Envirotex Lite Pot Life

[psilvers]

I have been using D2T to coat my jigs. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the pot life is rather short once I mix the 2 parts. Years ago I tried Envirotex Lite and I found that it took a while to harden on the jig. I was wondering whether anyone could tell me what the pot life of Envirotex is once you mix the two parts? I haven't used it in so long that I don't remember.

Thanks,

Pete

[cadman]

Once you mix the two parts, you have at least 15 -20 minutes. The two issues I have with E-tex, is that it never really gets as hard as D2T and secondly, it is very runny. You have to wait at least 5 minutes for it to start to be usable. This is my opinion. Also since I used this on jigs, the e-tex seeps in all the weedguard strands (making them very stiff), if the jig is left in the vertical position to dry. One good thing about E-tex is that it is clearer than D2T. White paint comes out bright white, unlike D2T which has a little amber color to it.

[psilvers]

Thanks Cadman! When I used it several years ago, I also noticed that the coat was pretty thin and the mix was runny. I am going to try it again and see whether I might be able to take advantage of the longer pot life. When I use D2T I can coat a few jigs and then I wind up making another batch because of the short pot life.

Thanks again for the info.

Pete

[RayburnGuy]

Not sure how it would work on jigs, but most of the guys using it for cranks use multiple coats of Etex because it goes on so thin. I tried using Etex on cranks and didn't care for the time it took to apply 3 coats with curing between application times.

 

hope this helps,

 

Ben

[cadman]

Not sure how it would work on jigs, but most of the guys using it for cranks use multiple coats of Etex because it goes on so thin. I tried using Etex on cranks and didn't care for the time it took to apply 3 coats with curing between application times.

 

hope this helps,

 

Ben

Ben and Pete

     I really like the clarity of E-tex. However the 3 coats and the wait time for it to dry is a deal breaker for me.  I don't do a lot of white jigs, so D2T works really well for me. With jigs it still is a two step process for me, as I epoxy the weedguard in first, then wait a day to dry. The weedguards are the easy part, as the jig sits horizontally and the epoxy dries. Once that is done I stand my jig up and then epoxy the body, and yes you probably can only do about 8 to 10 jigs (max) with D2T before it starts to stiffen up. So doing 500 jigs is time consuming. I guess it's a toss up between 3 coats of E-tex or using D2T and taking more time to mix many batches.

Edited May 5, 2015 by cadman

[mark poulson]

Cadman, have you tried Solarez UV cure resin?

http://solarez.com/products/low-voc-dual-cure-polyester-resin/

[cadman]

Cadman, have you tried Solarez UV cure resin?

http://solarez.com/products/low-voc-dual-cure-polyester-resin/

 

Mark,

    I've read a lot about it in the hardbaits forum here, however I have not  had a chance to try and experiment with it.

[EironBreaker]

Mark,

 

Does the SolarEZ cure by itself in say a garage with natural light or does it need direct sunlight? 

[psilvers]

Just an update - I tried the Envirotex for a few jigs and it seems to be good. What was bothering me with the D2T was that a lot of it seemed to go to waste because I could only coat a few jigs before it would become unusable. I dealt with the problem of Envirotex being runny as follows:

1- I coated a number of jigs and then suspended them by the hook using a wire rack that I picked up at Wal-Mart or Target. After coating one jig, I hung it and went to the next jig. I continued doing this for a fair number of jigs.

2- I then went back to the first drip and wiped the drip off the nose with a brush. The jig was then placed on my "pool noodle stand" upside down. This way the runny Envirotex would now run the other way, which is towards the bend of the hook. This was then left to cure. Any excess Envirotex is easily removed from the hook shank. However, there is not that much as most has already dripped off on the rack.

3- The pool noodle stand was created by taking a pool noodle and inserting a dowel in the center. This is than attached to a piece of plywood that is about 8" x 8". This way the pool noodle stands up and can hold a fair number of jigs, even if they are fairly large.

 

Thanks Cadman - I really appreciate the help and info!

 

Pete

[goodtimesfishing]

Put your 8 inch square plywood(x2), one on each end of dowel(with noodle). Now you can hang jigs on noodle and as the epoxy runs, rotate your jig stand(turn to opposite flats of plywood). Hope this makes sense, and maybe helps.

[psilvers]

I actually have the noodle configured like that because I was using it for large jigs with D2T. However, I would rotate it horizontally and it was great. However, with the smaller jigs (1/8 and 1/4 oz) I do need to get the drip off, so the rack followed by the pool noodle works better for me.

 

Pete

[mark poulson]

Mark,

 

Does the SolarEZ cure by itself in say a garage with natural light or does it need direct sunlight? 

 

If you don't open the door, to let the sunlight in, it will never cure, unless you add some MEKP.

I haven't tried the MEKP.

I have a UV fingernail light box that I use inside.  There is very little odor.

I tried dipping inside the garage, with the garage door open, and the drips started to cure in my dipping jar, so now I dip with the door shut, let the lure drip back into the jar, close the jar, and then either use the nail light, or take the lures outside to cure.

If I wanted to coat a lot of jigs, I'd hang the from a drying rack on my work bench, brush on the Solarez with the garage door closed, so there wasn't any dripping, and then take the drying rack outside to cure.

Brushes clean up with acetone.