StevieQ Posted April 19, 2022 Report Share Posted April 19, 2022 Hello everyone, This is my 1st post, I am new here to this site. Hoping I can learn new things as well maybe help someone at same time. I am 60 years old like in Keller Texas I fish a lot along the Texas coast. Love Wade fishing, kayak fishing, and blue water fishing also. I have been airbrushing now for over 10 years. Started cerakoting gun parts after months of customizing a airbrush that would spray cerakote. I am starting or trying to Hot Stamp lure blanks. There is sone shading I am wanting that I cannot do airbrushing and holographic hot stamping foil might do the trick. But it won’t stick to the lure blank. I have received all the stuff to start hot stamping lures, I hv 3-1/2” pads, I use 2 on bottom 1 on top, I hv tried so many times it’s unreal, got so pissed off I found out those pads will break a window. Won’t do that again, lol. I have bought 3 different irons took the others back of course. I sat the iron on the pad fir over 5 mnts so I know pad was hot. I wear power free latex gloves, hv even tried cleaning baits off with acetone, several other cleaners, even tried heating baits up in oven before I tried stamping them. All the u tube channels I have watched it just looks so straight forward. But I just can’t get the foil to stick to my baits. I tried all of them and used yards of foil all it does is gets stiff and has the outlines and shape of the lure. I just don’t know what else to do. Could I maybe have the wrong foil? I’m sure this stuff is from China, it came in little canisters. Someone on utube said the iron needs to get to 400 degrees I have now a 80.00 iron and the wattage is 1725 lose to the highest out there I think the highest have held iron is around 1800 watts. I am hoping I can even get back in check back to see if anyone has answered or helped me with my problem. Not sure I even know how to do that. But any help on this problem would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ Fisher Posted April 19, 2022 Report Share Posted April 19, 2022 I have no experience using heat to apply foils. The foils you refered to in the little canisters from China are probably fingernail foils and they use a special glue to apply it. I have used the glue to apply hot stamp foils themselves but never with heat. Maybe @AZsouth has an idea, he's done some hot stamping, Welcome to TU... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverSmallieGuy Posted April 19, 2022 Report Share Posted April 19, 2022 12 hours ago, AZ Fisher said: I have no experience using heat to apply foils. The foils you refered to in the little canisters from China are probably fingernail foils and they use a special glue to apply it. I have used the glue to apply hot stamp foils themselves but never with heat. Maybe @AZsouth has an idea, he's done some hot stamping, Welcome to TU... Just a disclaimer: I do not own an airbrush, but what I can offer to you is a little bit of advice that may apply to what you need. If your blanks are wooden, what I would try is dipping the blank in Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane once or twice after sanding it very well to achieve a sealed lure and a smooth finish. Then, I would dip it a third time, let it dry for like 2-4 hours and apply the foil while the polyurethane is still curing. Polyurethane can also be an adhesive. I am not 100% sure if this would work, but I would give it a shot. If it doesn't work, I apologize. If your blanks are plastic or resin, you could probably find craft foil leaf adhesive and use it. One other thing I know could work for all types of blanks is to mix up clear 5 minute epoxy and thin it with a lot of denatured alcohol and brush it onto the lure. This would seal the blank and give you a chance to glue the foil to it. If you weren't referring to foil leaf, then I don't know. This is just what I know about foiling baits with leaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieQ Posted April 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2022 16 hours ago, AZ Fisher said: I have no experience using heat to apply foils. The foils you refered to in the little canisters from China are probably fingernail foils and they use a special glue to apply it. I have used the glue to apply hot stamp foils themselves but never with heat. Maybe @AZsouth has an idea, he's done some hot stamping, Welcome to TU... Thanks I was thinking I might have the wrong foils thanks for getting back with me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wchilton Posted April 20, 2022 Report Share Posted April 20, 2022 It's possible you have foil with no glue on the back, but you can still use it, just have to add your own glue. I think I've done that with either super glue or contact cement. Just realized there's a hot melt product sold at fabric stores (for patching) that you just iron on with a hot iron. It's on a piece of glossy paper with a thin layer of the glue on one side. The other thing you could try if stamps aren't working is a heat gun. I've got a little $10 craft heat gun that works great for small stuff like heating jig heads for powder paint dip and it doesn't get so hot that it melts the lead. I could see using that to apply foil with hot melt. Just need to affix the foil where you want it (maybe with tape or rubber bands) and hit it lightly with the heat gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted April 22, 2022 Report Share Posted April 22, 2022 I don't have a ton of experience with foil but I think I can help. 1. Make sure that you are using the detachable side. 2. Just because it say heat transfer does not make it so. 3. You will need to use a lure with a flat surface first so you can get an idea if there is an optimal temperature and pressure. 