[LOZ]

Hey guys,
What is the best way to repaint the joints on swimbaits? I guess the problem occurs not in the actual painting, but when you go to clear it. It's easy with the swimbaits I carve, I simply install the joint hardware as the very last step....I learned that one the hard way after I got some D2T on the joints. They don't move too freely when they're epoxied together.

I guess the answer to my question would be "very carefully", but I was just thinking you guys could reveal a few tips before I mess up $20 swimbaits...

[mark poulson]

I make my joints loose, so there's room for paint and epoxy, and so the bait swims well and the sections don't bind.
I use sst screw eyes and sst wire hinge pins, with the top bent over 90degrees, so there's a 1/4" handle left. That way, I can coat the joints while they're apart with D2T, clean out the pin holes with a sst wire bit (same wire, end hammered to make it a skosh bigger), and reassemble after the joints are set. A little brush on crazy glue locks the pins, and prevents water from getting in, and the pin holes are so tight that I don't think enough water can get in to matter. I suppose coating the pin wire with some kind of oil or grease would help that, but I just thought of that, as I write this, and haven't tried it. Yet.
I re coat the lure assembled with D2T, but I don't try to get the second coat all the way into the joints. My second coat is to rock proof and fish proof the lure, not protect the hinges.
Then I hang it by the line tie, since the D2T gets so stiff right now in the heat that it doesn't sag unless I overcoat it. If you use back to back screw eyes for hinges, and set one side in epoxy, make sure you use D2T to set the screw eyes, since 5 minute Devcon is "water resistant", not waterproof, like the D2T.
If I want a truly slick, smooth finish, like when I repaint cranks, I topcoat with Envirotex on my drying wheel, but, lately, I'm happy with the D2T finish on my swimbaits.

[BobP]

I don't worry about getting epoxy in interlocked screw eye hinges (different story if they are solid hinged joints of course). I can reach into the joint with a SS wire chucked in a Dremel tool and drill it out. In fact, I get epoxy in the screw eyes on purpose so the bait will hold straight while clearcoating it. Side benefit - confidence that the hinge screws have 100% epoxy coverage and there will be no leaks.

[mark poulson]

Bob P,
You're a better man than I, Charlie Brown.
Whenever I have tried to clean out an epoxied hinge joint with a sst wire in the drill, it's a nightmare, and I wind up hitting the topcoat on the lure. I have to admit I've never chucked up the sst wire in my dremel and tried it that way, but with a cordless drill it's a disaster for me.

[BobP]

Mark, a Dremel is alot handier than a big, slow drill and it's easier to keep it on target at 20,000 rpm. I use a piece of ss straight wire shaft and snip off the very end occasionally to keep it sharp. It works great for removing finish from the line ties and wire joints. Other guys use a small drill bits. I use a Dremel for just about everything after cutting out the blank so it's just natural for this too.

[pizza]

not sure if your baits are single or double jointed but if they are single jointed the following worked for me (on small jointed baits, like 3/8 oz range). I just took a (cut) narrow rubber band and wrapped it around the joint really tight. This made my baits more or less rigid so that I could paint/epoxy them. Note, I did not epoxy all the way to the middle as my "gaps bw segments" were very small (plus the rubber band takes up a small amount of space right around the joint). Then when I was done, I was able to just poke around at the rubber band with an exacto/paper clip and bc the rubber band was wrapped so tightly, it was able to "spring loose". Probably not the best method but it worked for me and was the only way I could think of. If you want to see the baits this worked for, they are the only baits pictured in my gallery. It would work fine for any of the rapala jointed baits or similar style.

[mark poulson]

Pizza,
Those are really tight joints, so being able to coat them assembled must have been quite a feat.
I am either unwilling or unable to do work that fine, and to such close tolerances.
Loose and sloppy is my moto, with a large portion of easy.
That's why I adopted the hinge pin method, so I could coat the joints individually with D2T while holding them in my gloved hand, and then hang them to set. After that, I assemble the lure, and coat the faces on the wheel. The D2T in the joints typically lasts forever, if I'm careful when I clean out the pin holes after the joints have set. If I rush, I can break the bond of the epoxy in the joints, and then it will flake. I try to do my assembly and top coating on the wheel a couple of hours after I coat the joints, so the Etex will bond to the D2T. I make sure I make a 1/4" lap of the D2T onto the face when I'm coating the joints, so the top coat will lap without butt joints that might fail.
The extra step of coating the joints separately adds another 3 hrs. to the process, but it saves me so much aggravation, it's worth it.
I haven't made any jointed lures with bodies smaller than 4", so I don't know how my method would apply to lures smaller than that.
My next batch are also going to be 4" bodies, but slimmer, to resemble trout fingerlings. It should be a test for me, as I will have to use smaller hinge parts for the smaller lure parts.

[The_Rookie]

I spary the swimbaits with clear coat in a Automotive Spary gun... 1.2mm TIP! Easier that way.. Just hang the baits from head to tail... 1 light flash coat... wait for it tack up.. then add 2nd coat! Walla.... Your done.. NO RUNS DRIPS OR ERRORS!!!! THANKS JOHNNY BENCH!!!!

THE ROOKIE

[The_Rookie]

299....

[The_Rookie]

300 POST!!! WOOHOOOO!!! ok ok.. So I cheated to reach 300!!! But I bet I get to 601 before Griffey DOES!! MAN THE REDS STINK!!