atijigs Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 I searched this topic and could not find the specific answers to my problem. After the field test that had great results it ended like the wicked witch of the west.(just disappeared). I like vinyl paint for my jigs. I don't mind the smell and I like the detail I can get. I decided to paint some blades for spinner baits and really liked the result. I did not pre treat the nickel and brass finished blades in any way. I airbrushed a white base coat of vinyl paint on one side followed by the airbrushed colors. I followed up with a thin coat or d2t and had a very nice finished blade. Put the baits together and sent some out to be tested. I can't get on the water until this weekend. Results were great. They caught bass and pike. All was good. My field tester left the bait on his rod for the ride home. Today he goes out to go fishing and the blades are bare and back to their original finish. I did not remove the lacquer from the blades and found out the d2t will not protect paint that does not stick to the metal. My thoughts are the blades banged together on the drive home and the whole paint job just dropped off. Questions for the experts- When using vinyl paint on blades 1. Can I soak the blades in lacquer thinner or do I need to sand them too ? 2. Will that solve my problem. 3. I have not used Dick nights(sp?) before. Will this work with vinyl paints? 4. If I use Dick nights do I still have to remove the laquer finish from the blades? 5. The Dick nights blade dip top coat was discussed on other threads. If it would be compatible with vinyl paints can it also be airbrushed? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 I'm not a wire baits guy, but have painted metal spoons and blades. Anything you paint needs to be cleaned for the paint to adhere properly. Just handling the blades can leave oils from your skin on them. There are multiple things you can clean them with including, but not limited to, lacquer thinner, acetone, denatured alcohol or just soap and hot water. When painting blades or spoons I like to give them a light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper. This gives the paint some "tooth" to bond with. Once they are painted and top coated the tiny scratches left from sanding will disappear. D2T is not a good top coat for anything with a sharp corner. The epoxy wants to pull away from the corners leaving thin spots which eventually leads to the results you experienced. DN, as far as I know, is as good a top coat for metal blades and spoons as there is. After all it was specially formulated to coat the spoons that Dick builds and sells. It also seems to soak through the paint and bond with the metal under the paint. As far as whether or not it's compatible with vinyl paint is something I don't know. Dick offers free samples of his product if you'd like to try it. You only have to pay the shipping charges. hope this helps, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 RayburnGuy gave you great information and I'll add to it a bit. Way back in 1998 I got started making spinnerbaits and painting blades soon was attempted and I used viynl paint. What I noticed is that by sanding the blade until the plating flaked off it before painting it, the paint did last longer than it did painting over it. When I found powder paint it was much better but neither were the blades I was buying. You are in luck, a dremel tool really can take a blade down to bare metal quick and easy, however I would do but a few at a time. After sanding clean the blade by soaking it in acetone overnight and rinse well with denatured alcohol, let dry and then paint, doing that will eliminte anything that might not let the paint bond. Once you paint the blade I would try the Dick Nites as I have used D2T and while it helped it could have also been better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atijigs Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thanks for the information guys. Looks like a bigger project than I thought. I will remove the finish on the blades from now on. Has anyone tried electrostatically powder painting to the nickle finish (after the laquer is removed) ? I might try this to see if the bond would be better. I also need to order some DK before I get into painting blades any further. Thanks again. Maybe this thread will save someone else from catostrophic blade painting mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basseducer Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 The nickle blades are not laquered, simply polished. I use plane unfinished brass blades for all my painting. They don't have anything you have to remove and they are not very shiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuskyGary Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hagens has "raw" blades that have no coating. Just wipe them down with acidtone and paint and coat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddl Posted September 17, 2012 Report Share Posted September 17, 2012 Hagens has "raw" blades that have no coating. Just wipe them down with acidtone and paint and coat! yeah and if you don't have a special recipe they will chip in less than a hour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 17, 2012 Report Share Posted September 17, 2012 Painting metal spinnerbait blades is no different than painting any other type of metal. Done properly with the proper top coat and you shouldn't have any trouble with them chipping unless your banging them against a brick wall. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
