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jay42782

First Crankbait Clear Coat Question *nervous*

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So just clear coated my first crankbait with Devcon 2 ton 30 minute clear more than 24 hours ago and it's still really tackky?

I have never done this before but went to ace hardware.bought the epoxy.came home and opened it and seemed like it came out in equal quantities.i just cleared my first ever painted bait and nervous I did something wrong?climate control during all set time has been between 70-72 in my basement? is this normal?

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If it remains tacky and never seems to set up try mixing another batch of D2T making sure you use equal parts by volume and that you mix it really well. Brush another coat on top of the the one that didn't cure and it should make the first coat cure as well as the one you just brushed on.

 

Ben

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Nope.... Did you stir it REALLY well?

 

I had two baits that never did set correctly....save that tacky bait for those times you think you may very well loose the bait if you throw it in  there....or catch a monster.

Thats what i was afraid of.pretty sure I did NOT stir well enough :nono:

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Thank you Ben!!

I'm going to give that a try!

 

Not sure if your using denatured alcohol to thin your epoxy, but if you are make sure you mix the epoxy really well first and then add the DA and mix it again. If you try adding the DA before you mix the epoxy it will bind with one part and not allow proper mixing of the two parts.

 

good luck,

 

Ben

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If you measure it accurately and mix it well, Devcon 2 Ton is almost foolproof.  But with any epoxy, failure to do both will result in a topcoat that fails to harden.  I mix mine energetically with a strip from a credit card for about a full minute in a small jar cap lined with aluminum foil.  If you are afraid that you won't have enough time to apply the epoxy after mixing, you can mix in a FEW drops of denatured alcohol to slightly thin the mixture, extend the brush time by a minute, and help remove bubbles.  That will give you about 3-4 minutes of brush time, or enough for 2 baits.  If you want to avoid measuring errors, I suggest either using the epoxy that comes in a double syringe or using a pair of epoxy syringes that you can buy from a rod supply shop like Mud Hole.  I measured by equal size pools of epoxy for many years and it worked - most of the time - but there's really no better way to measure than epoxy syringes.  With them you never have a question that you got equal amounts of resin and hardener.  I use 1cc each of the hardener/resin for each typical size bass crankbait.  Yep, a second coat of epoxy will fix the soft first coat.

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If you measure it accurately and mix it well, Devcon 2 Ton is almost foolproof.  But with any epoxy, failure to do both will result in a topcoat that fails to harden.  I mix mine energetically with a strip from a credit card for about a full minute in a small jar cap lined with aluminum foil.  If you are afraid that you won't have enough time to apply the epoxy after mixing, you can mix in a FEW drops of denatured alcohol to slightly thin the mixture, extend the brush time by a minute, and help remove bubbles.  That will give you about 3-4 minutes of brush time, or enough for 2 baits.  If you want to avoid measuring errors, I suggest either using the epoxy that comes in a double syringe or using a pair of epoxy syringes that you can buy from a rod supply shop like Mud Hole.  I measured by equal size pools of epoxy for many years and it worked - most of the time - but there's really no better way to measure than epoxy syringes.  With them you never have a question that you got equal amounts of resin and hardener.  I use 1cc each of the hardener/resin for each typical size bass crankbait.  Yep, a second coat of epoxy will fix the soft first coat.

thanks for the info!being my first painted crankbait I was hoping I could find a (newbie repair option)

 

the devcon I purchased came in the dual tube (syringe) I belive would be the term so I fugured dummy proof for my first attemp

 

where I messed up was mixing it in the bottom half of a 16.9 fluid OZ water bottle with my application brush for about ooooh....5 seconds :?

Edited by jay42782
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100% success!!!!

I put on a second coat of REALLY well mixed D2T about 5 hours ago before leaving to take care of some things

To my suprise upon checking the crankbait I was actually able to hold it for the first time!

should have a fully cured bait once and for all soon

I could not have figured this out without the help from you folks here

I can't thank you all enough!!

