fishinguitars Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 I'm carving up a few small cranks out of basswood, and I was wondering if I had to seal the lure before painting. The reason I ask is I'm using devcon 2 ton as a clear coat. I'm assuming the D2 works as a solid sealer and was thinking I could skip the extra step. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 The undercoating is not just for waterproofing and durability, it also prevents the wood grain from rising when hit by water based acrylic paint. Absolutely necessary in the functional sense? No, but it sure looks better to end up with a nice smooth finish. If you heat set your acrylic paint, you will almost always get ugly bubbles where the air in the wood body expanded and forced itself out through the paint layer, if there is no durable undercoating. This happens in all wood I've used - including basswood. Building crankbaits taught me patience that I never had until late in life. If you are hand crafting them, you get the best baits if you build them with a progression of the best building practices. If you short change anything along the way, it always shows up in the end and you'll always know you could have and should have done better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lure--Prof Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Very well said Bob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Very well said Bob! LOL... +1 Bob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 I'm carving up a few small cranks out of basswood, and I was wondering if I had to seal the lure before painting. The reason I ask is I'm using devcon 2 ton as a clear coat. I'm assuming the D2 works as a solid sealer and was thinking I could skip the extra step. Any thoughts? I make mostly jointed baits, but I've made a few cranks. I think the most important thing sealing a wood bait before you paint does is prevent water from getting to the wood when the topcoat fails. Water in the wood under the paint scheme is a sure recipe for cracking and peeling. A wood sealer, hopefully, will penetrate far enough into the wood to give you some protection from rocks and teeth. Nothing will make a jointed wood bait bulletproof, but a good sealer helps a lot. The only wood lures I've done with no problems are one piece cranks. Anything with joints is just a collection of possible water intrusion points. For me, seeing a paint scheme I worked hard on crack and peel is heart breaking. That's the main reason I switched to PVC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
