fivebigfish Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Hey Guys. Its been awhile since I've posted but I've been checking in daily and getting the low down on what everyone's doing. I have a question and I figured that once again someone here has been down this road and can tell me if its the way to go, or not. I have been progressing quite nicely on my painting. I have been using Createx paint and Devcon epoxy. I recently showed some of my work to a very accomplished pro bass angler friend of mine and he started telling me that he used to paint his own plugs and what he liked to use and what he didn't like to use. He told me that he had very good luck using some sort of flex coat product (similar or the same as what rod builders use) for his clear coat. He claimed that the two part epoxy would yellow and the flex coat would not. He claimed that the epoxy cracked easier than the flex coat when a bait hit a rock, or dock, or in my case a tree or bridge pillar. Is there any truth to this? The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Fishing rods are designed to bend and flex and be used in the sunlight. If the flex coating can withstand the bending and flexing and the UV exposure that rods are subjected to, then it should work on a bait. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Flex Coat is a coating for rods. Some have used it for clearcoating baits. It is suppose to be UV protective and flexable. I have heard good things about it. By being flexable it is suppose to withstand chipping or cracking better. I am not sure but I believe that flex coat is an epoxy. By curing very slowly it developes its flexability. It never cures to a rock hard property. Devcon ( which is what I use ) will not yellow. The 5 min. stuff will, but the long cure wont. I have a friend that is a custom rod builder and he uses Devcon for the clear coat. It does well on a rod. I guess the flex coat would be fine for the baits. But I feel that it would not do real well on the rocks. Where I fish the lake is just about all rock. We search out rock piles to run our lures into a large majority of the time. The Devcon has held up very well. I have lures that are 4 yrs. old and I cannot count the number of rock piles that I have ran these baits into. They have their scratches, but they have not yellowed and have held up very well. They still catch me plenty of fish. The only problem that I see with Devcon is that it will add weight to a bait. You have to adjust your bait weights to allow for the weight of the Devcon. If you think that the flex coat is the way to go then I would try it. But your friend is wrong about the epoxy. Most rod companies use a UV cured epoxy coating on their rods. They coat the rod and run it through High Intensity UV lights. The coating is cured in less than 5 seconds. Flex coat is mainly used by the hobby builder. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Party Crasher Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 We have been using Flex-Coat on our baits for six years now. It's the best thing that has worked for us. No yellowing. We also use it to seal the baits. Mix it up and cut it 6:1 with acetone. It soaks right into the wood and locks it tight. Paint over it and top coat with Flex-Coat at the end. Flex-Coat does a lot of business with the commercial lure industry. If you have any technical questions, call Flex-Coat and talk to Roger. He's an epoxy Guru! He helped us a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 You do not know the power of the dark side Skeeter! Flex Coat high build will cure to a rock hard finish if you mix it correctly. Requires a very precise measure using syringes. Makes a great plastic or balsa bait finish, and now using it for spinnerbait heads also. Either finish will add weight. That is not necessarily bad, as it will let your wart run deeper and your rogue suspend longer. I think (IMHO strictly) that Devcon will deaden the action of a rogue a bit more, and both are tricky on spooks and other topwaters. Face it, if you tie a bait on a Loomis rigged with a chronarch and rifle a bait into a chunk of rip rap or a dock edge you will probably break or chip any of the clear coats we are using. Hopefully you get the bait back with the lip intact. You can always repaint. Devcon and FC both hold up well to the normal scuffs and scrapes of trees, chunk rock, bass teeth (hopefully that is a frequent problem). Shoot me some mail if you have issues with FC, Skeeter is the "we're not worthy" guy on the Devcon. Skeeter: How does your rod building buddy change guides if he breaks one. The FC cuts pretty well and quickly lets you remove the wrap. Devcon wrap has to be so-lid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 I guess your right Dave, I will never know the power of the Dark Side because I will never go there. Hughesy says that Flex Coat will do just that....... flex. He says that is a plus. But you say it gets hard as a rock. But I am not confused about what to do. I know what works for me and I stick to it. My buddy will put the rod on a powered thread winder and sand down to the thread. Yall have fun!! Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Skeeter and all, Guess it depends on how you view a hard cured finish vs a flex finish. When cured FC is rock hard...all you have to do is try and dig a nail into a guide wrap to show this. Most wraps are coated with FC or a very similar, likely cheaper, product. But, and this is the difficult part, it will also allow some flex. Again, a run of the mill $50 rod shows this. If it didn't flex, and occasionally it does not, the thread wraps would crack when you hammered a fish (or a stump LOL). So it does sort of do both. I have had some FC that I mixed improperly stay "soft" (incompletely cured) meaning it would take a mark. Couple of reasons, I think: 1) just bad mixing...either used bottom of pot that was poorly mixed, or all was poorly mixed/measured, or 2) possibly some residual moisture in the paint or lure body. Honestly, it did not really affect the way the baits fished or looked, I just threw them in my "mine" pile. And Skeeter...I was serious about you being the we're not worthy guy on devcon. Most of the positive things I know about devcon came from your posts. My lightsaber is safely switched off Hoss. Now sanding a finished rod on a power wrapper would give me a case of the screamies, esp if it was not my rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overkill Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Just use E-tex and fuggadaboutit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finneous Fogg Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 I'm adding my vote for Flex Coat Low Build Epoxy. The mix is 50/50 but I like to add an extra drop of hardener when mixing a total of 4 drams, which is waaay to much for a single bait but just right for a rod. Not enough hardener and the bait finish will come out soft. Too much hardener and the finish can come out sticky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
