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fivebigfish

Jacked Up Clear Coat

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Hey guys. I clear coated some baits last night(using devcon 2 ton epoxy) before I went to bed and left them turning all night. I left a set of halogen work lamps(puts off quite a bit of heat) and a heater turned on in my unheated garage were I had them. The temp in there when I went in was around 80). Before I left for work this morning I went in the garage to check on them and most if not all of them had some bad looking spots on the clear coat. The spots looked like runs and humps. I have done about a dozen baits now and this is the first batch that has messed up. The only thing that I can think of is that the temperature changed overnight(although I can't imagine it changing enough to cause this), or I maybe let the epoxy get too stiff by the time that I got the baits completely covered. My questions are: #1- what do you guys think may have caused this? and, #2- How is the best way to fix these baits? Can I wet sand the existing clear coat and then apply another thin layer? Do I have to sand it all off and start over and in doing so destroy the paint job? Thanks guys.

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Hmm? Re: Was there too much time elapsed when the 2-ton was applied that caused the lumps?... I wouldnt think that all the baits would be showing the same problems since they were applied at different time intervals. If you could indentify the last few baits you did and see if their lumping was worse, then that might answer the problem.

In terms of a fix, I have dry sanded imperfections out of devcon, then re-coated with no problems in the end. I would hate to sand devcon all the way to paint. Your temperature thought might have played a part. I'm not sure about Tenn., but NC had its first frost of the year last nite. Lets us know how it turns out and good luck.

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It was a temperature problem, have had it happen many times. I ended up just tossing mine because it looked like too much work to repair them. You might try doing some sanding and then an overcoat. Next time let the bait set up for about an hour then turn on the lights...for some reason this prevents the problem you have described. Even so, keep a close eye on them during the first hour the lights come on to make sure you are not getting a repeat of the problem.

Jed

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I've had the same thing happen, I believe it is temp related. I top coat and dry in my gargage, during summer it gets over 100. I've had Devcon turn to gel before my eyes, usually during the application process but once while on the lures. It was a very thick coat.

I had to start only top coating only late at night and I run a fan at high speed across my drying wheel.

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Thanks Tally, now, two things.

First, I always hit my freshly coated baits with a hair dryer

to make sure the coating is going to smooth out evenly.

Warm coating flows out more evenly than cold coating.

Second, use extremely low heat, if the heat is too high

the coating will bubble at the corner of the lip and this

is a mess. It can be fixed with a dremel and a dentist

bit, and recoated. Better not to go there in the first place.

Coley

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Here is what i do in my cold shop

1. coat the lures

2. hit them lightly with a heat gun to level the clear

3. let them run on the dryer for 1-2 hours

4. after they are set, but not dry i take them in the warm house to finish drying.

I use the xacto knife method for holding my lures so i can take them off of my dryer without touching them in case anyone is wondering how i do that lol.

So far this method has worked great

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The problem was the Temp. The optimum temp for Devcon long cure is 75 deg. You can spin the lure for 15 - 20 min. and then hang it to dry if you have to. It will not sag. For every 5 deg. below that down to about 65 deg. add 10 additional minutes to the spin time. Below 65 deg. Devcon gets too thick to spin with the normal drying wheel speeds that most of us use. Most dryers will not spin slow enough to even it out when it becomes that thick. Then reason that you got the sags was because you put too much heat to it. When you get the temp too high on Devcon or any other epoxy, it will get a water like consistancy. It needs to be spun faster then. If you do not then it will run and the sags and runs will start to set as the hardener starts to cure the resin. This is what happened to you.

You can sand the Devcon level and recoat and the lure will look just fine. You won't be able to tell it if you do it right. However, it will add weight to the bait. If it is a hardwood bait it might slowly start sinking. If it is balsa you may get away with it.

Bottom Line...... Your going to have to do this inside during the cold winter or you will be fighting this problem throughout the season.

Skeeter

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Skeeter's right on the temp thing. I have to work in the heat all the time over here as room temp is 80-85 most everyday here :D. The hotter it is, the faster Devcon cures. So even if you spin it in hot temp the lumps won't have time to flow smooth even if you spin it.

I get by by using a heat gun to "melt" Devcon to watery consistancy then spin & twst it by hand while heat-gunning it to get it smooth & remove the excess; then only onto the dryer. Usually 5-10 minutes is all I need on the dryer & Devcon wounldn't flow anymore.

PS: If you notice lumps within the first 5 minutes, you might be able to get it flowing again by reapplying heat but it bubbles easily if too much heat is applied.

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