Etex set hard in 10 minutes - Page 3

mark poulson · 4 Weeks Ago

rofish,
I trust my eye more to judge the amounts and, so far, it's worked. I used a wooden tooth pick to mix the two halves on the tape, and I'm very thorough. I make sure that, once I've mixed the majority of the epoxy, I move to the outer limits of the epoxy, and mix that back in. It works for me, and there's one less thing to clean up. If I'm mixing enough for four big lures, I may use cups, and then I use a popsicle stick, with the end squared, to mix, and am careful to get down into the little groove at the outside of the bottoms (why do they have to put that there?) so I don't have any unmixed stuff. I measure the resin and the hardener out in separate cups, and add the resin to the hardener, so anything that's unmixed would probably be the hardener in the "corners", and the epoxy will still set up. But for the most part, I use the flat tape and it works great.

Downriver,
I've gone away from D2T for lure coating because it seems to be too hard, and comes off in large flakes when I "kiss" the rocks with my lure, infrequent as that may be.

I find that Etex is softer, and more forgiving.
I just checked and the Etex doesn't say UV protected, or anything about UV, on the package, and neither does the D2T.
I was thinking of using a coat of Krylon Acrylic Gloss, which does have UV protection, under my topcoat, and then I realized that wouldn't stop the topcoat from yellowing. Maybe a sacrificial coating over the epoxy, which could be redone from time to time, would help, but it seems like a lot of work, and I'm lazy.

Downriver Tackle · 4 Weeks Ago

I switched to mixing my epoxy by weight real quickly after inconsistent results. I picked up a digital scale at Cabelas for weighing gunpowder for $70 on sale. I measure it in grains. Watch out though and check the MSDS for density. Sometimes part A is denser than the hardener and your mix ends up being 34 grains:31 grains as an example. A little money and calculations upfront, but the results are well worth it!! Also, a big contributor to any epoxy yellowing is improper mix ratio.

mark poulson · 4 Weeks Ago

How does mix affect yellowing? Does too much hardener cause yellowing? I am guessing that, since too little hardener results in epoxy that doesn't set up.

Downriver Tackle · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark poulson

How does mix affect yellowing? Does too much hardener cause yellowing? I am guessing that, since too little hardener results in epoxy that doesn't set up.

Unless polymerized/reacted, the hardener will yellow.

mark poulson · 4 Weeks Ago

So that would explain uneven yellowing. A poorly mixed batch.
On a slightly different note, I've found that, when I've not added enough hardener or mixed it well enough, and I wind up with spots that are tacky, a drop of crazy glue seems to set the resin off and it gets hard, with no tackyness. Why is that?

Downriver Tackle · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark poulson

So that would explain uneven yellowing. A poorly mixed batch.
On a slightly different note, I've found that, when I've not added enough hardener or mixed it well enough, and I wind up with spots that are tacky, a drop of crazy glue seems to set the resin off and it gets hard, with no tackyness. Why is that?

That would be the reason for your problem.

Because you're creating a polymer blend and getting additional hardness and a faster set from the crazy glue. The epoxy isn't reacting any better because there's nothing in the crazy glue for it to react with. The crazy glue will have little affect on yellowing and may cause chalking. If you've ever used crazy glue outdoors, you'll notice that it turns a frosty white after a while.

mark poulson · 4 Weeks Ago

I have noticed that moisture makes it chalk up and flash, not curing all the way through. I use the brush on crazy glue on the boat, for lure repair, and let it dry a minute before I get it wet, and it seems to be fine.

Downriver Tackle · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark poulson

I have noticed that moisture makes it chalk up and flash, not curing all the way through. I use the brush on crazy glue on the boat, for lure repair, and let it dry a minute before I get it wet, and it seems to be fine.

Crazy glue is Isocyanate loaded with a tin accelerator, and it reacts with hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Mosture on the surface makes it react really fast on the surface and cure, thus sealing off the underlying material from fully reacting. Mositure makes it form larger crystals than it reacting with gas-phase molecules and gives you that chalky look. Chalking over time is from UV degredation.

mark poulson · 4 Weeks Ago

My fishing buddy says acrylic paints react with the kind of plastic used in soft, making them gooey over time.
Are you familiar with any such problems?
I do want to try that clear acrylic top coat with the UV protection over my Etex, but I use screw on plastic tails on some baits, and don't want them to melt.

Downriver Tackle · 4 Weeks Ago

It's not the acrylic, it's the solvents in it. Good auto grade acrylics are all cut with ketones and other strong solvents. You might want to give some of the exterior acrylics for wood a try, like Minwax or similar. Those are cut in mineral spirits generally and should be fine and have UV protection. Always spot check the materials in question first. Another option is waterborne acrylic or urethane.