fishordie79 Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 Hey TU Brothers and Sisters! I've been making custom jig heads for myself and my buddies and to this point I have been using automotive grade Epoxy topcoat, usually two coats, to finish them up. They work perfect in waters with soft bottoms but, as you can imagine, they get absolutely destroyed by rocky, sandy bottomed bodies of water. I put quite a bit of time into these things and am looking for some advice as to some way to protect the topcoat or maybe use something that is super hard and won't get dinged up so bad. Some of the jig heads (pre-epoxy) are pictured below. Thanks to you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21xdc Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 3 coats of KBS diamond clear and let harden for 3 weeks... That should do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 I use clear gloss topcoat nail polish from the Dollar Store on both my jigs and my spinnerbaits, and it hold up really well. For a buck, you can afford to try one to see if it works for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishordie79 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 (edited) @21xdcYou've mentioned KBS to me before. Time to put that in the shopping cart on Amazon. I'll let you know how the first run with that stuff turns out. @mark poulson I have a batch on the drier right now with two coats of epoxy on. I also have a bottle of clear gloss nail polish in one of my guitar cases that I use to fix dings in the clear coat on my guitars. I'll put that on top of the epoxy when it is dry and give that a test run as well. Thanks you guys! Edited December 30, 2019 by fishordie79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRammit Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Ive always brushed my jig heads and worm weights with thinned devcon, but thats alot of work and maybe a little overkill.... so i recently got some of that UV blast seal coat, just dip it and forget it.... so far so good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 15 hours ago, fishordie79 said: @21xdcYou've mentioned KBS to me before. Time to put that in the shopping cart on Amazon. I'll let you know how the first run with that stuff turns out. @mark poulson I have a batch on the drier right now with two coats of epoxy on. I also have a bottle of clear gloss nail polish in one of my guitar cases that I use to fix dings in the clear coat on my guitars. I'll put that on top of the epoxy when it is dry and give that a test run as well. Thanks you guys! Just for a test, why not try just using the nail polish alone on one painted jig head, to see if you can skip the epoxy altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishordie79 Posted January 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2020 @mark poulson I've got a couple of jig heads yet to be epoxied. I'll give them the nail polish treatment and let you know how they turn out. I am assuming they need to be put on a drier to cure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishordie79 Posted January 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2020 @JRammit Thanks for the reply and suggestion man! Based on what I have seen others doing online I will need to build a UV tank for this or? Not an issue if need be and it seems to me that using UV Poly is a faster and more effective method for jig heads than epoxy is. I could do multiple coats much faster won't have to wait a whole day between applying subsequent coats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 1, 2020 Report Share Posted January 1, 2020 4 hours ago, fishordie79 said: @mark poulson I've got a couple of jig heads yet to be epoxied. I'll give them the nail polish treatment and let you know how they turn out. I am assuming they need to be put on a drier to cure? I don't use a turner. It is thick enough, and dries fast enough, that I don't see any sags. I just coat them, and let them hang and cure overnight above my paint table. I've fished them the next day, but waiting two days makes them really hard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRammit Posted January 1, 2020 Report Share Posted January 1, 2020 17 hours ago, fishordie79 said: @JRammit Thanks for the reply and suggestion man! Based on what I have seen others doing online I will need to build a UV tank for this or? Not an issue if need be and it seems to me that using UV Poly is a faster and more effective method for jig heads than epoxy is. I could do multiple coats much faster won't have to wait a whole day between applying subsequent coats. No UV tank needed, its not UV cure its just supposed to reflect UV light when finished.. i havnt noticed a difference, may just be a gimic, but it was only $2 more than the regular seal coat dip, so im not complaining 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRammit Posted January 1, 2020 Report Share Posted January 1, 2020 Here's where i got it https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/fishing-lure-paint/023025000527.aspx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishordie79 Posted January 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2020 @JRammit Got the UV clear coat on the way. Is this a "dip and hang" substance or do I need to put the lures on a drier to cure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRammit Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 Dip and hang.. just be mindful of the drip, i clamp mine hook down so i dont get cone head jigs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 I would think rotating under a UV light would produce a very uneven coating, because UV finishes cure from the outside in, so the inner finish would still be semi-liquid while the outside is hard. That might cause dragging, like happens when you rotate a bowl of pancake batter. The bowl, and the batter on the outside, move while the batter in the middle doesn't. I use Solarez UV dual cure polyester, designed for surfboard coating and repair, for some of my PVC baits. I dip in a darker room (LED lights produce UV, so I use fluorescents at a distance), hang the bait over my dip can until drips stop, clean off the excess and clear the hook hangers and line tie with a piece of paper towel twisted to a point, and then hang them in my UV fingernail light box, rotating them 180 degrees every thirty seconds, for three minutes, but still letting them hang nose up. The Solarez is thick enough that I've never had it thin out on the end that's up, but I do sometimes get drips on the bottom, because it will sag at first, until it begins to set. I know people who use a UV flashlight to initiate the UV curing while the baits are still hanging, to prevent this, before hanging in the light box to cure, but I haven't tried that. Yet! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishordie79 Posted January 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 @mark poulson @JRammit Thank you both for the information! Good things learned from the both of you. Just for the heck of it I tried some 2 part automotive clear coat and that actually worked really well. I don't think I'll use it as a go to but something to keep in mind. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
