berrnie Posted October 23, 2016 Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 I'm new to posting here, but have been reading and learning for a couple of years, sure have learned a lot. I have painted my own crankbaits for a couple of years and have had some luck fishing with them. I have even sold a few. I noticed this summer some of my crankbaits cracked down the back, seemed to be just through clearcoat and paint. I was thinking that I may not be letting the paint dry enough before putting on clearcoat, and the heat in my boat compartment is causing the left over moisture in the paint make them swell. I'm using good quality blanks, I have tried different sellers until I was satisfied with how they ran, and the quality of the blank. I use createx wicked paints and Devcon 2 ton epoxy. Any thoughts ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 (edited) I had paint to crack under the clear coat on some baits months ago. I contribute it to not letting the paint dry long enough before I clear coated. I make sure I let them set now for at least a day before coating, no cracks since. The clear coat cracking and it being D2T, never had it to happen. I wonder if you are from up north and not heating the area they are in. The clear expanded then contracted before the it set up, broke the paint as it set up?? Did you mix the clear real well? Just a thought, Dale Edited October 24, 2016 by DaleSW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Heat can cause a plastic bait to expand, and that will crack a glue epoxy like D2T, which is designed to be extremely rigid. You might have better luck with a decoupage epoxy like E tex, which is designed to expand and contract with the large wooden surfaces it is applied over. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berrnie Posted October 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Thanks for the replies, I paint in my basement, temperature stays the same and I try to mix really well with equal parts of epoxy. It wasn't only newly painted ones that cracked but some that I had painted months earlier.The baits expanding sounds reasonable. I have some E tex but have had trouble with bubbles when I used it so I went back to Devcon. I will try it on the next ones I paint. Thank you guys for the info, really appreciate the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyectcher Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Hi bernie I'm no expert but I do have a bit of knowledge like the gentlman said before could be the heat that Devon two ton is pretty strong stuff I'm a contractor and we use it for some very tough jobs we're we need strength and the engineers approve it back to the catch I can say that I toured a crank bait manufacturer as the owner is good friends with a buddy of mine so I was very surprised to see how the cranks are made they are two halves and how they join them together is with acetone they have people sitting with brushes and the actually weld the two halves together with the acetone they brush the edges on both halves and within thirty seconds they are dry and tossed into a bin I don't think you are doing anything wrong at all your useing good paint and your epoxy is great it's the plug mabee you might want to give it two or three light coats of the Devon I reduce mine with isopropyl 99% not the 70 % that has water in it that's how I do it and have never had an issue other than with rapala husky jerks lips breaching off now I epoxy the lip also and it fixed the problem good luck Bernie I hope this helps Hi bernie I'm no expert but I do have a bit of knowledge like the gentlman said before could be the heat that Devon two ton is pretty strong stuff I'm a contractor and we use it for some very tough jobs we're we need strength and the engineers approve it back to the catch I can say that I toured a crank bait manufacturer as the owner is good friends with a buddy of mine so I was very surprised to see how the cranks are made they are two halves and how they join them together is with acetone they have people sitting with brushes and the actually weld the two halves together with the acetone they brush the edges on both halves and within thirty seconds they are dry and tossed into a bin I don't think you are doing anything wrong at all your useing good paint and your epoxy is great it's the plug mabee you might want to give it two or three light coats of the Devon I reduce mine with isopropyl 99% not the 70 % that has water in it that's how I do it and have never had an issue other than with rapala husky jerks lips breaching off now I epoxy the lip also and it fixed the problem good luck Bernie I hope this helps 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Are you using anything to dry the paint between coats? Ben 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 (edited) I used D2T for a long time until about a year ago, I never saw that. I've messed things up but in those condition.....?? Good luck on figuring it out, Dale Edited October 24, 2016 by DaleSW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliders Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Got to be blank expanding in heat surely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ Fisher Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I couldn't find it, but there was a thread on BBC about this subject. Berrnie are you saying the two plastic halves of the bait split or just your clearcoat and paint? Like Mark said if the bait itself split, that is from the air inside of the hardbait superheating with nowhere to expand. Rick Clunn's RC Stix are famous for this as well as some Strike King baits. Most likely the hardbaits were stored in a closed tight 3700 box or something of the kind, and left in the sun or stored in the boat during a very hot part of the year. That was from the BBC thread. My own experience living in southern AZ, with 110* temps regularly in the summer, you can't leave anything in the boat, rods or tackle, or I will suffer the same thing. Can't leave a 3700 in the sun for any period of time. Open the hard baits box to find a bunch of them split from the heat. If when you go to clear your baits after painting and the paint crackles under the clear once the clear dries, that means your paint was not completely dry. I don't know if E-tex will expand enough to not split when a bait gets super heated. I could be way off base here but I don't think it has anything to do with your paint or clear, just good ol' Mother Nature. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I do think it is cause by heat. I don't think it is the D2T. I know several people who keep their cranks in the boat during the summer. Dozens swelled and cracked and even exploded. From home painted cranks using epoxy to Megabass and other high end baits 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berrnie Posted October 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I kinda think its the heat too. I dry with a hair dryer between coats. Me not letting lure get completely dry may add to the problem though. I had nearly 20 crack, bet I don't leave them in the boat anymore, lol. Think I'll let them dry a little longer before clear coat too. Thanks for all the good info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 heres food for thought. years back plastic cranks never had these issues. manufacturing now has changed. thinner wall and the use of recycled plastics. this saves man. cost but user end results appear. old wiggle warts,,smithwick, pradco. luhr Jensen etc never had this issue... this has become a very common problem across the world in manufacturing. many companies now have disclaimers on the effects of heat/sun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 heres food for thought. years back plastic cranks never had these issues. manufacturing now has changed. thinner wall and the use of recycled plastics. this saves man. cost but user end results appear. old wiggle warts,,smithwick, pradco. luhr Jensen etc never had this issue... this has become a very common problem across the world in manufacturing. many companies now have disclaimers on the effects of heat/sun. I think it may also be due to cheaper manufacturing techniques that require, or allow, a different softer plastic formulation. The first batch of swollen baits I had were a combination of red eye shad rattle traps, and some Norman DD22 lures, which cooked in a tackle compartment in my boat when it was under a boat cover on my driveway, in the direct sun. The traps were new, the year that Strike King first sold them, and the Normans were a more recent vintage, too. The traps looked like a set of barbells, swollen more at both ends, but the Normans just got fatter and kind of lumpy. Funny thing was the traps were worthless, but the Normans still fished just fine, lumps and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 yes Mark happens here with larger plastic injected musky lures constantly. . plastic has changed in molding the last 20 years. baits get pregnant in tackleboxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 A new bait, the "Lumpy", made by Norman's and heat! Got to ask, did it catch fish? lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 A new bait, the "Lumpy", made by Norman's and heat! Got to ask, did it catch fish? lol Yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) That makes it a must....duplicate Lumpy! It may sell!/? Sorry I couldn't find a scull and cross bones. Edited October 26, 2016 by DaleSW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Young Posted October 27, 2016 Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Heat expansion and incomplete drying of paint will both cause crackling. So will improper surface prep, contamination of lure, occasionally (but rarely) a lack of tooth. Using incompatible materials to glue down foils (like E6000 or rubber cement) will cause the same effect. I now glue foils down with the same epoxy that I topcoat with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
