pat28 Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I was wondering whether anyone had any experience sealing wood lures with bondo. If I use it as a sealer, then prime, paint, and finish with epoxy, will I get any compatibility issues? Thanks in advance for the information. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barr5150 Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I can't see how bondo would work as a sealer. The idea with a sealer is to soak into the wood and protect it. Unless there's a liquid bondo of some sort that I've never seen. The bondo I know would be too much work and too porous to use as a sealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat28 Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I should have been more specific. I have purchased bondo's step two, which is the reinforced fiberglass resin. It is a liquid that requires just a few drops of hardener and has 12 minutes of working time, and about two hours of curing time. It says it can be used without the fiberglass "fabric" as a sealer, but I was wondering if anyone here had tried it. Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barr5150 Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 Gotcha. Sorry I can't help with that product, I don't have any experience with it. I wouldn't be against trying it though. I have however used regular fiberglass resin before on different things but that stuff is pretty thick. I think it would add quite a bit of unwanted or unneeded weight. Just a guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbonanny Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 (edited) Regular "Bondo" (it has numerous brand names) is not water resistant at all. What you could use, and is much, much tougher is fiberglass gel....for more toughness, and a lot more work you can easily get short hair fiberglass, but A) It is very slow to sand, and you'll want to wear at least a dust mask . The thicker you lay this on, the more you change the profile of your lure. Probably not an issue on a large muskie plug, definitely an issue on a bass style crankbait. The fiberglass gel is the easiest to work with, but it may require multiple fine coats. Here are some pointers for working with fiberglass gel (or any of this stuff).. 1) Wear those blue disposable heavy duty latex or rubber gloves. You can buy a box of them (100) for around $10.00. You don't want mixed fiberglass gel on your skin, as it will not be coming off for quite a while. 2) Be careful when sanding this, wear a dust mask. If possible, do it outside....it will make a mess. 3) Cover your work surface with an old shirt or drop cloth. Once fiberglass gel hardens, it is incredibly difficult to remove, and most likely will damage the surface of your table or bench. I've been a professional auto technician for close to 30 years, and bodywork is a hobby of mine. All of the above info is some of what I've learned over the years. My advice aside from the internet to buy any of this stuff is an automotive paint store, though many parts stores will also carry these products. Edited April 5, 2014 by kbonanny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat28 Posted April 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 Thanks for the info kbonanny. I tried to seal the lead rig that will go into my soft plastic lures with the resin, and it seems to have worked. As wood lures are very long to make, I prefered to get some advice from experienced folks prior to destroying a batch of wood plugs. I will post here to let people know if the resin prevents the lead from reacting with the soft plastic. Sincerely, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 wont work at all. been there done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Pat, If you're going to use a fiberglass resin, you might want to try Solarez, which is a UV cure resin that hardens in 3 minutes. No catalyst is needed, although you can add a couple of drops of MEK to speed the curing. It cures hard and clear. I find I can dip it in my garage with the big door open, let it drip back into the open container, wipe off any drips, and take it outside to cure. The stuff in the container doesn't get contaminated or begin curing as long as I have it inside, not out in the sun. I also have a UV nail light box for curing, when I'm working at night. Bob P has a thread about it below this one. http://www.solarez.com/productsnew/gloss.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat28 Posted April 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Great advice from all of you. I hope it stands the test of sealing my lead rigs inside the soft plastics I poured yesterday. Otherwise, no bonbo will go near my slowly crafted wooden lures! Thanks for saving a batch of my plugs! :-) Patrick 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaiah JV Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 I use bondo to fill any imperfections in my lures,such as a dent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Pat, If you're going to use a fiberglass resin, you might want to try Solarez, which is a UV cure resin that hardens in 3 minutes. No catalyst is needed, although you can add a couple of drops of MEK to speed the curing. Have you tried mixing MEK in the Solarez Mark? The catalyst they talk about on the Solarez website is MEKP. (methyl ethyl ketone peroxide) Not sure what the difference is and was wondering if the MEK worked as well. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 No Ben, I haven't tried it. I should have said MEKP, not MEK. I don't know if MEK is different from MEKP. It's been so long since I bought any of that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Thanks Mark. MEK is available locally and I was hoping it might work as well. I'm not sure what MEKP is either and not even sure where you would get it. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Ben, I googled both, and they are different. MEK is a solvent, and MEKP is a catalyst. Who knew? Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) Thanks Mark. Now I'm wondering what effect the MEKP has on the Solarez? Wonder if it clears up the finish or if the lack of using it makes the blushing problem better or worse? Maybe the Phantom knows. It's not a major concern for me since I've gone back to brushing DN S81 as a top coat. Using the Solarez for a sealer is cheaper than epoxy so that's what I'm currently doing. Ben Edited April 8, 2014 by RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Yes, he do! And he uses Solarez as a top coat, too. Hahaha I watched a video of a guy coating a surfboard with Solarez gloss, and he added "a couple of drops" of the MEKP catalyst to the mix before he applied it. He still had plenty of time to lay it off so the brush strokes disappeared, before he set it out in the sun to UV cure. Maybe it was for the parts that didn't get direct sun. I have no clue. His board come out dead clear and beautiful, but he polishes them with a buffer and different grits of polishing compound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
