savacs Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 By talking in the rodbuilding.org forum i found out that e-tex and devcon ain't what we all thought they where. I stumbled uppon a guy that has tested them, at least the e-tex in weather chamber. I was amazed at his findings, telling me that e-tex was the worst yellowing epoxy he-s seen. So yellowing has nothing to do with curring time of the epoxy. He told me the best, and the epoxy that yellows the hardest is ThreadMaster, if i recall correctly.... I just wanted all u guys to know....e-tex and devcon will yellow. Not from a day to another, but they will yellow eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjack Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 All epoxies will yellow somewhat overtime when exposed to the elements, It is the nature of the beast! I do not use either product for a finish coat but do utilize devcon as a sealer and as an adhesive. I would imagine if you applied a UV block over a top coat epoxy finish it would certainly retain its original clarity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyFish Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I started using Thread Master a couple of weeks ago and I have been very happy with it so far. But, my thoughts are that it will be great for "billed" cranks, but not hard enough for lipless cranks at the nose and will wear quickly after bouncing off limbs and rocks. Remember, it is made to be flexible, not stiff as a rock, such as devcon. But, it self levels very well, is thick enough to go with one coat if you choose, will cure to the touch within a couple of hours if you put the lures under a couple of lamps for heat and will allow you to coat 10 to 15 lures with a single pour without getting to stiff to work with.........which is a big plus to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I am always interested in finding something better but after trying at least 5 or more coatings I am still using etex. How one decides which coating is best for them includes more than how much it yellows, cost is a major factor, clarity, hardness, ease of application, cure time, and durability just to name a few. I have yet to see any yellowing on baits done with etex up to 4 or 5 years ago altho I don't doubt that just about any coating will yellow if given enough time. Jed V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savacs Posted June 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 @blackjack it's not only about UV. They where tested with and without UV exposure, and they got about not that different results. So coating over epoxy with UV resistent coating..it don't help that much as brought to my understanding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjbass Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Like Riverman said.....I have baits that are over 5 years old and they look as good as the day I made them. I use devcon 2 ton and swear by it. I also know that all rod building epoxy is soft and will not withstand hard fishing like etex or devcon will. They would never withstand catching musky or other toothy critters I have proved that myself time and time again. So, I guess its what you want out of a lure.....If you want one that will look great for the rest of eternity, use rod building epoxy and then don't fish the bait.....lol:lol: Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savacs Posted June 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 There has to be some other answers out there that r better than epoxy, and easyer to aply. Not just easyer to apply, but paint friendly as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rofish Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I think that the yellowing of the epoxy should be the last aspect to take into consideration when choosing a topcoat. As it seems, the yellowing will happen (if ever) over a period of many years, more than 5 (I believe what others say). How many crankbaits do we have in our tackle box, that are older than 5 years? And who said that the yellowing is wrong for the number of strikes a crankbait will produce? As far as I know, the yellow is the color which can be best seen in the water, so what if by yellowing, a crankbait will catch more fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savacs Posted June 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I believe nothing should be the last aspect when building a cranckbait...it should be as flawless as one can build it...and that is what this site is all about...helping each other to do the lures as perfect as one can. I actually don't believe in perfection, ony in as close as u can get to perfection, and that is hard to obtain as well:( I just pointed out, that nothing is what it seems...i also tought that e-tex won't yellow to find out it's one of the worst yellowing epoxyes out there, this compared to other indor epoxy usage products and rodbuilding epoxyes. My e-tex didn't yellow on me for more than 2 years now...so am satisfied with it, even though i don't use it anymore . I hope i finally found what i was searching for when i got into lurebuilding, if so i'm close to perfection...if not...i'll get there sometime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyFish Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Well, I can't vouch for the Thread Master because it hasn't been tested to my satisfaction yet. However, I can tell you that it will not go on any of my