Epoxy coat problem?

[IronBass]

I finally pulled the trigger and carved my first swimbait out of PVC, with help from past post from TU and the John Hopkins tutorial. Every thing went very well. Weight system took some work, but the results are great.

I painted the bait and was unhappy with my first paint job, but my wife encourage me that it looked good, so I epoxied the bait with the epoxy I used on the bait.

Unhappy with the results I sanded the bait down and decided to try a photo finish the photo finish looked great (thanks to Bert for your tutorial here on TU).

I did some digging here on TU and decided to try Devcon High Strength 2 ton Epoxy, all purpose. I put the first coat on useing a brush and thought to myself, I did it. I set out to try someting and was very proud of my accomplishment. I figured a little sanding and another coat I would be vey close to finishing and looking forward to the next one.

The problem the exopy never cured? Two days and very sticky to the touch? I pulled the photo fisinsh off and sanded the bait back down to the blank again.

I thought I mixed the epoxy according to the directions? Is the Devcon High Strength 2 ton Epoxy all purpose 30 minute the correct Devcon epoxy to use?

Getting frustrated and need some advise.

Thanks.

[pikeman]

don't know about the "high strenght" part , but if think you are in a mixing problem , did you gently mixed the two parts for about 1 - 2 minutes? it should have been cured in 24h, you are one day over that period so it's useless to wait for another day...I'll give you a tip that it usually works...the yellow tube is the hardner so when I mix the two components I put a little bit more of this one, just a drop or two, don't exagerate, you'll end up with a solid rock in your mixing pot in a few minutes. It's just better to be sure that the hardner is at least the same amount as the other component usually I do this by eye (never had problems, just with some small parts that didn't covered due to touching the lure after painting it )

[BobP]

Yep, you have the right epoxy. Failure to cure is due to bad measuring or bad mixing 99.99% of the time. "Thorough" is relative of course but I mix the devil out of it, until it is milky with tiny air bubbles. When I brush it on, the bubbles disappear. I mix in a jar lid covered with tin foil and use a plastic strip cut from an old credit card as a mixer. The point is, make sure that there is no unmixed resin or hardener hiding anywhere because you can brush that on the lure and it will never harden. Devcon is thick stuff. I can't imagine using more than a single coat on a bass bait. It's not like brushing paint. You want to keep the brush wet with epoxy at all times and think of 'smoothing on' the epoxy as you wet out the surface of the lure with it. You don't want your brush dragging over dry areas because that promotes bubbles and fish eyes. Coat around the lip, around the belly hanger, and the tail hanger then start from the top and work your way around the lure systematically so you don't miss a spot. If you feel you need more time for brushing, you can thin the epoxy a little by adding 3-4 drops of lacquer thinner after it's mixed.

[miragestalker]

Ive been using a postal scale to measure, and mix the stuff for about 1 minute. Beside stirring, it helps to fold the epoxy into itself. Just like baking bread

/bing

[IronBass]

Thanks for the help!

[Fishwhittler]

This may help: Fatfingers epoxy tutorial

In order to get exact epoxy measurement try the epoxy syringes from Mudhole. I use the syringes and mix the epoxy for three minutes. Three minutes may be overkill but it greatly decreases the chances of unequal mixing. In my experience it takes about 1cc of mixed epoxy to cover an average size (2-3") crankbait.

Hope this helps.

Ben