Epoxy question

[turtlela]

Hello everyone, new to the forum and to bait making.  I’ve been working on topwater wooden baits for the last two months and I’m making progress.  Quick question.  I have 5 baits turning on a rack and two of the baits  have epoxy that’s clumping up. I use envirotex lite and apply with an acid brush. I’ve been told envirotex doesn’t harden fast and you have 6-7 minutes to apply.  I painted all five baits with the same resin mixture.  I’m thinking the last two baits with issues received resin as it was starting to thicken. Any thoughts? Advice?  One last thing, I make my own screw eyes and wondering what are y’all using to secure your screws inside a bait?  I tried using the envirotex but it isn’t working as well as I would like.  Maybe loctite??  

[desertbird]

I am also new and used dev 2ton to clear my baits.  I had 4 baits painted and ready. mixed up enough to do all 4.  By the time I got to number 3 I could tell it was hardening and did not put any on.  I finished the rest of my baits mixing one at a time.  The added benefit of mixing and applying one at a time is that i measured out the exact same about for each application, and ensured they all got all of it.  Hit it with heat to smooth it out, remove bubbles and onto the wheel each went.

[turtlela]

What do you use to secure your screws or do you drill through wire through? 

[bigblue2]

1 hour ago, turtlela said:

What do you use to secure your screws or do you drill through wire through? 

how about 2-part epoxy or super glue gel the super glue never fails!

[woodieb8]

4 hours ago, turtlela said:

Hello everyone, new to the forum and to bait making.  I’ve been working on topwater wooden baits for the last two months and I’m making progress.  Quick question.  I have 5 baits turning on a rack and two of the baits  have epoxy that’s clumping up. I use envirotex lite and apply with an acid brush. I’ve been told envirotex doesn’t harden fast and you have 6-7 minutes to apply.  I painted all five baits with the same resin mixture.  I’m thinking the last two baits with issues received resin as it was starting to thicken. Any thoughts? Advice?  One last thing, I make my own screw eyes and wondering what are y’all using to secure your screws inside a bait?  I tried using the envirotex but it isn’t working as well as I would like.  Maybe loctite??  

hi envirotex will stay brushable for hours. sounds like you did not equal amounts or wrong mix procedure. rotate your baits manually or a spinner..as on screw eyes drill a tiny pilot hole3/4rs in insert screw with a dab of 2 part epoxy..on screw eyes when finishing,make sure screw eye opening is facing forward..if it happens to get slightly opened the hook will stay.

[BobP]

I don’t use ETEX but many who do mix it and let it sit for 10-15 min before brushing it so it thickens slightly.  So no, I don’t think premature curing is your problem.  Use syringes to measure it, mix it really well for two minutes, and try applying it with a cheap nylon artist’s brush with finer bristles and you should not have problems.  Clean the brush with lacquer thinner or denatured alcohol and you can use it indefinitely.

[eastman03]

The clumping of the etex could be a contaminated lure.  It tends to pull away from any oils or contamination on the surface and bunch up or fish eye on another spot.  As soon as you are to the painting stage, try to use gloves to handle it, or clean it with denatured alcohol (don't wipe the paint job off though!).  Another potential problem depending on your lure is the epoxy will tend to pull away from sharp corners.  I had this problem a bit with a large popper I made.  The finish would draw back a bit from the sharp edge of the popper mouth.   You could wait till it's a bit thicker to paint onto the sharp edges.

I like envirotex a lot, it is a fantastic product.  But it has it's difficulties.  Mix very very well.  I usually let it sit for 5-10 min like BobP said.  I also use syringes to measure it (measured by volume, not by weight).  I know I see on youtube guys lightly torching the freshly epoxied lure to remove bubbles, but be cautious, I've over heated one side of the epoxy by accident and had it run and "clump" as well.    I'm still learning myself, there are some good tutorials on this site!  Some of the most beautiful and clean lures are finished with envirotex, don't give up, there is a bit of a learning curve. 

Great tips here! I usually read over this like a checklist before I get started with enviortex! lol

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by eastman03

[gliders]

turtlela, how long are you leaving on spinner ?