lipless cranks and, if I fished for muskie, it wouldn't go on those either.......unless it proved to be more than I expect. I think it will be fine for lipped cranks, but as I said before, it's designed to be flexible and that just does not translate into a rock hard shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lure--Prof Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Savacs, I share your sentiment that (for me) this site is all about sharing information in order to build lures as well as we can, and I appreciate that the information you're sharing is to that end. I only today closed a reply to a thread in The Docks that I was "only the messenger" and I think that applies here also. Of course you've seen before the citizens begin arming themselves anytime the subject is clearcoats and epoxy. This is all to say; thank you for that bit of information, I'll file it away in my epoxy info file. I've personally seen no yellowing at all in E-tex'ed lures. I wonder what the difference is in the testing exposure to UV and the real world of lure exposure. I've seen some discoloration in some Devcon lures and none in others. I thing usually nothing bad happens with Devcon unless the coating is breached somehow or there are curing issues somewhere in the lure's painting or sealing process. Rofish, I'd have to probably stay up all night long to count the hardbaits I have that are over 20 years old. A good number of them are still "active". I don't retire fish-catchers unless they can be replaced with something as good or better. And the only reason I would consider compromising the quality aspect of a lure would be in a situation where the fish told me that a lesser quality material or construction method resulted in a "fishier" lure. And it has and does happen of course; luremaking is all about compromises, but I haven't fished too many days where they'd hit steel balls with any cosnsistency. There are lure builders around who are really happy with their clearcoats too. Last I heard, Nathan was really smiling about his clearcoat, Longball and I are happy with ours, and Bobby Kelly with his; all different brands of moisture cure urethanes. Riverman likes E-tex, Skeeter likes Devcon, Baitmaker II likes non-yellowing clear lacquer and apb is happy with boiled linseed oil. One thing we all share is surface preparation to the best of our abilities, and this is no small point, we've refined our applications to get absolutely the most from our clearcoats. Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Well, I wrote a response to this thread a minute ago, lost control of my fingers for a second and the thread vanished! Where the heck it went I have no idea. Doggonnit! So I will start over again. Savacs, I would really like to find a better clear coat, one that allows me to dip the lure in, pull it out, and it sets up hard as rock in 15 minutes. That would be great! But all of the coatings that I have tried that I can dip a lure into are too thin. Other coatings I have tried have set up too slowly or been too soft. And, this is why I have stayed with Etex all the way along. As for yellowing, I have a couple lures done with Devcon a few yrs back that have yellowed...it's minor and along the belly of the lure but they did yellow. I used Devcon for about a year and for the most part I liked it and I think it's great for a builder coating lures for himself. I have yet to see a lure that I have done that yellowed with Etex although I am sure it will eventually happen with this product also. I checked the price of Threadmaster and near as I can tell it's about 4 times the cost of Etex. I build a fair number of lures each year and epoxy is a significant amount of production cost for me. The only way I could justify using Threadmaster is if it provided 4 times the benefit in one way or another than Etex does. As of yet I have not found a product that "overall" (convenience, price, hardness, clarity, etc.) beats Etex as a clear coat. If I do, I will very quickly switch!! Jed V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJ Smith Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 This was sent to me Saturday and posted on the bassfishingnetwork by a friend who lives on Palo Goucho Bayou on Toledo Bend....... "Friday I was going up the bayou when a friend waved me down. She said that she had a crank bait that she had caught on her Carolina rig and ask me if I wanted it. I looked at it and didn't like the black color but she pitched it into my boat and I saw that it was a Wiggle Wart. Got home and cleaned it up in the sink with dishwashing liquid and a scrub pad and lo and behold , it was one that BJ had painted for me over a year ago. After very little scrubbing the finish came thru good as new. I couldn't believe how the finish stayed as new after being in the water over a year. All the hooks had rusted off and the split rings weren't in very good shape but the color was in great shape. It was a fire/tiger color that he had painted 5 or 6 for me. I just wish I had taken before and after pictures to show how bad it looked till I clean it." No this was not some scientific test.... This is a true story about a real crankbait that stayed submerged over a year stuck to a Toledo Bend stump. Once the scum was washed off, the finish was good as new..... no yellowing, fading, bluring, etc...... I guess I can accept that. This bait was finished with Devcon....... BJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
