capt mike Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I have been using plastic wood to fill in the weight holes in my jointed swimbaits. It seems to leave voids after it dries. What have you guys been using for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I was using CA glue mixed with micro balloons, but my new brand of CA glue dries too quick to allow this. Now I am using bondo filler. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danderson Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I'm getting ready to try water putty. I have some that I had to fill holes in my plaster wall. It will soften if water gets to it, but so will the paint so I figure I'd give it a shot. I'll let you know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I'm getting ready to try water putty. I have some that I had to fill holes in my plaster wall. It will soften if water gets to it, but so will the paint so I figure I'd give it a shot. I'll let you know how it goes. Once it is cured and shaped, coat it with CA glue. This will strengthen and water proof it. Just my thoughts. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I use water based wood filler or spackling. Exterior wood filler on hardwood baits and interior/exterior spackling on balsa baits. Both dry quickly and are easy to sand. I don't want a filler that is harder than the wood around it because it's hard to sand smooth without damaging the softer wood around it. I undercoat baits with epoxy afterwards so whether it is waterproof or not is not an issue. I install integrated belly hangers/ballast weights with epoxy putty, which you can smooth out for a neat appearance in the couple of minutes you have before the putty gets hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repair Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Try the bondo trick, it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I use all of the above and the easiest waterproof solution i have found is epoxy putty. I need it to be water proof because I test my baits right out of the mold and use different weights. I dont have to seal them if I use the epoxy putty. Just knead it stuff into whatever void u have and wait about 10 mins...It also sands very easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR KNOW IT ALL KIND OF Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 I use Bondo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanson Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 I have been using plastic wood to fill in the weight holes in my jointed swimbaits. It seems to leave voids after it dries. What have you guys been using for this? i have been using loctite repair putty. its sands easy when you let it dry for a few min and it has really strong hold if you want it is strong enough to hold your screw eyes if you use them. http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epxy_putty/overview/Loctite-Repair-Putty-Multi-Purpose.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 i have been using loctite repair putty. its sands easy when you let it dry for a few min and it has really strong hold if you want it is strong enough to hold your screw eyes if you use them. http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epxy_putty/overview/Loctite-Repair-Putty-Multi-Purpose.htm Yup thats what I use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyo1954 Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 Okay, you guys sold me on the bondo. I bought a bunch of that magic putty on sale and was using it. It works great too, but the bondo sounds just as good and easier to find now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkustel Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 I too like bondo. Its a little bit of a pain only because you have to mix the hardener...but its also a benefit because if you add enough hardener to make the mix a dark pink you will have something that dries very fast over even wide deep gaps and holds. I used to have the same issue with having to sand so aggressively that I would score the area around it. (Which is still fixable of course). What I like to do now is let the bondo setup pretty well but not get too hard and then hit it with some 60 grit and it is real easy to sand off the excess without much effort. So far I haven't found anything that holds as well on my test baits that I don't even finish when testing. (Urethane). Oh yeah, get some extra hardener (they sell it seperately), as you will probably go through it pretty fast as everyone I know ups the ratio of hardener quite a bit to get the quick dry times. JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) I too like bondo. Its a little bit of a pain only because you have to mix the hardener...but its also a benefit because if you add enough hardener to make the mix a dark pink you will have something that dries very fast over even wide deep gaps and holds. I used to have the same issue with having to sand so aggressively that I would score the area around it. (Which is still fixable of course). What I like to do now is let the bondo setup pretty well but not get too hard and then hit it with some 60 grit and it is real easy to sand off the excess without much effort. So far I haven't found anything that holds as well on my test baits that I don't even finish when testing. (Urethane). Oh yeah, get some extra hardener (they sell it seperately), as you will probably go through it pretty fast as everyone I know ups the ratio of hardener quite a bit to get the quick dry times. JK I also use bondo, and also go through the hardner faster than the putty. Just remember that the more hardener you add, the weaker the bondo gets, so be a little patient, use a little less hardner, pink like JK said instead of red, and you'll get a better result. Edited May 17, 2011 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 I also use bondo, and also go through the hardner faster than the putty. Just remember that the more hardener you add, the weaker the bondo gets, so be a little patient, use a little less hardner, pink like JK said instead of red, and you'll get a better result. I find the paste hardener provided with the bondo filler a real pain to work with. I always seem to use too much and the squeeze tube never lasts the course. Now I use the hardener that comes with the polyester resin, as I always seem to have plenty left over with the resin. This tends to thin the filler a tad, but it works for me. I stand in front of my extractor fan and sand down using a drum sander attachment on the dremel (the hardener, MEK, is nasty stuff and you do not want to breathe this dust). Even though the drum sander is capable of removing a lot of material very quickly, I find that I can control the sanding process very finely, as you can get up close to eyeball the progress (don't forget eye protection). I finish off with 120 grit under my thumb and a coat of CA glue. I can usually get an invisible fill with this method. