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live4trout

Top coat question

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Are the bubbles happening after the D2T has been on the bait for a bit, or are they there when right when you brush the D2T on?  If they are coming to the surface later then it may be a seal or paint problem.  If they are there immediately it may be related to mixing or application.

 

Bubbles brushed on:

      -If you mix the epoxy too quickly you will have more bubbles, and they may be transferred onto the bait. 

     -If the D2T starts to thicken the bubbles seem to transfer onto the blank a little more easily.  I haven't had this issue since I started adding a few drops of denatured alcohol to make it a bit thinner and started mixing smaller batches to reduce the time the D2T sits before application.

     -I normally try to use long smooth strokes on the bait for cleaner results, and try to avoid over brushing. 

 

Bubbles showing up later:

If they are coming up after the D2T has been on the bait then that normally means that the wooden body wasn't properly sealed or you have moisture popping up from your paint like woodieb8 mentioned. 

      -If you did seal the wooden body and still had that happen then one option for a better seal is to heat the blanks up in the oven to around 125 degrees to open the pores in the bait and allow what you're sealing the wood with to penetrate better.

      -As far as the paint goes I normally paint the next day myself, but haven't had any trouble painting a few hours later if I have properly heat set between paint layers. 

 

Tip: If I still have a couple bubbles I will hit them very briefly with a heat gun while they are on the lure turner, and they'll normally pop.  I try not too have to hit the baits with a heat gun when I don't have too though, because I think this would cause the exothermic epoxy reaction to speed up more which could cause D2T to be even more brittle. 

 

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One of the reasons I moved away from building wooden baits, other than balsa cranks, is because I could never get my jointed swimbaits sealed completely, even if I heated the sections before sealing.  They all seemed to fail eventually, because there were so many points of possible water intrusion at the hinges.

JR Hopkins suggested I try AZEK PVC decking and trimboard as a building material, and all my sealing problems went away.

 

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