Brick Steel

I’ve used both Devcon 2T and BSI 30 minute epoxies. I put them on a bait turner and turn them for eight hours. They are probably cured in less time than that, but I let them turn overnight. I also don’t like to handle for twenty four hours, but after that I’ll put hooks on. I may be overly cautious, but it doesn’t hurt anything. Doing this i’ve never messed up a bait. Also as Danubesalmon said, temperature matters. If you live where it gets cold, curing takes longer in the cold.

I have used both BSI and Devcon 2 ton with good results. Initially I had some issues with the epoxy sometimes being a little lumpy. A couple of things that I do are: I always thin the mixed epoxy with a few drops of denatured alcohol. This helps it spread better and also seems to help bubbles to rise out. After mixing and adding epoxy, I let it set for a minute or two for bubbles to rise. I may be kidding my self, but banging the bottom of the epoxy mixing cup on the table seems to help bubbles to rise. If I use glitter in the epoxy, the presence of the glitter seems to break up bubbles. All that being said, 30 minute epoxy only gives you a few minutes of working time. A mistake that I’ve made is trying to clear coat too many baits at once. I have found that I can do a good job brushing on and spending evenly two baits, before the epoxy starts to cure. When I’ve done three or more, I’ve always had to refinish. When I’ve had gaps or bubbles, I’ve waited 24 hours, then lightly sanded and recoated with epoxy, that I’ve thinned a little more than usual. Also a bait turner is essential. I leave baits on for eight hours.

Thanks. I live in Panama City, Florida and paint baits for bass, but I'm interested in doing some baits for speckled trout and redfish. I did repaint a redfish bait for a friend that had gotten pretty torn up. I'll have to see how it has held up.

Troutsupport, are you making baits for speckled trout? How does epoxy top coat hold up?

If you have not already started this, I have a suggestion for stripping the old paint off. Soak some pieces of paper towel in denatured alcohol and then wrap them around the lure. Then wrap the aluminum foil around the lure to seal in the alcohol and keep it from evaporating. I did this with some old baits, including Bomber crankbaits and the original paint just fell right off into the paper towels. On some baits, I had to rewrap with fresh alcohol soaked paper towels because all the paint didn't come off, on the first wrap. This is better and less damaging to the bait then sanding. Some little bit of sanding might still be necessary, but hopefully not much. Pleased don't soak in acetone - it will destroy plastic baits. Good luck!

Good list by Ultimate Predators. Get Bit has a 3.5 li’l jerk that may be what you’re looking for. I bought some and they are actually a little smaller than I like.

I think you are right on your last post. I’ve given up trying to repair broken lips on crankbaits because, like you said, removing the remnants messes up what’s left of the bait.

I used my North American fish handbook to paint sort of a Red Breast Sunfish DT-10. Not an exact match, but I was trying to get close with the colors and proportions...and it was fun to try. I have also used pictures of fish from the internet for some patterns.

I did some stencil experimenting this week. First I cut a couple of stencils with flat material with an Exacto knife and then vacuum formed them. A couple came out okay and a couple had the cuts enlarge (maybe what Desertbird and Whitaker201were suggesting.) So then I cut a few and before vacuum forming them, I used masking tape over the cuttings to seal them and hopefully keep them from spreading. This worked fine. The cuts retained their shape. I think this may work with stencils cut with a Cricut or Silhouette cutter. When vacuum forming like this, one of the challenges of a precut stencil is getting it to line up properly during the forming. This works okay for things like a crappie pattern, but don’t know how it will work for stencils the require more precision.

I am really interested in how this works. I've been cutting stencils by hand after first forming plastic sheets over a blank with a shop vac and heat gun. I then have used a exacto knife and/or Dremel tool to cut out the pattern. I'm pretty limited in what I can do like this. I wonder if when using a stencil cutter (which cuts flat sheets), if those stencils could then be formed over the bait, using the shop vac and heat gun method.

I've had some of that, particularly when I was finishing too many baits at once. I got in a hurry and missed some spots and/or the epoxy was starting to thicken on the last bait. In those cases, I've lightly sanded the bait with 3M pads (after at least 24 hours) and recoated the entire thing with epoxy that I had thinned a little more than usual. They came out fine. I had just tried putting some epoxy over the spots and that didn't do so well.

Those baits look great! I think that BSI is far more durable than the finish on retail baits. All the baits that I've done seem to run fine with BSI epoxy. I had some DT-6s which seemed a little heavy (almost neutrally buoyant) but I think that was the blank more than the finish. I do usually thin the epoxy with very little denatured alcohol. It helps it to go on a little better and maybe makes it a little less bulky on the bait.

I’m using all Createx paints and heat setting them. I followed BobP’s advice and had no problem. I had been thinning the transparent base to be brushed on with 4012 reducer. Without reducer, it went on fine.

I used reducer. I’ll give it a shot without.

I hope that I am learning by my mistakes, because I had three complete failures yesterday. I have been trying to get a smoother top coat when using glitter. On a bait, I did as Mark suggested and as I brushed on the transparent base with glitter mixed in - it took the paint right off the bait. I stripped the bait and tried again, but this time before adding the base with glitter, I sprayed on a couple of coats of transparent base, heat set them and then brushed on. Same results - even with a well loaded brush and gentle brush stokes, it took the paint right off. Then I did something really stupid. I tried spraying the transparent base with glitter mixed in through my Iwata Eclipse airbrush. The glitter clogged up the nozzle. I thought that I had ruined the nozzle, but was able to clean it out with a small sewing needle. I normally epoxy baits right after I paint them. I heat set all coats and have not had a problem, but I wonder if I need to let them dry overnight, even after heat setting the paint. Also, I reduced the base coat, which may have contributed to it taking off paint. Thoughts?

I seem to be missing something. All I see is emojis.

What do you mean by “thinned to water”? I thin the epoxy that I have been using with denatured alcohol which makes it go on better.

Interesting comment by All Eyes, concerning white Createx. I’ve been using opaque white as a base for most baits and have had problems with consistency - much more than any other color. I just threw out a bottle because it was so thick, I couldn’t reduce it to useable. I got another bottle and it’s fine. When I got it from Hobby Lobby, I shook it to make sure it was liquidy (new word - you saw it here first). Also appreciate BBK’s comment on the eye dropper. It’s much more controllable and less waste. I usually reduce the paint in the airbrush cup. A couple of drops of reducer first then add paint. My thinking is that I don’t want a blob of un-reduced paint at the bottom of the cup to clog up the airbrush.

Has anyone compared Devcon 2 ton to Bob Smith Industries epoxies? I’ve been using the BSI 30 minute epoxy with fairly good results, but was wondering if the D2T is a better option.