[turtlela]

I let it run for at least  18 hours.  I have a scale and I work at a hospital so have siringes at home. I just put the second coat on measuring with a syringe.  Let it sit 10 min and then applied.  This time I put it on while turning and would stop and go periodically to make sure I got good even coverage.  Will shall see.  Worst case if it happens again is lightly sand down in spots 

[gliders]

hey turtlela, 8 hours turning should be  plenty, so thats not the problem. Possibly the amount you're applying ? p.s , no need at all to let sit before applying, is the uneven thickness caused by fish eye (contamination) ?

[sonoman]

There is an issue with hospital syringes they tend to have a tiny amount of silicone lube on the rubber, you can have several be fine but then get one with a bit more and your topcoat will do crazy things, thin finish it dimples like crazy, thicker stuff may fish eye, trust me I  have had every issue under the sun till I stop swiping hospital syringes....you can buy the correct ones from rod building supply companys or maybe LPO....

[turtlela]

Guess I’ll just start weighing the epoxy.  The digital scale I have can measure small weights.   I’ll wait to see how this second coat does.  Looks good so far.  A couple need closer inspection. I want to avoid  a 3rd coat due to weight of the bait.  I’m experimenting with different woods at the moment and got my hands on Tupelo from a friend.  This stuff is light,  but easy to run on the lathe compared to basswood. 

[bigblue2]

14 minutes ago, turtlela said:

Guess I’ll just start weighing the epoxy.  The digital scale I have can measure small weights.   I’ll wait to see how this second coat does.  Looks good so far.  A couple need closer inspection. I want to avoid  a 3rd coat due to weight of the bait.  I’m experimenting with different woods at the moment and got my hands on Tupelo from a friend.  This stuff is light,  but easy to run on the lathe compared to basswood. 

got any pictures of your lure blanks?

[turtlela]

You mean just the plain wood sanded before paint?   Would I post that here?  Read something about posting images in a gallery.  

[bigblue2]

Just now, turtlela said:

You mean just the plain wood sanded before paint?   Would I post that here?  Read something about posting images in a gallery.  

if it is work in progress you could post it here the gallery is mostly finished lures!

[turtlela]

Here’s a few. Some have rattles. Other are solid blanks.  One of the doctors I work with is a big time duck decoy carver and has premium Tupelo scraps I get for free. I told him I’d give him some baits in exchange for the wood.  It’s a process, but I want to eventually turn out really nice baits.  My airbrushing skills need the most work, but getting better 

[bigblue2]

6 hours ago, turtlela said:

Here’s a few. Some have rattles. Other are solid blanks.  One of the doctors I work with is a big time duck decoy carver and has premium Tupelo scraps I get for free. I told him I’d give him some baits in exchange for the wood.  It’s a process, but I want to eventually turn out really nice baits.  My airbrushing skills need the most work, but getting better 

nice work were do you get tupelo wood from any way?

[eastman03]

Do you have a picture of the clumping epoxy?  Great looking lures by the way!

 

[turtlela]

I’ll get some pics of a bait that had bad clumping from the first batch I ever made when I get home.   I regards to the question about tupelo wood.  There’s two forms of it that carvers like.  The part below the water line is the premium stuff.  It’s so soft it’s almost like cork and the lightest wood I’ve ever felt. The problem with that part of the tree is it gouges real easy on the lathe and I don’t think I’d trust it holding up even if running wire all the way through the bait. The part I used is a small portion above the water line that is harder, but still super light. It holds up better on the lathe, but can still gouge so I start sanding once I get it close to the dimensions I like.  If anyone is interested in trying it, I highly recommend it.  I live in south Louisiana and I can find out where my friend buys the blocks of Tupelo.   From what he tells me, Tupelo is the finest wood to carve wooden decoys with.  Some of his decoys take over a year or two to finish.  Tupelo is found in the swamp along cypress trees.  I could probably get a few samples for some to try.  

[BobP]

Cured epoxy is only slightly more dense than water so even a heavy coating does not affect buoyancy as much as you might think.  I’ve seen lots of ETEX epoxied lures over the years and it makes a superior durable finish.  But like all  “pourable bar top and decoupage” epoxies, it contains some solvents to lower its viscosity and release bubbles and so seems to have more “gotchas” than some other epoxies, including more tendency to fisheye over oil contamination, plus much longer cure times.  That’s not disqualifying if you follow good measuring, mixing (by volume), and application techniques.  To me, Fatfingers member submitted tutorial on ETEX is the Bible on using it.