D2T help and thoughts

[CL Rods]

I painted a killer Bluegill version of a Cripple Killer and after fishing on Saturday and absolutely hammering them on the bait, I decided yesterday that I should put on one more coat to aid in rock to bait collisions!

Well this coat started setting up all bumpy and rippled and just darn ugly, and the bait is basically ruined IMHO.

The only difference in applying this coat is the bait had a couple of days to cure and that's about it. The previous coat was smooth as glass, and this one brushed on smooth.

Any thoughts on what might have happened? I will say it was the end of the tubes of D2T and the ratio may have been about 55%/45%. But it has cured completely and now feels like any other coat, it isn't tacky or anything, it just set up weird .

[BobP]

That sounds unusual. Are you sure you grabbed the D2T and not 5 min epoxy? Since you know there's a good coat of D2T under the bad stuff, I'd sand the bad layer off with 220 grit paper, making sure you don't sand all the way down to the paint. Epoxy sands pretty easily when fully hard. When smooth, wipe it down with denatured alcohol and apply a new coat of D2T. It will fill in all the sandpaper scratches and the coating will be clear.

[mark poulson]

I've had that happen where I didn't fully rough up the first coat of epoxy, and the second seemed to pull away from the smooth spots. It was hard for me to sand the first coat, since it looked so pretty, so I just scuffed it with a scouring pad. Mistake.

[CL Rods]

I bet the lack of a good scuffing is the culprit. I pretty much just grabbed the scotch brite pad and gave it the once over before applying what I thought would be the last coat.

[fatfingers]

Devcon 2 Ton epoxy can be very temperamental stuff. It's curing rate can be abbreviated by a few different things such as heating the bait or the epoxy itself or the humidity and temperature combination at the time it is mixed.

Furthermore, the stuff seems to cure at a different rate as it ages and it seems to have a finite shelf life.

It sounds to me as though you mixed it too long and it began to set up quickly as you were applying it. I know because I've had similar experiences. Your natural reaction is to try to "brush it out" right away but you only make it clump up worse and it hardens even faster. Once it starts there is no way to slow it or reverse it...its just a mess. You could heat it till the bait catches fire and the stuff will not smooth out once it gets to that sticky, lumpy, clumpy point.

All is not lost, however. You can, if you wish to put the time into it, sand it down carefully and put another coat on over it. If you patiently sand out the high points, the next coat will tend to smooth things over. You can actually be pretty aggressive in your sanding technique since it is the high points which will tend to be sanded off first and not the lower coats or the paint beneath. Of course, depending on how delicate the bait is, you have to determine whether or not it can actually tolerate another coat without affecting the action. But if its ugly (lol, like mine were when it happened to me), you've really got nothing to lose. I hate using any bait with any major aberrations or flaws in it. If I can correct them, the flaws bug me the entire time I'm fishing with the bait.

I was also strongly suggest that you consider buying a new tube of and when you do, try to buy Devcon with the least amount of yellowing showing on the hardener side. Light and time seems to cause that yellowing and in my experience, the more yellowing you have in the tube, the shorter the working time and higher the propensity for yellowing after the epoxy is actually applied to the bait.

Personally, I've pretty much moved completely away from Devcon for final clearcoating for a variety of reasons, which I won't go into here. I will say this: I'm a lot happier using it only to glue in the screw eyes and the lips on my crank baits.

Edited June 17, 2008 by fatfingers

[BobP]

Go ahead Fatfingers! Do tell! We haven't had a good donnybrook about clearcoats for months now

Viewing the heavy duty but pristine clearcoats on your musky baits, I have to bow to whatever your opinion is on the subject. But I still use D2T (one coat only) on bass baits and it holds up well in that particular application without undue yellowing. It's not my FAVORITE clearcoat but it's easy to use, readily available, and fairly dependable. Maybe it's a case of "The Devil You Know".

