Clear coat problems.

[juanma]

Good morning, I recently registered in this forum. I have been making my own wooden lures for two years. They work well, they catch fish.

The problem is that they don´t usually last me more than two days of fishing. The external sailing is usually removed in some parts of the lure after those two days of fishing.

I use a polyurethane protector before painting and before clear coating. 

Can you recommed any brand of clear coat that is special for making lures or that works well for you???

 

[Flaswimbaiter]

I use polyurethane and superglue for sealing and Devcon 2 ton epoxy for clear. It’s crude, but it’s durable.  But no clear is full proof. 

[eastman03]

I agree, every single type of finish will have its pros and cons.  Make sure you learn how to use whatever you choose.  I like a few different types of slow cure epoxy like Envirotex, Devcon 2 ton, Ecopoxy, Alumilite clear cast.  They have all worked well.  For my big musky lures, I will use two or three coats on the top to try to get protection. 

[mark poulson]

I've found that decoupage epoxy, like what is used for bar tops, works best for my wooden baits, because it is designed to move with the wood's expansion and contraction.

For small plastic baits, Devcon 2 ton, which is a glue epoxy and designed to be rigid, will work, but it cracks on bigger wooden baits.

[juanma]

Thank you very much for your answers.

This happens when i use large lures shuch as swim baits and lures above 35g for pike.

What method do you use to plumb the suspended lures and then add two or three layers of clear coat to prevent them for sinking?

[mark poulson]

I shape (including ballast holes adding hardware hangers) and seal my baits with penetrating epoxy (epoxy thinned with alcohol), add ballast as needed to get them to suspend, seal the ballast holes, paint, and finish.  For me, the paint and topcoat don't effect the suspension enough to worry about.

[juanma]

Thank you very much.

what percentage of alcohol do you add to the epoxy?

[barrybait]

Like Mark, I seal my wood wake and top water baits with slow cure epoxy like penetrating epoxy of Devcon (D2T).  After I have done my shaping and have epoxied the hook hangars and the lip in place.  Then I can use needle nose vise grips to hold the bait while I work on it.  I think it helps to heat the wood bait with my heat gun before I apply the slow cure epoxy.  That helps it pull the epoxy in as the wood cools.  You can't really get the sides of the wood grain to absorb epoxy but end grain will.  This makes the end and tapered sections harder and on my 2 piece baits I get a really great wood knock like that.  Of course you will end up adding or moving weights as needed and you have to be diligent about sealing each hole.  Be advised that warmed wood will make the epoxy more fumey, use an extraction fan or I use a fan blowing across my bench to keep the fumes away.

[mark poulson]

On 2/28/2024 at 7:26 AM, barrybait said:

Like Mark, I seal my wood wake and top water baits with slow cure epoxy like penetrating epoxy of Devcon (D2T).  After I have done my shaping and have epoxied the hook hangars and the lip in place.  Then I can use needle nose vise grips to hold the bait while I work on it.  I think it helps to heat the wood bait with my heat gun before I apply the slow cure epoxy.  That helps it pull the epoxy in as the wood cools.  You can't really get the sides of the wood grain to absorb epoxy but end grain will.  This makes the end and tapered sections harder and on my 2 piece baits I get a really great wood knock like that.  Of course you will end up adding or moving weights as needed and you have to be diligent about sealing each hole.  Be advised that warmed wood will make the epoxy more fumey, use an extraction fan or I use a fan blowing across my bench to keep the fumes away.

Barry is the Jedi Master of wood baits!  I learned a lot of what I know about wood baits from him.

[BobP]

I add a FEW drops of denatured alcohol to D2T to thin it out a bit and also to e tend the work time a couple of minutes.  Maybe 4 drops into enough epoxy to coat 2 medium bass baits.

[Archie1477]

On 2/26/2024 at 5:21 AM, juanma said:

Good morning, I recently registered in this forum. I have been making my own wooden lures for two years. They work well, they catch fish.

The problem is that they don´t usually last me more than two days of fishing. The external sailing is usually removed in some parts of the lure after those two days of fishing.

I use a polyurethane protector before painting and before clear coating. 

Can you recommed any brand of clear coat that is special for making lures or that works well for you???

 

Try componet systems  I have been using it for over 40 yearscommercially, tuff paint .  Dick nite is another choice  have a friend that has been using it for years... each works for us so niether have a reason to changeand we are all the time arguing which is the best