Scuffing And Clear Coating

[spoonpluggergino]

When you scuff a bait or light sanding that has been clear coated for several day, what is the best way to clean it before clear coating the bait again

 

Gino

[RayburnGuy]

I usually give them a wipe with a paper towel and denatured alcohol.

 

Ben

[Seeking 56]

I wet sand, so I rinse under running water and wipe with a an old cotton shirt. 

 

s54

[BobP]

All you're doing is removing dust from the sanded finish, so it doesn't make much difference what you use.  Washing it with a little dish soap and water works and so does denatured alcohol and a cloth.  Denatured alcohol is a mild enough solvent that it will not harm most finishes.  I don't like using paper towels during finishing because it can shed fibers and leave them on the lure.  Ben probably uses a better brand.

[spoonpluggergino]

Thank You Guys

 

It worked I used just water and an old cotton t-shirt. I used a scuffing pad to take out  some air bubles pimples. I finally got some really nice clear coats on my baits. I went back heating the E-tex with the heat gun in the shot glass that works the best for me, because after vigorously mixing I am able to take all the air out of the e-tex. My basement is 62 degreese and that is a problem, the air bubles will not rise up e-tex too viscous, I also put the e-tex bottles in a pail of hot water. I followed all the direction mixing exaling co2 just too cold bubbles will not rise up unless I heat the e-tex. Couple things I also find out, it is a must to have the wood baits sealed really well, On my last batch of baits I sealed them with Devcon 2 ton 30 minute works great, I also clear coated some baits with Devcon, great stuff. I got lucky on e-bay I purchased three 9 oz. under 13.00 each, now they are back to 17.00 I am going to try to seal with Propioanate, I like Devcon but that can get expensive. I tried a all bunch of other stuff and I do not like any of it, Devcon so fur is the best and quickest. Propionate sounds really promising, a litle bit of work, but sounds it does a nice job on sealing a bait. If any one here uses Propionate I like to hear about it

 

Gino

[bsgorilla]

Gino, I use prop and I consider my baits pretty well waterproof. I use a mason jar about 1/2 full of acetone with fairly thin dissolved prop; I have my baits mounted on needles drilled into dowels and I submerge a few baits in the prop at a time. I let them soak 2-4 hours or so depending on how long I am around. If it goes longer, its okay, you will just have more acetone evaporate. I take the baits out and let them dry for a few hours at least. Repeat 2 or 3 more times. When this is done, I sand the raised woods grain and dip the bait a couple seconds in a cleaner jar of somewhat thick prop. Let dry a while - several minutes at least - and quickly dip again. Do this at least twice and sand in between as needed to smooth grain and and any dried prop runs. Your final coat will give you a smooth, clear finish on a pretty thoroughly wateroroofed bait. I like to add another layer of prop over my white basecoat to keep it from getting scratched. You want slightly thick prop for this. It Will wrinkle your basecoat but as long as your prop isn't too thin, it will dry right back to a smooth looking paint layer. Fyi - the prop in your initial soak jar will end up getting stained pretty dark from the wood. This is totally fine, doesn't affect the soak process at all. I work on shaping and sealing batches of baits all summer so I am shaping baits while prior ones are in the soak stages. It definitely takes longer to finish baits this way but the results are worth it to me. I add weight/hardware in the fall and go out and give them a test run. Winter, I paint and finish. Final test on the spring, fine tune/fix and then fish. Keeps me busy and happy year round.

[spoonpluggergino]

Thank you Bsgorilla

I ordered 16 OZ. Propionate pellets from e-bay today, I read quite bit on Taclemaking website, they also have all kinds of instruction how to make the propionate batches

Thank you very much for your detailed info, wich it is more valuable to me from a bait builder

Gino

[bsgorilla]

16 oz will last you a long time, probably a few hundred baits. Very glad to help. I feel like I've finally learned/experienced enough to be able to contribute on TU. Nearly all I know has been learned from the people on here and I still learn new things every week. So much ingenuity and helpfulness. Its priceless.

The first batch of prop I made was a few years ago with chopped up plastic cups and dissolved in (i think) mineral spirits or acetone. It worked great. I stopped making baits for a while and when I started up a couple years later, I took the same plastic cups and couldn't get them to dissolve to save my life. Go figure. The melted cups worked really, really well but the prop granuals are better I think.

Bruce

[BobP]

I use prop sometimes as an alternative to Devcon 2 Ton.  I just dip the lures in prop for a few seconds then hang them to dry, repeating the process until I have the film thickness I want, usually 7-10 dips.  Most bubbles occur as the prop soaks into the wood during the first dips and they will be popped by later dips.  Prop dissolved in acetone dries very quickly so on a batch of 5-6 lures, I can start dipping again in the time it takes to get to the last bait if the humidity is low.  After dipping I let the lures dry for several hours, usually over night.  It's important to use a thin solution of prop or you can get runs in the finish.  I like it to be slightly thicker than water, thinner than maple syrup.