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I heat my epoxy for 10 minutes and then mix it SLOWLY for 3 minutes. Mix too quickly and you get lots of bubbles. I know it's really exciting to want to touch your lure as soon as it's hard but try not to. The epoxy won't be FULLY cured for a MINIMUM of 48 hours, and if handled too much the heat from your hands could leave fingerprints in the topcoat if you're playing with it before it has fully set up. Just a few more tips thrown in there :P

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I heat my epoxy for 10 minutes and then mix it SLOWLY for 3 minutes. Mix too quickly and you get lots of bubbles. I know it's really exciting to want to touch your lure as soon as it's hard but try not to. The epoxy won't be FULLY cured for a MINIMUM of 48 hours, and if handled too much the heat from your hands could leave fingerprints in the topcoat if you're playing with it before it has fully set up. Just a few more tips thrown in there :P

 

What kind of epoxy are you heating for 10 minutes and then mixing for 3 minutes? It must be something like Etex because if you tried mixing any of the 30 minute brand epoxies like that you would never get it out of the mixing container much less on the bait.

 

Ben

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What kind of epoxy are you heating for 10 minutes and then mixing for 3 minutes? It must be something like Etex because if you tried mixing any of the 30 minute brand epoxies like that you would never get it out of the mixing container much less on the bait.

 

Ben

I use BSI, and if I don't fiddle around I can get 3-4 baits done from the same cup.

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I use BSI, and if I don't fiddle around I can get 3-4 baits done from the same cup.

 

BSI 30 minute slow cure is what I've been using for a couple years now and would never have thought you could get that much working time out of it. Especially if your heating it since heat is what cures the epoxy. Granted heat will initially thin the epoxy, but once I heated the epoxy the curing process only seemed to accelerate. Whatever your doing must be working though.

 

Ben

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I am using BSI's 20 minute cure, the funny thing is when I tried the same method with Devcon it reacted how you said. I couldn't get one bait cleared before it started setting. I don't thin my epoxy either. I have no idea why I don't run into a lot of clear coat issues, for a while I chalked it up to luck.

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I haven't tried the BSI 20 minute, but it sure sounds like your on to something. The finish on your baits looks really good and I'm guessing that your able to put a thinner coat on using your method so the weight of the epoxy doesn't have such a dramatic effect on the buoyancy of small cranks.

 

Ben

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I haven't tried the BSI 20 minute, but it sure sounds like your on to something. The finish on your baits looks really good and I'm guessing that your able to put a thinner coat on using your method so the weight of the epoxy doesn't have such a dramatic effect on the buoyancy of small cranks.

 

Ben

Yep, you got it. I can get a pretty thin coat on there if I want to and haven't had any problems with my epoxy effecting buoyancy or action.

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You'd think the two syringe style epoxy would be idiot proof, but I just got the worst double syringe I've ever seen.  Somehow the thing defies logic and the simple physics of the universe!  When you push the plunger, liquid only comes out of one side.  After shaking, hitting, banging, and any other thing you can think of, liquid won't come out of the other side and I started to think it had hardened up in there somehow.  Of course, 2 hours later, the other side decided to free up on it's own a spew the needed amount out onto the workbench.  So, you'd think the problem is solved, but every time I use it, it does the same thing (3 tries at it now).  I've never had this issue before, but it's ironic to say the least.  They've got it so you "can't mess it up," until it's messed up, then there's no way to fix it without cutting the thing apart.  Good times.

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I feel your pain!

Those double tubes with the single plunger can sit in inventory for years, before they're sold, so there's lots of time for the hardener to yellow, thicken, or do any number of weird things.

Especially if you buy it from the Dollar Store, which specializes in buying up old stock and reselling it.

I think they don't know what they're talking about when they say "you can't mess it up", because I've had some epic failures with those things, too.

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I ordered 2 tubes of D2T (so i can reorder when i get through the 1st and still have the 2nd while i wait).. One looks fine, i used it and turned out great!... In the other tube, the clear part looks cloudy, is it trash??

Edited by JRammit
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I would likely skip the cloudy D2T but go ahead and mix some up to see what happens once mixed and test over some paint schemes on some scrap piece.  May find that it will work for personal use on some colors (shad for instance).

 

My local Ace (less than 1 mile from house) carries Devcon so I can sort through it. 

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