4. If you can't get to adhere with heat and pressure .... use thin cyanoacrylate adhesive only!!! I can tell you if you go this direction it will work but there are several issues that go with this process!! 1. First and foremost be very care with the thin cyanoacrylate adhesive, you can easily glue unintended things together like your fingers to the bait or each other!! 2. Thin coat!! I can not stress this enough, if it puddles or creates drops you are using to much and will not adhere properly and will create a raised lip at the edge of the adhesive. 3. I use a soft towel to press the foil properly on to the bait 4. After putting foil and bait together let it sit for at least 1 minute...every second creates a stronger bond. 5. When removing foil it should be a quick single motion. 6. PRACTICE ON A BAIT THAT YOU DON'T MIND MESSING UP. My .02 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wchilton Posted April 22, 2022 Report Share Posted April 22, 2022 Like mentioned before "thin coat of super glue" or you can try a contact cement. You don't need to experiment on lures you've spent a lot of time on. You can test the process on dowel rod or other scrap that has been sanded/prepped like a lure but doesn't require nearly the amount of time to get to that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted April 23, 2022 Report Share Posted April 23, 2022 Contact cement just doesn't work.... and trying to put foil on a dowel rod, I would love to see a video of that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wchilton Posted April 23, 2022 Report Share Posted April 23, 2022 I was just suggesting he doesn't need to experiment on a finished or nearly finished lure. Anything with representative geometry and surface prep would work to test the process. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Collins Posted August 13, 2023 Report Share Posted August 13, 2023 On 4/18/2022 at 11:45 PM, StevieQ said: Hello everyone, This is my 1st post, I am new here to this site. Hoping I can learn new things as well maybe help someone at same time. I am 60 years old like in Keller Texas I fish a lot along the Texas coast. Love Wade fishing, kayak fishing, and blue water fishing also. I have been airbrushing now for over 10 years. Started cerakoting gun parts after months of customizing a airbrush that would spray cerakote. I am starting or trying to Hot Stamp lure blanks. There is sone shading I am wanting that I cannot do airbrushing and holographic hot stamping foil might do the trick. But it won’t stick to the lure blank. I have received all the stuff to start hot stamping lures, I hv 3-1/2” pads, I use 2 on bottom 1 on top, I hv tried so many times it’s unreal, got so pissed off I found out those pads will break a window. Won’t do that again, lol. I have bought 3 different irons took the others back of course. I sat the iron on the pad fir over 5 mnts so I know pad was hot. I wear power free latex gloves, hv even tried cleaning baits off with acetone, several other cleaners, even tried heating baits up in oven before I tried stamping them. All the u tube channels I have watched it just looks so straight forward. But I just can’t get the foil to stick to my baits. I tried all of them and used yards of foil all it does is gets stiff and has the outlines and shape of the lure. I just don’t know what else to do. Could I maybe have the wrong foil? I’m sure this stuff is from China, it came in little canisters. Someone on utube said the iron needs to get to 400 degrees I have now a 80.00 iron and the wattage is 1725 lose to the highest out there I think the highest have held iron is around 1800 watts. I am hoping I can even get back in check back to see if anyone has answered or helped me with my problem. Not sure I even know how to do that. But any help on this problem would be greatly appreciated. My name is Ken I live in Watauga Tx. Right down the road from you, I do hot stamping and maybe I can help you out 817-707-6038 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hiro Posted August 30, 2023 Report Share Posted August 30, 2023 If the foil tape is not soft enough to stick to the round surface of the lure body, you can still stick the foil tape by making several triangle cuts in it and with some glue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