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent R Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 Try the bondo trick, it works. Are you referring to auto body filler......if so what is a good product......thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 Are you referring to auto body filler......if so what is a good product......thanks Yes, it is used as an auto body filler. Bondo is a brand name and they sell other items under the same name, but the filler is generally called Bondo. I use a brand called San polac which is available locally for me. It is all the same stuff, polyester resin filler. I buy it by the kilogram tin and pay about $8. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repair Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 In the states you ask for BONDO in any store it means only one thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danderson Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 I forgot to post about the Water Putty. It worked great. It's water based as I said before so it is pretty easy to work with. Just mixed in water until i got the consistency I wanted and then slapped it in the spots I needed it. I wasn't worried about it being water based. I was just stating that because I know that some people do. I have enough sealer on a bait to get a nice smooth paint coat that I doubt water will ever get to it. The thing about things being waterproof is kinda a moot point with me. I understand it and I don't want to use things on a topcoat or something that isn't waterproof, but how often do we really use the same bait for 12 hours in a day over and over again. We all know on days when this does happen it is so good that no clear coat would stand up to the fish we would be catching. I long for those days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden James Lures Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 A better wood filler??? I've started collecting the sawdust from the CNC machine and mixing into a Medium Viscosity CA like Bob Smiths INSTA-CURE+. It seems to be odor free and dry harder and faster than bondo with good sanding results. They also sell two very thick CA's for big gaps and an accelerator. Anyone ever tried these? http://www.bsi-inc.com/Pages/hobby/ca.html John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 When CA first became available, there was no medium viscosity option. I used to use microballs as a filler, and add a drop of the CA over them to harden them. That was probably 30+ years ago, and, if I remember right, the filler was really hard and brittle. I use the gap filling ZAP CA and their accelerator all the time. It works great, and the accelerator lets me work as fast as I want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lure--Prof Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 I've used several different things over the years, but as I'm usually just gluing in ballast and filling around it I use epoxy glue, which bonds much better with balsa wood than epoxy putty. If some silly or impatient crankbait fisherman slaps the water with one of my baits to clear the hooks of a little debris, it benefits him and me if the ballast doesn't come shooting out of the belly. While the epoxy putty is itself strong, it doesn't have a lot of tooth, or penetration into the wood to form a strong bond; and I just prefer working with epoxy glue as opposed to Bondo. A little sanding and it is ready for my next process, which is a coat of epoxy for sealing the lure. While some builders might think this is overkill, I want my baits to be as durable as possible, to stand up to hard usage in difficult places, and to continue to catch fish year after year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pancho Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Have you guys ever tried using Fiberglass filler instead of bondo? I would think it would bond better and it will also be more water resistant. This also is a bondo like product that will sand real easy once it sets up. There is a product by the name of MAR GLASS that can be purchased at many auto paint supply houses or I believe they also carry it at PEPBOYS Auto part stores. Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 If you coat the ballast holes in your balsa with the runny kind of crazy glue before you add the ballast, the crazy glue penetrates into the balsa and makes a stronger surface for glue, and epoxy, to hold to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 MinnWax sells wood putty which is nothing but Bondo...same putty, same hardener.....same smell. Most hardware stores carry it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 A better wood filler??? I've started collecting the sawdust from the CNC machine and mixing into a Medium Viscosity CA like Bob Smiths INSTA-CURE+. It seems to be odor free and dry harder and faster than bondo with good sanding results. They also sell two very thick CA's for big gaps and an accelerator. Anyone ever tried these? http://www.bsi-inc.c...s/hobby/ca.html John My method is similar to yours, I collect the sawdust powder from my band saw, then pack it in around the weight hole and smooth it to match the belly contour then drop a couple of drops of thin CA on it and it is done. I am not a seller so if it is just a little rough, I don't mind. I have sanded it smooth but it is very hard, almost like trying to sand steel. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
