Hi Folks,
Just started carving my first bait a few days back.All thanks to the superb information in this forum.The wood I am using is Pine,as its freely available.Out here Balsa is just too expensive and also difficult to get.The minnow design is based on the fantastic tutorial posted by “FiR3 TiG3R”.[:D]
Only change is that I have chosen a through wire design as I mainly fish at sea.
I have added, melted lead to the belly side. kept checking in water all the way.. the balance is very good.
Now since the body shaping and carving is complete.I shall be moving on to seal the wood.I have heard a lot about propionate pellets.And I know its essential in sealing and hardening the wood.The problem is that I don’t have a credit card to order it online.. So I was thinking of using the Solo cups in thinner kinda stuff.I know its a bit risky as some baits do tend to crack, but I have no other option.I’ll try it on a cutoff from the same pine I used for the bait.Hope all goes well.
Now the problem is that the solo cups melted in to this gooey blob and settled at the base of the jar.Three days of stirring and shaking, and not much difference.I wonder if I can add some
acetone to the mixture and try and dissolve the blob?? any thoughts?
Madhur, that is a very nice attempt there. Just to simplify things, seal the lure with thinned epoxy. Add about 5-10% denatured alcohol to the epoxy mix; that will thin the epoxy to a watery consistency. Spread it on your lure body and it will soak into the wood a bit, wipe off excess.
Thinned epoxy sounds good.Now I have a bottle of IPA (isopropyle alcohol) lying around. can I use it? Also, I will be using Araldite instead of Devcon(there’s no way to get devcon locally) is it ok?
isopropyl alcohol is good enough but I do not have experience with Araldite. But the base component of most 2 part epoxy are quite similar, just give it a try. You may need to vary the mix ratio a bit. Here’s some background reading on thinning epoxy: http://www.seqair.com/skunkworks/Glues/WestSystem/Thinning/Thinning.html
The article has got me a bit confused, as it concludes by saying “Adding solvent is a quick, simple method of thinning epoxy, but the strength and moisture resistance of the cured epoxy are signiflcantly reduced”.
Thinned properly epoxy still has it’s plus in you do not have to invest in differing system to seal and top-coat. Just go 2 thinned coat of epoxy and it should last the fishing life of a lure. Even though reduced, thinned epoxy still provides enough adhesion and sealing properties because we are just filling in the porous part of the wood and not using it as a barrier layer. Experiment with the ratio that gives you the best compromise. They might have base their conclusion on the 60-70% thinned epoxy and not just 5-10%.
Good test of ur sealing is to seal, then soak a wood blank in water then record the weight difference. Additional weight after soaking is water soaking into wood.
quote:Originally posted by LaPala
Good test of ur sealing is to seal, then soak a wood blank in water then record the weight difference. Additional weight after soaking is water soaking into wood.
Wah.. never thought of testing it like that[:)].Will give thinned epoxy a try.Thanks a ton.
Hi LaPala,
I finished sealing([V]) the bait this weekend.But the only problem is that I made the epoxy a bit too watery[:(].Had no judgement with the amount of solvent needed.I only realized this after going through the link again.
I think the epoxy’s qualities are seriously hampered as a result.Now, Should I just scuff the bait with fine grade sand paper and start with a thicker coat this time?
Also what should be the general guideline for the viscosity? Too thick and the carved gills get filled up, too thin and the epoxy seems to weaken.[:(].What to do?
1st sealing layer is good if epoxy is watery, that let it soak into the wood. You can then seal with another layer, remember to wipe off excess for sealing. We do not want a coating on top of the wood but to have the layer soaked into the wood. 2nd layer(wiped) will also counter the “changed” character of the epoxy.
As for carved gill being filled up there is no guideline haha, it all depends on the final look you are after. We do not want to alter the epoxy’s characteristic with thinning when it comes to the outer most top-coat as oppose to sealing. One way is to adjust your carving to cater for the thickness of the epoxy coat if you want the details to be more prominent. Only experience will tell you how and what to go for. After all, carved details are your individual expression.
quote:Originally posted by LaPala 1st sealing layer is good if epoxy is watery, that let it soak into the wood. You can then seal with another layer, remember to wipe off excess for sealing. We do not want a coating on top of the wood but to have the layer soaked into the wood. 2nd layer(wiped) will also counter the "changed" character of the epoxy.
That’s exactly what I did.. first layer was too thin and got soaked in really well. I wiped the excess with a tissue damped with IPA.I let it dry a bit(20 min) and applied a slightly thick second layer of epoxy, Again wiped off the excess..
Also during every coat I was heating the lure by rotating it about 1.5 feet above a small gas burner.Doing this made the epoxy stuck in the gills flow out.
What is scaring me, are some statements on other forums which stress that diluting an epoxy will compromise its moisture resistance even if it has penetrated deep enough.Is this entirely true?
Do the soak test yourself with diff dilution. That’s the only way you’ll know for sure. Diff epoxy will have diff character. Even the solvent used can have diff purity. So the only way to know for sure is to test out your own “configuration”.
And frankly, if you make a lure that is effective, you don’t keep it long enough; a fish will take it away from you. The non-effective lures will at most be wall decoration so water penetration is not a concern haha.
And frankly, if you make a lure that is effective, you don’t keep it long enough; a fish will take it away from you. The non-effective lures will at most be wall decoration so water penetration is not a concern haha.
I have finished the sealing part.Will head on to foiling next.But I need to get lexan first(difficult to get locally and especially in small quantity)..
Guys I was wondering if I could cut one of those big 25L packaged water jars[?].They seem to be made out of polycarbonate, so I guess it can be used as lip material?[?][?][8)]
Jus to add in abit, for me when it comes to sealing up all those wood pores,i normally use NEXA Autocolor Grey Primer (Automotive primer) Its almost 99.9% waterproof if correct amount/layer is applied. Best thing is this can be sanded off and adjust to your preference. To my knowledge, testing lures when the wood is still raw,isnt a good way but nonetheless it doesnt affect much of the lure. Reason behind is that, a wood is treated and dried for years and now testing your raw wood lure into water will enable the wood to absorb much moisture they need. This will contribute to internal decay of the wood and giving life to micro worms in wood even tough its treated.Another alternative will be shellac, coating it a few layers will do the job.
Apart from that, if sealing up holes or cavity on your lure. Best is to use Automotive filler, where there is the clay-ish substance mixed with the hardener. Normally the ratio should be 50:1. This filler is so handy as you can still shape it and sand it down or even chisel off if you dont want it. Takes about 10-15 minutes to dry (depending on brands/make)
Jus my 2 cents.Correct me if im wrong, just speaking through my minimal experience
can i know where to get the soft woods to make this crank bait..previously i just took one wood from my old bed… darn hard to make the cutting..at the end i cut off part of my skin and bleed non-stop…haizz… i been to hardware shop there said they do not sell that…asn ask me to go to Ikea to get it…somehow..i just need a small portion for testing purposes…can anyone tell me where i can get cheap and no need to purchase in big quatity soft wood..
tq lapala… i been posting in various topic hopes to get replies…
the carving wood u meant izit the one we used to have it during our art class to carve the pattern?
