Don't usually have to post many questions due to the search function, but Val oil won't search due to the 3 letter thing. I realize this has been covered but I'm almost out of Boiled linseed oil and am ready to make the switch. Tired of that stuff.

So...Do you cut the val oil with mineral spirits? 50/50? 60/40? not at all?

How long are you dipping? I was dipping for one minute with the other stuff.

Any help is appreciated.

50/50 with paint thinner-5 mins a plug-wait a few day anyway then prime... I had a couple poppers split alittle last fall they were broom sticks or wooden dowels...maybe bad wood, split before I sealed them.I'm getting old eyes:( all the ceder plugs no problems...the popper or two that split the paint stuck great, just split:wavey:

hate when a plug splits... got a triple- 2 blues on the popper and a striper on a teaser with this plug and it split:bc: paint stuck good, its still bugging me why it split.

thin with "TURPS"

all other thinner's are crap.

60/40 or just through some in till it looks thinner

soak 4 hours min. if using pine/ayc/cedar....overnite on hardwoods.

wipe dry

hang and forget them..go to another project.

warm oil soaks in better than cold oil.

soaking for a minute wouldn't get your dingles damp.

I use mineral spirits, 60% oil, 40% solvent. Turps might be better, but this dries quickly (overnight) without odor and I think it is the oil that does the sealing, not the solvent. Sand lightly before you prime.

I've been doing 50/50 with Mineral Spirits. soak for about 20 minutes then wipe and hang. 2 days and I prime....seems to work fine.

I didn't have the patience to wait for the Boiled Linseed oil to dry.....sometimes I would wait 2 weeks and then prime and the primer would stll peel off.

I didn't have the patience to wait for the Boiled Linseed oil to dry.....sometimes I would wait 2 weeks and then prime and the primer would stll peel off.

If this is happening, you don't have enought mineral spirits in the mix! The spitits enhances absorbtion and drying!!
I use 50/50 BLO and MS and give it 48 hours dry time. Works for me!

I'm breaking away from Val Oil .. I use to leave plugs submersed for days sometimes .. Too Much sealer .. Not dry enough inside when painted and finished.. After some with wringle finished paint,, I submersed 2 hrs. max .. Another problem is thickening .. You have to keep adding Turps to thin because the mixture keeps thickning ,,. After a while you have no idea where you are .. val oil/turps ???
I think any uncured/not dry val oil will make an apperance after sitting in a steamy car for a couple of weeks .. I want something that drys 100% sure ..

I am going to use the minwax wood hardner,,,, Anyone ever use this and could offer some suggestions that would be great,,,, soak time? Dry time? RESULTS good or bad..???

I am going to use the minwax wood hardner,,,, Anyone ever use this and could offer some suggestions that would be great,,,, soak time? Dry time? RESULTS good or bad..???

Dangerous stuff as in bad for you.
Use with plenty of fresh air, NOT indoors. Wear a respirator if you can.

I use it in front of a powerful exhaust fan and try to submerge a plug for 10-30 min depending on what I have and what wood. Maple = 1 hour if I can. Wipe it after because it's tough stuff the sand the drips off, and gooie.

Lower, try tung oil

Thanks for the heads up,,,, I will do it outside and go get a respirator,,,,,,

Like Steve said I use it 60/40 with Terp. 3 hours for AYC and 6 for Maple. I let it dry for a few weeks which is excessive but I have lots of plugs at different stages so it doesn't matter. I have it in a 3 gallon bucket with a screw lid. I like it because I can submerge 20 or 30 plugs at a time. I use a disc of metal slightly smaller than the container to push all the plugs under the fluid. Just make sure you wipe the plugs off after you take them out of the fluid or it will dry to a nice gloss finish which is not a good thing, learned that the hard way.

Thanks for all the replies guys. Lot's of great advice as always. Amazing how on one step there is so much variation.

Slip...at least i can search that one...4 letters.

...wipe the plugs off after you take them out of the fluid or it will dry to a nice gloss finish which is not a good thing, learned that the hard way.

Sand the gloss finish. Should give the primer something to grab onto. Don't know for sure about the Val oil, but with other stuff this is the case.

Jigman

The gloss made by the val oil is a pain to sand off. I used some stuff CS told me about, a liquid sander type product to get the gloss off the plugs then a light sanding. I usually light sand the plugs after the val dries. I don't think you want the stuff to dry like that so a good wiping eliminates the hassle.

just swam a finished goo goo, and it split:realmad: split right in the middle of belly, both hook holes:realmad: 50/50 val/paint thinner...15 mins head and 15 mins tail in mixture, it was popular... its now a bluefish plug:skulz: going to have to up the time in mixture overnite:exp:

poplar is crap

you aren't by any chance drilling the belly holes after you seal them are you.. I did that on a few not realizing that when i drilled the hole none of that was sealed.. they all split at the belly holes and the eye holes..:rocketem:

doubt anyone but me... uh.. i mean my dumb buddy would do that though..:rolleyes:

I'm breaking away from Val Oil .. I use to leave plugs submersed for days sometimes .. Too Much sealer .. Not dry enough inside when painted and finished.. After some with wringle finished paint,, I submersed 2 hrs. max .. Another problem is thickening .. You have to keep adding Turps to thin because the mixture keeps thickning ,,. After a while you have no idea where you are .. val oil/turps ???
I think any uncured/not dry val oil will make an apperance after sitting in a steamy car for a couple of weeks .. I want something that drys 100% sure ..

