Ping Pong Sealer

[CarverGLX]

Seems like I remember seeing something on here about sealing balsa in a mixture of acetone and dissolved ping pong balls.... Can't find it by searching ping pong.

Ping pong balls are:

nitro cellulose ... Good

Dissolve in acetone... (I think) good

White... Good for base coats

Cheap ... 144 is somewhere around $15

Seem like a good option but can't remember why or why not... Maybe additional solids?

Also for those who have tried... How does this compare in cost, sealing, ease of use with duco cement? Also nitro cellulose.

I know it's all on here but can't find the ping pong ball thread and don't know about a comparison. Like some feedback before I'm having nightmares of avalanches of a little white Chinese invasion.

[bassguy]

I think it was the clear Solo cups dissolved in acetone. I'm not sure of the amount of acetone to cups ratio.

 

Jerry

[CarverGLX]

I've seen that one too... Maybe mentioned as a side note in one of the solo cup posts?

Definitely saw something on ping pong balls. Remember something as well about adding more acrylic white to it to have a good white base and not having to basecote....

[mark poulson]

Would that be the same as propionate?

[CarverGLX]

Think so. Just not clear. There are better topcoats anyhow. Just thought it might be easier to come by. White and so on.

[bobitas]

Hello, in my countree most of Hard Bait manufacturer use nitro cellulose disolved in acetone.

We have expirience ,allso ,with epoxy,floor warnish,and so far everybody use nitro cellulose because its elastic even it's very cold or very hot time outside.(winter-sommer).

Other coat have not this and when is cold it is wery easy to broke lures coat when hit it on rock or something simmilar .

That is experience in ex Yugoslavia area.Best regards from Bosnia :-)

ps Sorry for my bad English.

[woodieb8]

Bobitas. your correct. here its a lacquer,nitro cellusose.

oh ya the English or any language is the same. its called bait making lol.

[EdL]

Maybe this might help:

 

Melting Plastics In Acetone - Not Propionate Pellets

 

Isn't the search function on this forum the greatest?

[Cougarftd]

I've used proprionate ...when you get it down there is no more durable clear

[Matt Moreau]

I remember seing the ping pong balls post too. I think it was in a proportionate post. 

 

I never tried either of those so i cannot comment on them. I have tried melting plastic cups and that worked ok but i always seem to revert back to expoxy as the base/sealer.

 

Lmao - Sorry I didnt really offer much here

[CarverGLX]

Maybe this might help:

 

Melting Plastics In Acetone - Not Propionate Pellets

 

Isn't the search function on this forum the greatest?

Thanks Edl......

 

found it in your link from a TU user named Tref:

 

"Try to melt

Table tenis bals. Most off them ar still made out off Celluloid. It

melts quite fast, livig you with great stuf for sealing wood. Hard but

still flexibile.

To test Celluloid you can burn it, it burn rapidly with no ashe.

By ading Titanium oxide ( Stuf that painters use for wightening canvas) solution will bee snow white and ready for painting

Funy part is that it smels yust like old rapalas

Sry on my bad English"

 

                    

                   

[CarverGLX]

Further research:

 

-tabletennismaster.com-

 

"Table tennis, an Olympic sport, is commonly known as ping pong in
China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The ping pong ball is completely hollow. It
had been made mandatory that the diameter of the ping pong ball should
be 40 mm and the weight should be 2.7 gram.

Further, the ping pong ball must have 0.4 coefficient of restitution.
The ping pong ball is made of high bouncing celluloid material and is
gas filled. The ping pong ball is normally colored either white or
orange and is matte finished. Depending on the bounce, roundness and
consistency of the ping pong ball, single star, two star or three star
ratings are marked on the ball. A ball with a three star rating normally
implies highest quality ball.

Originally, the diameter of the ping pong ball was 38 mm. At the end
of 2000, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) changed the
rules and officially announced that balls with 40 mm diameter alone
should be used"

 

So a ball weighs 2.7 grams... a gross (144) costs roughly $15.....

2.7g x 144= 388.8g n-cellulose...... convert to oz..... (1g = 0.035274oz).... ~13.7oz. for ~$15

 

So.... propionate: ~$30 per pound..... Ping pong is looking like a better option to me. Once a ball is crushed the extra surface area should allow it to melt quicker as well. The white pigment would also allow less base paint coats and the addition of a little titanium white to the mix should eliminate the need for base coats of white paint.

Wouldn't be able to do a clear topcoat with this set up like the propionate pellets but this stuff is better suited to a balsa sealer anyway so the white ping pong sealer should be a good option and maybe even better for simple painted baits unless I am missing something. The balls are supposedly pure n-cellulose with pigmentation (which might be the only source of solute issues).

 Think I might give this one a try.

[CarverGLX]

And for the Duco Cement:

1 oz costs about $2. But thats fl oz (30ml)

from MSDS sheet:

Specific gravity of Duco Cement = 0.9.......... so the 30 mL weighs ~27g (or a little less if they are using the actual fl oz conversion and not the rounding conversion which is 30)

Cellulose nitrate component makes up 10-20% of the weight. So therefore is in the range of 2.7-5.4g per 1 oz tube. Middle of the range is ~4g per 1 oz tube @ $2 per tube... (1 g is 0.00220462 lbs).... 0.00881848 lbs cellulose nitrate per 1 oz tube or ~113 tubes per pound @ a cost of $226!

Kinda rules this one out unless making a small batch. The major weight component of Duco Cement is acetone however and it may be a good option when making a small batch or having availability issues and need it today. Very easily disolved as its already basically there just at a way higher cost.