CarverGLX Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 I'm getting ready to join the halves of a bunch of balsa cranks together. In the past I have always used superglue due to it also soaking and hardening the wood when joining halves. Epoxy coat keeps water out and no trouble..... This time around I am going to be using propionate as a sealer. Worried about the acetone and the superglue not getting along.... I know others use epoxy but I wonder about this absorbing into the wood very well. Also, some use gorilla glue but wetting is involved. Any other options? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 Gorilla glue,Elmer's wood glue..any of those will work..coat each side then put in vise till dry.....Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 If you glue the halves of a balsa bait together with 5 min epoxy, you won't get it apart again without destroying the bait. Isn't that strong enough? Added plus, it gives the bait a strong backbone and a very good anchor for all the hardware. Good enough in fact that I don't see the need for a true thru-wire frame on epoxied baits - it just seems superfluous and I've never had one come apart in 10 yrs of building them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 Another reason I like using epoxy is that it gives me a little more time to make sure the 2 halves are properly aligned. As far as the epoxied joint being strong enough the epoxied joint will be stronger than the wood surrounding it. That means the balsa will fail before the epoxy will. Anything stronger than that is just a wasted effort in my book. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarverGLX Posted November 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 Thanks guys. So it sounds like either work fine. I was just concerned about the acetone soaking and destroying the bond. Probably doesn't soak far enough or long enough to hurt epoxy or gorillaglue. BobP I don't do though wire either. Started off with through wire until I arrived at the same conclusion as you. I make my hook hangers from stainless welding wire and fashion into a screw. We all know that screws in balsa are about useless.... What I have done in the past is use the "screw" to hold media forming a plug. I put a drop or two of superglue on the coils and dip the glue wetted coils into balsa dust collected in the process of router forming. After a few seconds I compact the dust around the screw and let harden forming a plug. This plug was then inserted into the drilled same size hole in the bait behind 4-5 drops of superglue. The flat extension of the screw (see thumbnail) was then still exposed to allow epoxy to flow around it in the next coat. The flat nature of the two wires when hardened in epoxy resisted twisting of the hook hanger. I know its all probably overkill but I've never had a hanger fail to date. Nathan: when pressing large amount (~40) of baits just lay them all out and place a large flat board with weight on it? The reason I am going to propionate is I had 1 bait bust... Probably due to grain of the halves being parallel (a guess) which I have since corrected. I suppose I could do the hookhangers in epoxy or gorilla as well but would have to thin greatly to get it to flow into the hole as well as superglue. I didn't really want to change that part of the process but may have to due to the acetone soak with propionate.... Right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedyarb Posted November 28, 2013 Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) When I tried glueing two halves together I had a problem. When I drilled the hole for the hook hangers and the belly weight, the hole would wander off to one side or the other, because the epoxy was too hard to drill through! Edited November 28, 2013 by nedyarb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarverGLX Posted November 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) Nedyarb. I had considered using circuit board as a spine and didn't for that reason... Maybe use Etex epoxy. Longer time for more baits at once... More flexibility. Idk. Lots of choices. For the gorillaglue users..... Do you wet the surface? How long does it take to cure and how much expanding are we talking about? Edited November 28, 2013 by CarverGLX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted November 28, 2013 Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) I scratch grooves in both sides of the balsa bait to locate all the hardware, then dry fit the halves with the hardware until they fit perfectly. Coat a half with epoxy and lay the hardware into the grooves. Then coat the other half of the lure and fit the halves together. If done properly, it requires no pressure after the halves are joined. I just fit them together, wipe off the epoxy that squeezes out and lay the bait on the work table for a few minutes while the 5 min epoxy hardens. I use a Dremel cylindrical cutter to hollow out a space for the ballast - that allows me to install it internally so it leaves no surface trace. When all is said and done, I usually have a groove running around the bait where I cut it in half. I fill the groove with interior quick drying wood filler, sand it smooth, and then undercoat the bait with Devcon 2 Ton or with prop. The acetone in the prop just evaporates too fast to have any effect on the epoxy. I admit dry fitting hardware takes time and effort. Maybe I'd do it differently if I built baits in quantity for sale - but I got all the time I want to have. Edited November 28, 2013 by BobP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted November 28, 2013 Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 Carver, That will work just fine...Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
