find the mixing nozzles? I've been using measuring and mixing cups for my Etex, and I just use my eye for my 5 minute Devcon.

I made my wheel out of a $29 rotisserie kit I bought from the local hdwe store. A chain store. The wheels are 16" diameter, and I used the forked meat holders to attach the wheels to the shaft. They have thumb turn set screws so I can adjust the distance between my wheels for different size lures, although I mostly just use extra paper clips to adjust the lenth of the lure attachments instead of moving the wheels. That way, I can coat and sping lures of different lengths at the same time. If I'm only coating one lure, I will attach an already finished lure of similar weight opposite the lure to be coated to make the wheel balanced, which makes the load onthe motor even. These motors aren't the most robust, and eccentric loading (out of balance loading) puts a strain on them. Here's a picture of my wheel. It took me 30 minutes to make, once I figured out what I wanted to do.

If you dip in Minnwax poly acrylic twice, and sand after each coat with 220, you can get a smooth enough bait for painting. I make larger baits, so fine detail isn't that critical. When I first started painting, I would dip and sand, base coat with Createx flat white, and then paint with pearl white or silver, putting enough on to even out any rough spots that might be left. Then any other shading colors, accents, and detail. Finally, I would coat with epoxy, and let the epoxy give the final smooth finish. Now, I don't sweat getting the bait too smooth. I found that wood grain showing through the paint gives an added 3D effect to the paint job, so I don't even worry about sanding too smooth, or filling the wood grain any more. I just hit it with 220, round the edges, and, if there's any grain showing, so be it.

Try Envirotex Lite. It takes 12 hrs.+ to become tack free, but I can coat the lures after I put them on the drying wheel, and then turn it on, hit them all with a hair dryer for a minute or so each as it's turning (1rpm) and then let it turn all night. I check for dry spots as I'm hair drying them, and can add a little more epoxy on the dry spots, or just brush them out, and hit the with the dryer one more time. And I can use the brush to remove any excess I see starting to sag onto the underside or edges of the bait before it sets. The slower setting epoxy gives me time to coat as many baits as my wheel will hold (8 pieces) although the most I've done is 4 at a time. That way, I have enough room to coat each one on the wheel, without them getting in my way. If it's cold and epoxy starts to get stiff in the mixing cup, I hit it with the hair dryer, and it becomes more runny and easier to spread. In hot weather it lasts for the entire coating procedure. Even in the cold, if I have some left over, I can reheat it and use it to coat the insides of the joints of the next batch of jointed lures, which makes it easier to coat them when I put them on the wheel. Coating the insides of the joints is the hardest part of coating jointed lures. Grrrr!!!! I usually coat in the evenings, and turn the wheel off the next morning, but don't take them off until that next evening, giving them 24 hrs. to set. If you wipe Etex epoxy down with rubbing alcohol, you can re coat after 24 hrs. without sanding, which I do before I take them off the wheel. Two coats of epoxy, on the larger baits I make, doesn't affect the action or buoyancy of the bait, and it makes them more resistant to "rock rash".

Great idea! Thanks.

Someone here recommended polyurethane decking from Lowe's. I went online, and saw they have a polyurethane decking available in 12', 16', and 20' lengths. Sorry, but I don't remember the brand name. Rip off the outer, finished layer on the table saw, and then shape it with your normal procedure. Bear in mind that polyurethane is a petro chemical, and machining it may give off gases. I don't know that for a fact, but it seems logical. Maybe the person who tipped me off to this will chime in with the quirks of the material, such as how you attach the hook hangers, hinges, and eye ties, etc.. I haven't tried it myself. After I thought about it, I realized I was better off sticking to wood because I only make a few larger baits for myself and my friends, and I am comfortable with wood.

I keep a small tupperware-type plastic container filled with water on my work bench, and, between colors, I wash my airbrush out in it. It doesn't matter when the water gets a little dirty. Last thing I do between coats is fill the cup a little with airbrush cleaner, and back flush, loosen the needle and work it back and forth, and then spray out the remainder of the clean. I make sure I've worked the needle thoroughly, and then I move to the next color. When I'm done spraying, I do the same thing, making sure to clean the tip with an artist's brush (throw away), and then I run cleaner through it one more time, and then hang it up until the next time I paint. I pull the needle out before I paint again, and, if it's still dirty, I clean it and run a little acetone through the gun, and I'm ready to go again. Most of the time I don't need the acetone. And the "dirty" washout water works fine. No running to the sink. The airbrush cleaner last step takes care of any residual paint from the "dirty" water.

