Need help on Sealer??

[Dweller]

What do you guys use to seal you balsa baits? I need a good sanding sealer. I was hoping there is a good water based sealer to help cut down on the fumes. If not what do you recommend. Thanks

[benton B]

I use plain ole minwax polyurathane, 3 dips with light sanding with 400 grit in between each dip. Gives me a nice smooth surface for primer and paint.

[Palmetto Balsa]

I have been having great success with the Propionate dip. Its easy to use and gives you a very solid foundation to paint on. Acetone fumes are the only draw back, but it is a lot less toxic than a lot of the other types of sealers. Search propionate sealer on here if you haven't tried it already and see what you think. It has a lot of uses. Balsa is tough to seal but this will work. I am also using it for my paint and shooting it through my airbrush and topcoating with it.

[Lure--Prof]

I dip first in thinned Kilz II. After that dries, usually a coat of E-tex, or sometimes on really thin lures, a coat of Devcon 2-ton goes on. Prep for base coat with light sanding to dull surface or correct any high spots, remove dust and wipe with alcohol.

Dean

[BobP]

I used to use D2T epoxy but have lately gone to propionate/acetone dips. You can dip 6-7 times in an hour and the balsa seems harder with the propionate than with epoxy. At least it won't dent like epoxy if you compress the sides with your fingers - don't know yet how impact resistant it is but it's pretty fast since you're ready to paint in a few hours after a light sanding to remove the gloss. But all said and done, thinned epoxy is also a good choice and it has the advantage of being readily available.

[parrothead127]

I have been using propionate for several weeks. Took a bait saltwater fishing on the flats a couple weeks ago. Caught trout on the bait. Bait was not even scratched. Another dip I used, the bait looked like it was hit by a lawnmower after 3 redfish. Propionate is the way to go.