I have my pictures ready to upload on applying envirotex. There will be six pictures and text to go with them uploaded consecutively. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my brother Captain Bottom for his help in this venture. It takes at least three hands to do this and I only have two so...he was the third hand. ...mrpogie

This is a close-up of the attachment I use to spin my plugs. I purchased the motor from Cabela's for $21.99. Any slow rpm motor will work, this one is 4 rpm which is good because I apply the finish while the plug is spinning. I assemble my plugs with weight,swivels and wire before I do any painting or finishing because I don't want the paint carved up while the plug is clamped in a vise twisting off the thru wire, even with rubber pads on the jaws. I hold my plugs by the tail loop of wire with vice grips during the painting process. The attachment was made by a friend out of aluminum but I'm sure one made out of hardwood would be fine. It's about 3/4" square and 2 1/2" long with a bandsaw kerf run 1" into the middle. A small nut and bolt applies the pressure to hold the plug.

This is all you will need to finish a plug with the exception of paper towels and a little rubbing alcohol.The mixing cup and stick are made by Flexcoat and are available wherever you can get rodbuilding supplies. The scuff pad is made by 3M and is available at hardware stores. Get the gray color it is finer than the red. The brush is an acid swab brush . I get small boxes of envirotex, usually the 8 oz. kit. That will do 25 - 30 plugs. Enough for a while, you don't want to keep the stuff for a couple of years it will go bad. The 8 0z. kit is about 5 or 6 dollars. One more thing, whatever motor you use spend a dollar and get a thumbwheel switch for the electrical cord, much easier than pulling the plug when you want to stop the motor while you're applying finish.

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/attachment.php?attachmentid=8469

When I'm done painting a plug I put a couple of thin coats of clear on it to protect whatever spots, stripes, etc I put on the plug from being rubbed off during the scuffing process. I like to give the envirotex something to grab onto. The picture on the left has clear on it, notice the shine. The picture on the right has been scuffed with the pad, just enough to dullen the shine. Now attach the plug to the spinner and turn it on and bend it so it spins fairly level. Before I start applying finish, I dampen a paper towel with rubbing alcohol and wipe the plug in one direction only as it spins until I have cleaned the entire plug. The paper towel should only be damp to the point that you can watch the alcohol evaporate right behind the towel as you wipe. Too saturated and it may start to eat into your paint. This is to remove oil from your fingers and dust from scuffing.

When you mix envirotex in the cup I use equal parts in the cc column. I find that 5 cc and 10cc are about as small as you want to go and get accurate measurements. That is 1/4 of an ounce. I've coated two 3 1/2 oz. poppers with that amount but when I'm only doing one plug I still mix that amount and don't feel like I'm wasting it. Mix it slowly for approx. 5 min. with a round stick. Round sticks will not introduce as many air bubbles into the cup as will a flat stick. When you begin to stir the cup the envirotex will become hazy, you must keep stirring until it becomes clear again. I usually go 5 min. whether it needs it or not to be sure. Flick the acid swab brush against the palm of your hand a few times and pull on the end of the bristles to pull out any loose ones. I usually find a couple in each brush. This saves you from picking them out of your plug. Right before I start I blow on the plug with my breath to remove any dust particles that may have settled on it. I brush on a fairly heavy coat starting at the tail and working my way forward while the plug is spinning.

When I get to the grommet on the bottom I stop the motor for a minute and apply finish up to but not on the grommet. Envirotex will not flow where you don't put it so it will not go into the hole with the swivel. Conversely if you miss a spot on the plug it will not flow over it and cover it up, that spot will always be there. When I'm finished at the front of the plug I look into the plug and highlight a flourescent light to look for any missed spots. If you find any just dab on a little on that spot, it will flow in. I don't do the face of the plug, I don't know why I just never saw the need.

At this point it will be time to remove any air bubbles in the finish. I used to use a lighter but now only my breath. Hot breath works better than cool breath. It's not the heat of the lighter but the carbon dioxide in the lighter or your breath that pop the bubbles. If you are going to use a lighter the picture shows about how close you can get without burning anything. Move it back and forth at a pretty good pace about that far away. When you see the finish start to run over it self as it spins you'll know the finish is very warm and thinning out and it's time to quit. Don't worry the finish will flow back out. By the way the lighter was a prop, I took the bubbles out of that plug in the picture with my breath. The finish will flow for probably an hour, I've gone back and fixed a spot 20 min. later and it looked awful at the time, but flowed out fine in the end. After 8 hours or so you can hang up the plug to finish curing. You may leave a fingerprint or two but amazingly they will dissappear. I have fished them as soon as a couple of days but now is the time to do plugs because they have plenty of time to cure. I have some friends who put envirotex on factory plugs just to protect the finish. I hope this helps ...mrpogie

This goes with the first picture and text about how I paint my plugs by holding them with vice grips.