Pete, One other thing might be a leaky oil seal in your compressor. If you have another compressor, try switching and see if it still happens. Although a water separator should take care of oil, but you never know. Otherwise, it sounds like it's time to purge the system. Dump the thinner, the epoxy, and every other "wet" part of your finishing system, and start fresh.

Try counting down a 3/4oz chatterbait, or a 3/8oz sworming hornet with a jr. fluke trailer.

Exwives never understand, but you'll get visitation rights on the weekends, when you can take them fishing. )

If you're just a beginner, you've raised the entry level bar pretty high. Good looking baits.

Do it! Free time and having a life are way over rated!

Pete, That's really clear. Thanks. I haven't had any problems with "finger fat" so far. My hands are so dry, and I am careful not to grip the fresh paint, but use a hemostat to hold the lures when painting, and opened up paper clips to hold and hang them between coats while I'm painting another lure the same color, or while I change colors. Lately, I've been spraying a solvent based rattle can glitter over my baits before I top coat them, and heat setting it with a hair dryer, and haven't had any finger fat/finger print problems. Of course, that's with big lures. When I repaint cranks (I haven't tried making my own so far), I have a bill to hold, so finger prints aren't an issue. It looks like you use latex gloves on your hands when you paint. Good idea. I'm going to have to try that, although doing it bare handed saves so much on finger nail polish!

Great site. Thanks. I use Krylon primer or Minnwax acrylic sealer first to seal my baits, Createx water based paints for finished painting, and Envirotex Lite as a topcoat. I generally shape, weight, undercoat, and test in one session. Then I paint and topcoat in one session. That means I'm putting my topcoat on Createx that's been heat set, but not cured out. Do you think spraying lacquer flip flop paint over a built up waterbased color scheme that's only heat set would be a problem?

I remember those. My Mom used to have them to cover our food when we ate outside.

I've tried braid for deep cranking, but the lakes I fish are clear with rock, and braid doesn't like rock. I use 10lb BPS flouro for all my cranking. I can feel everything. And I think the flouro deals with rock better than braid. For Crigs, I use 15lb braid with a swivel and 10lb flouro leader. I also use braid with a flouro leader for Ikas, Senkos, and with a mono leader for topwaters. The braid floats, which keeps it out of the rocks when I'm on the bottom. The flouro sinks, and, if I'm dead sticking on a slack line, or picking out a backlash, the flouro can drop into the rocks, and get stuck. Grrrr!!!! I love braid. I also love flouro. I guess I'm just easy. )

Lacquer based paints will go over water based fine, but will melt oil based paints like rattle can enamels. Lacquer thinner is a solvent for enamels, but not for water based paints, and Lacquer thinner is the carrier for lacquer paints.

rhahn427, What, they came Tuesday and you haven't post an photos yet???? ) Sorry, I didn't mean to sound pushy or preachy. To me, your post sounded like you were kind of hesitant about trying, and I was just trying to give you a little encouragement. I must have read it wrong. Good luck, and I look forward to seeing some of your stuff in the not too distant future. Mark

Thanks guys. I couldn't for the life of me remember the phrase "flip flop paint". That's probably why I couldn't find anything in the search. Ya think??? ) I'll try a lot of light coats and see if that works. I'm on my way out to the Garage to paint a jointed swim bait that I'll throw Saturday, so I'll get a real good test then. Vman, thanks for the link.

I bought some of the Wildlife color shift paints, but I don't think I'm using the right base for them. I typically spray them over the darker back, and fade down the sides. But I can't see the shift effect in the water. I remember there was a thread about this, but I can't find the right words to pull it up on the search feature. Help!!

That's what I use. The scale pattern is more course than with the netting, and it's a square pattern. I turn it to a 45 degree angle to get a diamond pattern. It is cheap, doesn't mess up heat set Createx, and does stick. I use clothes pins to pull it tight top and bottom, and throw it away after one use.

Bruce, That link doesn't work.

I use the Minnwax as a sealer, but never thought of heat setting it to use as an intermediate clear. I'll have to try that.

It's just like dock talk. You have to do your own thing.