[mark poulson]

fatfingers,

I've been using D2T for my topcoat for the last two batches of jointed swimbaits I made because it is easier to coat the joints with it than with Envirotex. It does seem to be harder, but more inclined to chip off in large pieces. I think I'll put a final coat over the D2T, and see if I can't get the best of both worlds on the next batch I make.

I use Etex on repainted cranks, and put them on the wheel, and they look too good to throw!

I actually don't mind an uneven finish, which I sometimes get on the second coat, on my swimbaits. They move so much as they swim that I doubt the fish know the difference, and it puts out a different hydraulic signature when they move through the water, due to the uneven surface. Probably a really cool vortex deal, Dave. I can just imagine a bunch of little vortices (is that a word?) spinning off the sides as they pass through the water.

[fatfingers]

Thanks for the nice words, Bob. I think D2T is impossible to beat in the hardness department. Its just tough and that's a good thing. I just got tired of how fussy it can be when the weather is just right.

Mark, I can also understand your choice of D2T for that application. Swimbait joints would be a real booger to deal with if you tried etex. In fact, I have about 4 or 5 jointed baits on deck right now and I'm going to have to devise a jig to hold them while I paint them so as to maintain continuity in the paint pattern from the head section to the tail section. Plus I'll need a way to hold them so I can apply the etex and then quickly move the bait from the jig to the wheel.

Go ahead Fatfingers! Do tell! We haven't had a good donnybrook about clearcoats for months now

I won't say which finish is superior, but I will say that the guys that use envirotex regularly get in all the best restaurants, find themselves on the A list for all the best parties, and of course, get the best lookin' women.

It's true.

[mark poulson]

ff,

I began using the D2T to just coat the joints at first, with a small lap onto the face of the sections. Then I'd assemble the lure, put it on my wheel, with is horizontal with two opposing plywood discs, so the lure can be suspended between them, and I would coat the faces with Etex, being careful not to let it get into the joints, and then I would turn it for 12 hours. At that point I could put on a second coat if I wanted to.

But I got seduced. As I was coating the joints of one batch, I decided to just coat the whole thing while it was in my hot little hand. I put a hemostat on the hook hanger, or on a hinge screw, and finished the coating. By the time I'd done all three of the sections on those baits, and moved them each a couple of times to avoid sags, they were firm enough to ignore.

Done in fifteen minutes, handle or recoat in two hours, and ready to fish in eight hours.

But the hard finish of the D2T, at least on the large surfaces of the swim bait sections, seems more brittle/fragile than the Etex.

As for painting, I prime the lures in sections, with Krylon white primer, then I assemble them and base coat them hanging vertically, using pearl white or silver Createx.

Then I suspend them horizontally between two long screws on my painting board, a 4X8 sheet of masonite leaning up next to my work bench. I use paper clips, opened up as needed, and with a rubber band attached to the clip at one end for tension. That way the lure is aligned properly, and the joints are open, so, as I spray the paint onto it, the paint is consistent from one section to the next, and it also gets into the joints to some degree. I use a latex glove on my non-spraying hand, so I can hold the lure close to the lure clip, and rotate and hold it with the back facing me to do the shoulders and back.

My final paint step is to take it outside, and spray glitter on it while it hangs vertically from my gloved hand.

After I've hair dryered the glitter dry, I disassemble the lure, coat the joints, and then reassemble it and coat the faces.

I made my drying wheel with eyelets for coating eight lures at once, but I've found that with larger swimbaits, I only want to paint four at a time, so I have enough room to coat one without touching the wet one next to it.

According to the women I've spoken to, it's not that the Etex is harder, it's that it lasts longer!

Thanks for the nice words, Bob. I think D2T is impossible to beat in the hardness department. Its just tough and that's a good thing. I just got tired of how fussy it can be when the weather is just right.

Mark, I can also understand your choice of D2T for that application. Swimbait joints would be a real booger to deal with if you tried etex. In fact, I have about 4 or 5 jointed baits on deck right now and I'm going to have to devise a jig to hold them while I paint them so as to maintain continuity in the paint pattern from the head section to the tail section. Plus I'll need a way to hold them so I can apply the etex and then quickly move the bait from the jig to the wheel.