It's up there, click on it



I don't know what's up with all the extra pics on this thread but I had to leave them in order to recreate these pics that go with the thread.

AWSOME! Thanks Mrpogie!

Sweet!!

Mr. Pogie I think I am gonna build a carousel attatchment to do more than one at a time. I will let you know how it works out.

Mr. Pogie,
Thanks, I always end up with the drips:smash: on EVERYTHING I paint.

This is what I have been using to spin my plugs. I am going to build something better, that lets you spin multiple plugs at a time.

EXCELLENT POST, MR. POGIE!!!!!!!!

....TWO THUMBS UP!!!....YOU DA MAN!!!......

THANKS A MILLION!!!!!!!........

mrpogie:

Nice job!

Do you use any glitter on any of your plugs? If so, how do you apply it?

Mr Pogie - Would you mind if I convert that into an article on the main site :hihi: , please?

Bob, I've never used glitter before. I think partly because most of my plugs have been painted to imitate a baitfish of some sort and I felt the glitter would take away from the finished product. To get that irredescent look I have used pearl paints which are translucent and show the color underneath. Since I have started pouring my own plastic baits and using glitter in them I have started to take another look at using them on plugs. Introducing fine glitter into the finish coat and then brushing it on would probably give you the best results.

John, it's fine by me if you think it would make ok article. Feel free to make any changes as you see fit. (like my grammar or spelling or whatever) Thanks ...mrpogie

MrPogie:

I've been sprinkling it onto the Famowood coat after it starts to set up. The problem is that the little pieces don't land flat. Some do, but others land point or edge first, and that's the way they stay! Then I have to scrape the ones off that are sticking out of the plug after they dry, if you get my drift. They produce a rougher surface on the plug than I want to have, but they do sparkle.

I was thinking of rolling the epoxied plug over a piece of wax paper that has the glitter sprinkled on it. That might increase the number of pieces that stick on by a flat side.

I usually put on another coat of epoxy on top of the one with the glitter sticking to and out of it, and they look good but do have little bumps over the glitter pieces.

BTW, I don't use my rod dryer on the plugs. I just hang them and they dry really well without major runs. I dry them by hanging them from a coat hanger piece that's run through a cardboard box. I cut a flap in the side of the box and set it next to one of our baseboard heaters so the flap catches the heat and ducts it inside the box to run over the plugs. The drips just drop to the bottom of the box and don't get on the floor. If I try to dry them in my unheated cellar, it would take weeks for them to dry.

The rod dryer would work a lot better but I'm building three rods right now and it's occupied full time.

Thanks, I think it is very good and will inspire more than a few people ;) . About the only thing I can do with it is run spell check which I don't do enough for myself...


Thanks,

John

Bob, try a little glitter in the famowood (I've never heard of this stuff and you're not the only one who talks about it.) while you're mixing it. When you apply it the glitter might have time to settle flat before the epoxy starts to set up and locks the glitter in whatever position it is in. ...mrpogie

but I just realized that would require a dryer motor and by rereading your last post yours isn't available.

The Famowood is the stuff I saw at Home depot, it is basically the same as Envirotex. I would add the glitter at the painting phase. It would probably lay out better.

I use glitter on most of my plugs, I use the fine candle glitter so it looks like fishscales when its done. The glitter I use is real fine, almost like a dust. I just mix it up with the epoxy and then I brush it on and hang em' up to dry. Hope this helps.

Mr Pogie, The E Tex Is differnt from rod builders, I think the stuff is shiny'r alittle bit and it takes longer to set up.............
But I like it and its cheapa than buyin the rod builders .......
I LIKE IT:happy: :D :happy:

Bob, try using a finer glitter, I got some from the craft store thats in an aerosol spray. Its mixed w/ liquid glue so it sets up by itself. You can paint, let it dry and then use this stuff so you're not rushing to get it on.
P.S. FAMOWOOD!!

Hey John, don't mean to bust you balls, but is there any way to get the pics back?

Thats funny because I just found this doing a search and was thinking the same thing...This looks like a great How-To Article

Bump, I put pics back in this I think.

Hey John, don't mean to bust you balls, but is there any way to get the pics back?

John had trouble when he swithed servers last spring. I hope I fixed it. I swiped the pics from SOL :D