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Juice780

Propionate

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I was browsing through eBay and ran across a guy selling Propionate pellets and was thinking of trying some out. I have a few questions how hard does this stuff dry and how many coats do people normally use? I paint with createx and heat set with a heat gun, will I get air bubbles? I currently seal with sanding sealer and I get zero air bubbles. I do a lot of lures at a time so please don't recommend epoxy thanks

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Propionate works fine as a waterproof undercoat but I wouldn't use it as a topcoat - it's softer than epoxy and if the humidity is not perfect when applied, it turns milky. For a uniform coating, you need to dissolve the pellets in acetone and make a thin solution, then dip the lure multiple times to build up the coating. I do 5-10 dips. The acetone flashes off in 3-4 minutes, after which you can re-dip.

JMHO, there are other topcoats that are so superior in every way that I just don't see any reason to try prop as a topcoat.

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i only want to use it as a sealer not a topcoat. i was just worried when i paint and heatset that i might have bubbles, i ran across this problem when i used epoxy as a sealer but since i've switched to sanding sealer i havent had any bubbles

Since your sealing your baits I assume your building them out of wood. If you apply too much heat the air trapped in the wood itself will expand and cause the bubbling your experiencing in an epoxy seal coat. Don't ask me how I know.

Ben

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Juice,

I had many baits bubble while using sanding sealer"deft" and heat. Not sure if it just was not dry enough before painting or what exactly. Sounds like your doing something right with it so far. But one local builder told me he never applied the stuff except when the humidity was below a certain level . He had several baits bubble while his customers where fishing them on a hot boat. Seems the humidity is at it's lowest point in the mornings after the dew has fallen. Least likely to trap any moisture at this time of day.

littleriver

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Yeah I always make sure the sanding sealer is fully dry before I paint and I haven't any problems but I always like to try different methods to see what works best fore me, I also use a lure turner when I use sanding sealer, I know a lot of people just hang and dry but a lure tuner will give you a thicker and more even coat. I dip twice let it dry for a day then sand them smooth then dip 3 more times and you get a bait as smooth as glass

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Juice, I dip baits in prop/acetone and hang them to dry. When I tried a thicker prop solution, it tended to sag and make the surface wavy. Using a turner might avoid that. I haven't tried a sanding sealer but my gut feeling is that prop may be a little tougher because the sanding sealers I've seen seemed sort of waxy. I haven't had any problems with bubbles in the paint with prop - but neither have I had bubbles with epoxy unless I sanded it so much that wood grain was exposed. I think bubbles depend on how severely you heat your bait between and after applying paint to them. I only dry mine with a hair dryer and don't try to "heat-cure the paint". My opinion (and it's only that) is that enough heat to truly heat cure paint is enough to force bubbles through just about any undercoat/paint you name. You can get a nice glass-smooth surface with multiple prop dips on balsa - provided the balsa is sanded smooth before you start. It usually takes me about an hour to dip baits in prop, then I let them dry overnight to allow them to get as hard as they can. When dry, all the acetone is gone so there's nothing on the bait that will react with a solvent based topcoat like Dick Nite MCU. Bottom line, IMO it's something you might want to try.

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Bob is right about the sanding sealer being waxy. I have done a few nudies using this and everywhere the bait is dinged one can see the separation of layers. I know some commercial builders who make large lots of flat sided balsa baits use the sanding sealer. Often making hundreds of baits at a time. They use a concrete mixer to sand the lures smooth. Just the tumbling action of the lures rubbing each other sands them smooth. Remove lures and dust. Put the lures back in mixed with some deft sanding sealer and let them tumble some with the sealer this time. I have never done this but have been told this works pretty well.

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