Removing Paint

[Net Man]

Guys,

I have been painting baits for myself for some time now. Over the last few months some of my buddies have brought me baits to paint for them. I have been sanding the original paint off before appling the new paint. This takes forever. Is there something that I can use to strip the paint off with out effecting the plastic???

[mark poulson]

I have a glass jar with acetone in it, that I soak wood lures in to remove their topcoat and paint.

I think acetone is the active ingredient in most paint strippers.

I soak for ten minutes, use a rough towel and a scraper to remove whatever comes loose, then re soak and repeat, until all the paint's gone.

Acetone will dissolve plastic lures, so I don't use it for them. I just scrape the paint off, sand, and to a quick wipe down with acetone to smooth them before I repaint.

Edited January 26, 2009 by mark poulson

[jcheetam]

I have a glass jar with acetone in it, that I soak wood lures in to remove their topcoat and paint.

I think acetone is the active ingredient in most paint strippers.

I soak for ten minutes, use a rough towel and a scraper to remove whatever comes loose, then re soak and repeat, until all the paint's gone.

Acetone will dissolve plastic lures, so I don't use it for them. I just scrape the paint off, sand, and to a quick wipe down with acetone to smooth them before I repaint.

Mark- do you do anything to protect the bills on the wooden baits, or are you suspending them in the acetone to keep the bills from contacting the acetone? Thanks.

Jeff

[mark poulson]

If they have bills, I do a sanding, then a dip in the acetone without dipping the bill, then scrape, and repeat.

The sanding breaks the skin on the clear, to let the acetone work faster. Once I start scraping, it goes pretty fast.

I use the back of the blade on an exacto knife, but you can use any sharp edged blade that's rigid to do the scraping. Just watch you hands.

[philB]

Net Man

Why are you stripping the paint completly ???. If it is sound e.g not flaking off it looks to me like you could just smooth and apply a basecoat and cover the existing paint. If the existing paint is taking so long to remove it sounds like it is well and truly attached to the body, I say why bother removing, just overcoat.

[Net Man]

I used to paint over the existing paint but found that it effects the action. So I have started striping them and there is a world of difference.

[BobP]

I just lightly sand plastic baits unless they're suspenders, which I can usually strip by peeling the finish off with a very sharp thin blade (I use a little Swiss Army knife). No solvent concoction I've heard about over the last 10 yrs will strip a plastic bait without 1) making a giant mess and/or 2) eating up the plastic. At least one bait repainting service uses a blast booth to remove old paint. Which clearcoat you choose makes a difference in a repaint if you think .02 oz is significant. Epoxy is thicker and heavier than polyurethane. The latter is similar to a factory finish.

[woodieb8]

over the years doing charterboat re-paints we do not strip.

pull the hooks and rings, use painters tape the lip. scuff if needed. . ive never ever had a crankbait infuenced by re-painting yet.the clears we use is acrylic, or automotive car clearcoats.

[clamboni]

I don't strip them either. Just wet sand with 400, rinse and wipe off, mask the bill and prime. IMO, the bond from the factory paint to the plastic is stronger than any bond you'll be able to make. I think if you're sanding or using sovlents to strip the factory paint off you run more of a risk of affecting the action and messign up the balance of the body. I don't even strip suspending baits. The amount of weight you're adding with paint and topcoat is less than the weight of the split rings on the lure. Also, I use dick nite's, which floats so the bouyancy is increased when I topcoat.

But I always tell people that want stuff painted. The paint may affecvt the action of the bait. If they're ok with that then I am.

[silverdoctor]

Just a side note; in a recent Bassmaster mag., Tim Horton is quoted as only using those that remove all the old finish B4 refinishing. Maybe one of the guys on this site?? It was not obvious what the clear coat is on his custom baits.

I use D2T and it adds a measurable delta in wt. while some (as pointed out above) use thinner top coats. If the finished bait includes D2T as the top coat, I suspect that the wt. difference is insignificant between priming a factory job vs. stripping.

Some serious fisherman like to use D2T to make topwaters and small cranks easier to throw.

[jim45498]

I have repainted a lot of my old baits and I just cleaned them really good with alcohol. Taped off the bill and put on a white basecoat, then painted the color or colors I wanted. Finished with D2T. To be honest, I have never noticed a difference in action or weight. Neither have the bass, because they seem to like them.

[BobP]

I weigh components during building and find that the paint and a coat of D2T will add .02 or .03 oz to the weight of a 2-3" bass bait. That's not much but it's something, and the truth is that ANYTHING you do to a bait changes its performance at least slightly. Sometimes that's a bad thing, sometimes a good thing.

[Net Man]

Maybe I should stop stripping the baits. What is the Dick Nite top coat that you guys are using? I use a PPG Auto clear with hardener. Seems to work well but adds weight. I also use lacqure paints. Should I make a switch?

[gadawgs]

are we talking about not stripping wood or plastic baits?

[Net Man]

Both.

[Mags]

With suspending baits you do have to be careful about the weight the new paint and clearcoat adds. I have had LuckyCraft and Janns Pointer knockoff repaints become sinkers after re-painting, which is a royal PIA. I end up changing split rings and sometimes hooks to get it back to a suspending bait. I am real careful about keeping everything pretty thin on these baits. On suspending rogues it doesn't seem to be a problem. Other than blasting I don't think there is a good solution, but I'm all ears if someone has one. I don't ever strip regular baits. White primer over the factory finish, paint and topcoat. If I had to strip every bait I wouldn't do this. Way too much work. If you are going to blast the paint off a blast cabinet and crushed glass media is the way to go. I while back I posted on this and Tim Hughes replied. Just search for it. Forget about using all the chemicals. It is way more trouble than it is worth IMO. Goobing on clear coat IMO is a big killer of bait action. Spray it on, or brush it on sparingly.

Steve

[clamboni]

Dick Nite's clear is a moisture cured urethane topcoat. Everything you do to a lure will add or take away weight. Even though it floats, it's still adding weight. Witht he suspending lures it helps to conteract the paints which can make them sink.

PLENTY of info on dick nite's on the site. Search it.

[mark poulson]

I should clarify a little.

I only strip plastic lures completely if I'm going to make a ghost finish, and want the clear plastic to start with.

Otherwise, I wet sand, and paint over the factory finish.

I don't do well with solvents, so I use water based paints, and two thin coats of Nu Lustre 55 epoxy.

I'm pretty sure the water based paints are heavier than lacquers, but I don't think it's enough to matter, and the Nu Lustre goes on so thin it weighs next to nothing on a plastic crank.

Now, when you get into paint schemes for big swimbaits, the paint and topcoat can add significant weight. But I don't think it matters on cranks except for suspenders.

I catch fish on my repaints.