dayooper Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 There has got to be a better way to topcoat spinner blades! I have bare unpainted blades that are rough and ready for paint and I use an enamel primer that works good. I then use an enamel spray paint for the color. This makes them pretty tought, but they can still scratch with a little work. This may be good enough butI want something that would give a stronger topcoat. I have tried Devcon 2 ton and that seems to set up faster than I can work and doesn't seem to go on smoothly. I have a lot of spinner blades to paint and was wondering if anybody had a good suggestion for a spray topcoat. Would a clear enamel give it a good topcoat? Thanks! Benjamin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 What colors do you want to paint? For white blades you should be able to use appliance epoxy (spray) on a raw blade, without a clearcoat. For others I would shoot on some createx auto air, then clearcoat with flexcoat, and just hang to dry. Could also powder paint them if they are raw...thus no topcaot needed. Just a few ideas, sure there are others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richoc Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 You can powder coat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayooper Posted March 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 I have tried the powder paint and I can do up to size 3 in powder paint, but size 4 and above is more difficult. I thought I had a great plan to powder paint them. What I did was took an old toaster oven, soldered some hooks on the rack and hung the blades from them. I then used an electrostatic powder paint gun to paint them and then put them back in the oven to cook. This process worked great except that after the first time, the hooks I hang the blades from get all gummed up and the blades stick to the hooks. They are a bugger to get them off with out bending or chipping the blades and paint. This is why I was hoping a spray topcoat would work. Thanks for your help and suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richoc Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 Try curing them on a cookie sheet. But get one that is teflon coated. Take them off the rack and lay them on the the sheet. That is if you are only painting the front side. ( Buy one if you use he one you have now it will stop you from get home made cookies in the future.They will never forget you wrecked their favorite cookie sheet.) Lots of the blades at out there have power finishes, so there is a way. Maybe a release agent on the hooks, you don't need paint in the hole anyways. Or hooks that it will not stick well to, SS, nickled maybe? Easyer to clean off between batches. I am thinking of doing this so your answers will help me alot also. My current method will be salt shaker over a warm blade, then cured on the cookie sheet. Just haven't figured out what to hold the blade with so it gets coated on the entire front surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted March 9, 2004 Report Share Posted March 9, 2004 Does the blade have to be raw for the powder paint to work? If I wanted to paint just one side of a gold blade, could you scuff it up enough to powder paint? I don't know that this will work, but here is an idea. Maybe if you laid the blade on foil tape, heat on cookie sheet, powder and then cure????? Just a thought. Has anyone tried this? Tally- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayooper Posted March 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2004 I have powder coated spinner blades before by using a heat gun to warm the blade and then dipping it in the powder and tapping off the excess. I use a pair of hemostats to hold the blade, hold it in front of the heat gun, and then quickly swish it through the powder paint and then back in fron of the heat gun until the paint smoothes out, and then drop it into a pail of water. I then have to go back and heat up the tip of the blade where the hemostats were and coat that again. You have to do this fairly quickly to avoid powder build up. You do not need to scuff the blades before hand. I then hang them in a toaster hove for 15 minutes to fully cure. Powder paint will stick to just about any kind of metal surface. They are even starting to use powder paint on plastics. The problem with laying the blades ona cookie sheet is that you would have a hard time getting a good even coat on the blade. I have an electrostaic powder paint gun, but have yet to figure out a good way to hang and paint the blades so the hooks don't get gummed up (see above post). I am still working on a spray type paint to get a good top coat. If anyone else has any other ideas, please let me know. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 I have been experimenting with painting only one side of a blade but I am sure you could do both side with excellent results. After reading this post I got some really good ideas and help. Thanks all. I had bought two of CSI's powder spray guns when they first came out, only to be disappointed, but I got them back out this morning and came up with what I think is a very good job and relatively quick. (mind you, I am painting one side of a gold blade) First, I take a scotch brite and scuff up the side to paint. Second, wipe the blade clean with laquer thinner. Third, I taped the back side of the balde to eliminate overspray. Fourth, I stuck a piece of .031 ss wire thru the blade hole and tape and into a piece of styrafoam. I used another piece of wire to support the bottom of the blade so it would stay some what stationary. (the blade points are facing north and south or toward the ceiling and floor. Fifth, I took a heat gun and heated upthe blade. Sixth, I took my CSI powder sprayer with "LOW" air preasure and sprayed the blade. Seventh, remove the tape and place in toaster oven for 20 minutes at 250-275 degrees, flat on a teflon sheet with the painted side up. It is going to get water tested on Thurs. I hope this helps. That is what makes this site so great. You get 3-4 people talking about something and ideas get created. Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayooper Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Tally, great idea. I will have to try that. And to do both sides, just flip it over and spray the other. With two powder guns, you could do things like stripes (with a template of course to guide the powder). Keep the ideas coming. Great ideas![/code] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markell Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 I tried powder coating a few blades tonight. I managed to get both sides covered and then added a nice Devcon finish. They are turning on the wheel tonight so I will not know the results untill later. Thanks for all the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Markell- why are you using devcon? I would think that the powder paint (cured) would be good enough. Mine are getting fished right now and will know a little later if the powder coat held up. My gut feeling is that using devcon is an extra step that does not need to be taken. Having said that, to each his own. Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markell Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Tally, I used the Devcon because I did not want to cure the powder paint. I did not want it to stick to whatever was holding it in the oven. I powder coated 2/3 of the blade and then held it over my heat source, Once it cooled it was dry and somewhat hard. I then turned it over and powder coated the top 1/3. At this point you would normally cure the paint but I wanted to experiment with the Devcon as a replacement for curing. I did the exact same procedure for the Devcon top coat. The results are OK but it takes way too much time for me for it to be practical. An idea I had on how to cure the blade would be to use a piece of wire through the eye of the blade. Not a wire loop but a straight wire that only touches the inside of the eye. I may give this a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Markell- Keep trying, you will come up with a good solution. I am a little curious why you don't just buy painted blades? Dayooper- keep me posted on your success. I painted a bunch this morning and am getting this down to where I am actually getting pretty fast, certainly much faster that painting and devcon. This was a good post for me, I hope it was for you guys. Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markell Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 Tally, I have to agree with you. This is way too time entensive. I had never powder painted blades and I liked the idea because you would be able to match your head perfectly. And to be honest, I do not use painted blades enough for it to matter. But I would like to figure out a solution for this so the option would be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayooper Posted March 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 Talley, my buddy and I just ordered a powder paint air brush and we are going to try hanging them on a nail on a piece of wood. I am going to try having the heat gun in one hand in the powder gun in the other. Heat the blade up first and then spray it, move on to the second one. I think this might work and you could even get 2 guns with different color and two tone at the same time. I will let you know how it works. Thanks again for all the suggestions. Benjamin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 Dayooper, what kind of powder brush did you buy? If you bought the one that CSI makes, read the directions carefully. Do NOT over fill the jar with powder. Also, play with the air pressure and use as little air as you can get by with. This will eliminate a lot of waste. As I said earlier, I am painting just one side and now have this down where my blades look fantastic. Use your imagination to get the results you want. If you are going to paint both sides, it may be to your advantage to find a way to swivel the blade. Something like a coffee cup hook might work well. Good Luck! Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayooper Posted March 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Thanks Talley, I will try that. The gun I ordered is from CSI (actually my buddy ordered it so I won't be out anything if it doesn't work). Can't wait to try it. I am having better luck using vinyl jig and lure paint for CSI on the blades as well. Seems to be really durable. I will let you know my success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 I will send you a PM Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jigmeister Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 There was article in Bassmaster magazine about a pro angler that started using duct tape to color his blades when he couldn't find any white blades locally for his spinnerbaits . If you look you can find duct tape in white, chartreuse, and orange. This guy said the tape allows you to change blade colors to match the conditions easier but also claimed it stayed on the blades better than paint does. I haven't tried it yet but it might be worth a shot......... Jigmeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
