markinorf

Ive had the same issues with Featherlite. Sanding, cleaning and post curing the plug at 150d for an hour, then clean one last time. This will cook off some of the risiduals, and make a better substrate for laquer based paint. The Alumilte seems to be more friendly to adhesion. Featherlite is a PITA to get a good bond. As Anglinarcher noted; the clearcoat holds everything together even if the paint bond is iffy.

You havent mentioned anything about your cure times between each op. ? A full 2 or 3 day cure time between the last auto clear and the Etex mite resolve any problems.

Thanks TU!!! I stopped making plugs for a long time, and when I got back into it again, TU was a wealth of info that helped me tremendously. I avoided a lot of "mistakes" that I had forgotten about in the past. This is THE site to be a member. And, for the most part, remains a friendly and respectful place to share and learn. I really appreciate the effort that the builders make to respond to anyone who asks.

I sprayed auto clear MCU's, and the only benefit I can attest to is the high production aspect. The costs go way up for safety issues, so I went away from this technique for that reason. MCU's are bad medicine for your brain, even if you just dip a few lures. DN and any of the high VOC (auto clears) products will hurt you good. So, one time, I said to myself- "I'll be OK w/out my respirator, Im just gonna dip a few (in DN), and get out quick". Didnt feel like myself for 2days. Ha ha. Not. Now; I always obey the voices in my head that tell me to not be stupid. Sorry if this is off topic.

http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq216/markinorf/fishinpics013_zps714e589e.jpg http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq216/markinorf/fishinpics006_zpsa27f369d.jpg A nail with a deep hole in the center. Cut a slot down the middle. Double and twist together .02 stainless wire. Insert the twisted end into the hole. Grab one wire and pull in down into the slot. Wind it tightly around the nail. Cut to suit. The result should be a guided corkscrew with a twisted end that can be glued/ screwed into a pilot hole. Took me a few trys to get it rite.

Thats rite Nathan. Every step is seperate and allowed to fully cure. So, if I apply foil, I then apply one coat of D2T, and cure for at least one day. Then lighlty scuff with very fine scotchbrite. I paint my hilites and let that cure, no scuff this time. Then one coat of ACC. I want that ACC too be pretty thick, so I let the batch rest for at least 15 minutes to free bubbles and let it thicken a little. I also just prime and paint solid schemes with no foil on some plugs, then -D2T-scuff-ACC. This is even easier to redo since the whole color scheme is under the Devcon. Just re-apply the ACC. Like I said b4, the ACC will look ratty after a coupla dozen battles, but the Devcon will rarely chip away near the thinner areas where the small radius' are. Devcon hates corners. ACC is better here.

ACC is a great cushion for D2T. Ive been fishing with this combo now for about 3 months, and I have had almost no "edge" damage/ fractures of the D2T that I normally see after a bunch of hookups with toothy Sea trout. Pliers and hooks being wedged against more sharply radiused edges usually result in some pretty big chunks of D2T missing during many fights and releases (pliers). The ACC definitely shows abuse, but underneath, the rock hard D2T is in excellent shape. The plug mite look a little frazzled with hook rash and tooth marks, but can easily be stripped of the ACC by scraping it off with a hard plastic scraper, leaving the Devcon intact for repainting/refinishing. Most of my plugs have foil under the Devcon, then paint hilites- then the ACC.It so flexible, I can scrape and repaint a plug without much effort, and it looks good as new. The ACC holds very well to lightly scuffed D2T even when there are big bare patches where the hook rash is doing the most damage. Kinda like a laminated windshield. I tried 2 coats of ACC and the durability was even better, but I run out of patience having baits on the turner so long. I also noticed the weight differential was smaller than I had first calculated. 1.1 A to 1. B. I let it rest for 15 minutes after mixing. This combo has worked extremely well with big balsa topwaters that are sealed with superglue-painted-D2T-ACC. Im gonna post some pics of the big balsa topwater baits in the gallery. Good huntin M

Hey capt Mike, The 300 and the FeatherLite are compatible. F-Lite is just S-on 300 series with fillers. Humidity is the number one thing for bad castings. Age of product will do the same. Those resins must be used up pretty quick.

We had an awesome day on the water throwing just 3 different slow sinkers with ACC. Hook rash on 2 of em was getting thru pretty quickly. One of the plugs had inline (VMC) trebles up front, and did very well. The finish (ACC) didnt shatter, but needed repair. We were catchin sea trout, and the tooth marks were not a factor. Although, they will crunch down on a finger, if given the chance! The plugs were built with PVC, -foil,-D2T,-paint,-clear,-one coat of ACC,. The D2T was undamaged, and I think was cushioned by the ACC like a laminate. MO- its all a tradeoff of hardness and flexibilty. I still like this stuff, but if I go with 2 coats, I dont think it will help. I'll stick with inline hooks.

Amen. Its got give. Wont break.

Ditto for Saltybugger. Once you crunch the numbers, selling privatley to pay for materials and gas money is much more fun. I tried it starting a business with partners. I dont regret it. Bettter than wondering "what if". It was a sobering learning experience. All I can say is beware of the people you get involved wtih. Its always great to hear success storys. Its a very hard business to compete in. Im back to selling to friends and giving away plugs. Im much happier, and dont deal with the legal issues. Maybe I will use what I learned to try agian, by myself, on my own terms.

A long time back; I read that a hunting balsa crank bait has the ballast weight high up near the centerline. Seems to lessen roll stabilty. I have by accident seen this to be true with baits I drilled out to reduce fall rate. By drilling out ballast, the lead that was left was higher in the body, and the bait rolled easily. Hmmm. Wish I could remember where I read that. Gettin old.