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Heating up the bait before you clear?

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I can not remember what thread I had seen this on -

"clear on multiple baits with epoxy is to take a cold soda flip it upside down and mix your epoxy in the bottom of it, meanwhile you are heating up your bait till it is warm."

I have to ask the question, how does one warm / heat up the bait before you add your clear coat?

Hair Dryer , Heat Lamp?

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Please forgive my ignorance on this subject.

It just seems to me that if you pre heat the bait prior to applying the top coat, this would decrease your working time.

Not allowing you to have time to get the bait fully covered.

What is the benefits?

Just want to learn,

Thanks

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I'm not a big user, but I can think of two advantages. The D2T should go on smoother with the warm body, thus saving time.

Secondly, the epoxy chemical action is exothermic, meaning that heat is generated. This will cause the air in the bait to expand and can cause air bubbles. If the body is warm, then the body will start to cool with the application and remove this problem.

Because D2T reacts fairly slowly, especially compared to 5 min epoxies, which you should not use for top coating, this exothermic thing is hardly noticable, but it is there.

I'm sure the epoxy experts will jump in here with more instructive explanations.

Dave

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I have no expertise but have epoxied some hundreds of baits. I haven't tried heating the bait so can't comment specifically. You can do all sorts of stuff to the epoxy, to the bait, etc, but I get consistent results and don't heat anything before, during or after application. If you are applying epoxy at 70-90 degrees ambient temp, you should get a nice even bubble free clearcoat by measuring accurately, mixing thoroughly, and smoothing it on with a good brush. The more operations I add to building/painting, the more often I screw up. But that's just me.

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Thanks fella's..

I must say, this is totally and definitely; without question, one of the most informative web sites that I have ever seen.

And everyone wiliness to donate to the cause....

Enough that - Let's make some baits

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I always try to heat up the lures, not only before clearcoating, but before sealing as well.

If you use wood for your lures, you need the wood to be as dry as possible, and the air inside the wood need to expand.

Vodkaman has shown some benefits in case you heat up your lures. But there are others as well.

Say you leave a lure in the sun on a hot summer day. The air inside the wood will expand, and you may end up with a crack in the clearcoat. But if you apply the clearcoat at a higher temperature, your chances to ruin the lure this way are low.

In case you fish a lure which was clearcoated at a higher temperature in cold water, the chances for cracks in the clearcoat are lower, because any clearcoat can withstand higher pressure from the outside, than it can from the inside.

Of course, if your lures are clearcoated at room temperature and they are going to be fished, or will always stay at about the same temperature, you do not need to think about such problems.

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I have only one rule about heat. Don't clearcoat in a cold garage and take it into a warm house to dry/cure - The air in the bait wants to expand and if there is the tiniest pin hole anywhere in the undercoat, you will get a bubble. Considering the small size of the bubbles I have seen in this scenario, it's JMHO that heating the bait and/or the clearcoat is gilding the lily. I can't believe that a 1/8" dia bubble's worth of air will make a discernable difference in the action of a finished bait. Now Dave, don't assault me with a volumetric air analysis! I was a social science major :huh:

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Bob, wouldn't dream of assaulting you techy garbage.

I can see advantages, especially when sealing, as explained very well by Rofish (a fellow engineer), air cooling will draw the sealer in.

As for the long term effects, I think the pressure equalises itself. No top coat or sealer is impermiable, as was amply demonstrated in a comprehensive study of sealer coats, on another lure site (name of which escapes me).

So, as you correctly stated, as long as the bait is cooling down when you apply the coat, then bubbles/fish eyes will be eliminated (in theory!).

Dave

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I believe Palmetto uses a light vacuum for sealing with prop. When the vacuum is released, the prop liquid gets drawn in.

I am hoping that he will jump in here and give more details. Or maybe it should be discussed as a separate thread, being ever so slightly off subject, as we are discussing clears.

Dave

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