Devcon Pot Life

[CrazyFish]

Guys, I'm an old rod builder and have been using a clear coat that gives me a long pot life so I can easily finish a rod before the clear coat starts to get to stiff to work with. I have tried this Devcon and find the pot life to be extremely short and, when working with 10 or more lures, just won't make it past 2 or 3 lures before I can't work with it. What do you use and, if you use Devcon, how do you extend the pot life?

CrazyFish

[Theflyingplatypus]

I extend the pot life by useing a drop or two of acetone. Make sure to mix very well. It might take longer to cure than strait devcon but it saves you epoxy. I am totally getting away from epoxy for clear coats cause the time it takes to brush on devcon i could dip 10 lures into laquer. I am ordering some dick nite lure coat. in the end it is cheaper and easier to use then epoxy.

[BobP]

I don't try to extend the pot life of Devcon, just mix enough for 2 baits at a time. Personally, I can't apply it faster and guarantee that I won't screw up the finish. If you want longer pot life, you might try Environtex Lite, a tabletop epoxy that contains solvent and has a longer pot and cure time, and produces a thinner topcoat. It's sold at most Michael's Hobby shops in 2 8oz bottles. Of course, there are also guys who swear by Flexcoat, Glass Coat and other thread epoxies, too. For ease of use and durability, though, Devcon is hard to beat IMO.

[CrazyFish]

Well, I'll keep looking around for something. I am currently using the finish I use to clear coat my rods, but I am worried that the flexibility in the finish will mean that it won't be durable enough to hold up on a lure bouncing off limbs and rods and, of course, the hard strikes!

[fatfingers]

I recently had detailed discussions with Tigger and decided to try Envirotec again. It has a much longer working time, but it is not as hard a finish. That can be disadvantage as far as getting lures completed, because the cure time is about 2 or 3 times longer. Devcon 2 has the advantage of hardness, but that can be a problem when it comes to tuning lures. The brittle nature of the Devcon can cause it to crack when bending a line tie attached directly to the nose of the bait when you are tuning the bait. Envirotec has much more flex to it even when fully cured and has less tendency to show hook rash on baits trolled at higher speeds for longer periods of time.

Therefore, envirotec will allow longer "pot life" but will slow the overall process of finishing a lure because each coat is thinner and requires more curing time between coats.

Overall, I'm going to stick with envirotec for now. It fogs less, but it more susceptible to dust boogers in the finish. It is softer but sags and runs easier. There are more tradeoffs than you can shake a stick at, but overall I like it better...for now.

[CrazyFish]

I am currently using ThreadMaster as my clearcoat. It has enough pot life to allow me to easily coat 10 to 12 lures, is UV protected, thick enough to allow for one coat if needed and flexible. I just wonder if it will hold up to punishment. It generally cures to the touch in under 3 hours and is an easy one-to-one mixture. Diamondite is my preferred clearcoat, but it really is just to thin for the lures and requires at least 2, if not three coats to completely cover. Diamondite really cures quickly if you put a heat lamp over the lures. Two hours to the touch. I already know it does not work well for lipless cranks as the coating at the nose area shows damage after a beating all day. That is why I will continue to use Devcon for lipless cranks now, but the others for lipped cranks and see how well they stand up.

[clamboni]

just mix the devcon with less hardener, it won't cure as fast