I won't say which finish is superior, but I will say that the guys that use envirotex regularly get in all the best restaurants, find themselves on the A list for all the best parties, and of course, get the best lookin' women.

It's true.

[Yake Bait]

Mark,

I have had similar issues with D2T chipping off in big flakes along with the paint job underneath. Came to the conclusion that once a little hook rash gets through the D2T, then water starts to get under the primer coat. More prominant on cedar lures.

To combat this I have switched to basswood, and also am pre-coating the bare wood blank with D2T to get an epoxy bond to the wood surface. I then paint above the precoat layer of D2T, then top off with a topcoat of D2T. So far I have not had any issues with chunks after a month of throwing some of this years lures.

Gator,

As fatfingers says, it definately is tempermental stuff. I tend to use my older tubes (which haves started to yellow) for the base coat and always use a newer tube (noticeably clearer) for the top. Thin with a small amount of acetone after you mix and it will go a long way to reduce lumps. A heat gun helps to level too, just be careful to apply heat in a quick burst then stay off it for a few minutes to avoid starting bubble rash.

[fatfingers]

You got your system going, Mark. I may try some or all of that with mine.

According to the women I've spoken to, it's not that the Etex is harder, it's that it lasts longer!

The ancient Egyptians used etex as an aphrodisiac.

Ghengis Khan's crew used D2T.

Do the math.

[clamboni]

You CAN thin it with Acetone, but don't thin it a lot. I've noticed that it doesn't cure as hard and it's much less durable after thinning.

I agree with fatfingers, (He's usually right about the stuff) it sounds like your last coat was mixed too long. If you notice the clumping in time, if the 2T is only BARELY too thick, you may be able to get away with heating it and it might level out nicely. You have to keep it warm though. The heating will make it thinner, but at the same time quicken the cure.............Haven't noticed if the faster curing has an affect on the durability though.

Edited June 18, 2008 by clamboni

[Spike-A-Pike]

Okay guys, you had better all stop and get a little fresh air:lol:, change out the filters on you paint booths:drool:, and see if you need to replace the filters in your protective masks:lolhuh:... and stop burning any hemp fibers in your paint areas, least you cause an explosion:boo:.

You guys may not always agree but it's to watch you clown around, I wish all the "arguments" could this fun to watch and referee. Continue fighting nice and friendly.

Edited June 18, 2008 by Spike-A-Pike

[CL Rods]

.....My final paint step is to take it outside, and spray glitter on it while it hangs vertically from my gloved hand.

After I've hair dryered the glitter dry, I disassemble the lure, coat the joints, and then reassemble it and coat the faces......

Ok, spray glitter on, buh? This is something I want to hear about! I'd love to understand what you are referring to here. I use some of the chameleon colors, and I will apply some glitter by dipping a brush into the glitter and just hold the brush above the lure and tap on it to get a light dusting into the clear coat and occasionally mix some glitter right into the clear coat if I want to apply it heavily.

But SPRAY GLITTER? I'd love to hear about this via PM, email or a posting.

AND, I did sand the lure very carefully, started a new tube of D2T and refinished the lure and it is back to looking good! I really wouldn't have cared a whole lot but the color mix of the belly and overall effect must have been good as it certainly was very effective at invoking the fish to eat it!

[CL Rods]

thought I'd share since a lot of people don't throw this bait and might not know what a Crippled Killer is.

The bait pattern is rotated about 80 degrees as it comes through the water, thus the title.

Edited June 18, 2008 by 76gator

[mark poulson]

Great looking bait.

The spray glitter I use is made by Krylon. It comes silver, gold, or mixed. I buy it a Michael's, a local hobby store.

It doesn't bother the Createx I spray it over, dries fast, and takes a topcoat epoxy fine.

When I've had a topcoat failure, it's never just down to the glitter, so I know it bonds well.