Oil finishes mixed with thinner cure by solvent evaporation and oxidation of the oil. Constant exposure to the oxygen in the air will cure the finish and make it thick, adding more thinner will make it more fluid but will not make it work like it did when fresh.

TB, after drilling I sealed it:( I going to start keeping a log of wood and sealing I do, I'm going to try boiled linseed oil an min spirts 60/40 for some fall poppers and let hang for a few months

hope the pic shows the crack:realmad:

I did my sealing with Min Wax wood hardner.... It was easy.... I bought a empty paint can (metal) filled it with plugs... Then put on my respirator (thanks slip not) outside and poured in the wood hardner. Put the cover on it and left it,, shook it around every ten min,, then flipped them over.... and finally took the top off, wiped them and hung them to dry,,, rock hard and sealed....

Hey Gattafish...How long did you end up leaving the plugs in the sealer? Does it add much weight to the plug, once it's dry? Just curious.

Ed...frustrating huh? Think I wold avoid Poplar when your making "nice" plugs!

poplar is crap

WELL SEALED IT IS OKAY. NO PROBLEMS WITH IT.

i have made hundreds of pencils out of poplar and have never had one crack or the paint peel.as far as it being a crap wood for exterior that has to do with resistance to decay not anything else.

Where do you get Val Oil? I have looked around and haven't been able to locate any. The HD I went to didn't carry any.... any suggestions? Thanks.

Where do you get Val Oil? I have looked around and haven't been able to locate any. The HD I went to didn't carry any.... any suggestions? Thanks.


I asked the same thing.

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/showthread.php?t=36082

Hi,
1. Has anyone tried adding Japan Drier to help speed things up?

2. What about putting them in an oven at 150 to speed up the drying?

john

I cant get it around here either,besides, I'm happy with the results of the 60/40 mix of BLO,I use the oderless mineral spirits and keep a lid on the container....

I leave cedar plugs overnight and hardwood for 24 hours...

After they drip dry (over a turkey roaster pan)for a day, I wipe their butts and let them cure for a week, I always scruff them with #220, if they are glazed( which means it's time to change the mixture) I'll "de-glaze" with #80 and wipe with a tack cloth I then dip in binz allowing the mixture to run through the plug, bring shelac based,it affords an extra measure of protection, it takes a few days for the inside to dry, but the plug will never split... not even poplar....
I've never had a paint peeling issue,,,maybe I've just been lucky...

I got mine online. Paid a little extra for shipping but it is wortht it.

Rounds in Stoneham has it..O'Connor in Billerica as well...

:kewl:

Only a few miles from my house... Thank you.

I may give it a test after I finish this last batch of BLO....

popular body...its alot darker

Glad to hear it Ed. Wonder how long it will take it to dry??

poplar is crap

Boy do I agree with Slip on this. Before my trip last Fall to RI/Mass a friend gave me a bunch of poplar. Stuff turns very nice, since I was testing it out on the trip I did not seal. I wanted to see what would happen. Well the pearl danny swam like a champ.......... for about three swishes then it disapeared in the maws of a nice striper. (My fault should of retied)
The second plug (pencil popper) did battle with blues in Mass but it's fate was sealed when a blue thought my leader needed shortening.:usd:
The last, another danny did not get used on the trip. I happened to be in the shop a couple of days ago and the paint and finish had sepparated from the wood. I have a dozen pencils hanging that were sealed with a hardner, but I have real serious doubts in them lasting. So forget the poplar, no matter how free you get it. Why deal with a wood that is not able to do what you want.

Yes the Poopular thing comes up every year , Slips Favorite.....

I have some poplar plugs, if ya seal them well enough, they should be ok. But it's not easy to seal a dry porous wood so that it does not absorb even a bit of moisture.

Cedar is so much better for making a plug and it should be available so I see no reason to use poplar, even pine is a better choice.

ya, every year it comes up
pooplar is a cheap wood, yes it rots outdoors, better for indoors but if treated properly, it can be ok for plugs. I just like ayc because it sands easier with less tearout, has natural oils, good density.
Use whatever you want, red cedar,sugar pine,yellow pine, mahogany,maple,birch, spanish cedar, cocobola, PVC trim boards 800 year old cedar, reclaimed old growth cypress, use whatever you want, I have so many woods available to me I even thought of using some apple tree wood from the backyard.

winch your problem with those plugs is that you didn't seal them :doh: what the heck did you expect to happen? :spin:

stripercrazy, maybe leave it in the sealer longer, maybe run a pipe cleaner thru the thru wire hole just to be sure. and do all drilling beforehand, if you get any expansion around the belly grommet, that could cause problems and the expansion will have a hard time shrinking back down around the metal grommet being that it's size stays the same unlike the wood.

If you guy do a complete process from start to finish and have adhesion between paint coats, them maybe they won't split on you.

Ya I said poplar is crap, I was half joking and at that time didn't have time to explain further.

If you don't want your plugs to get wrecked, don't get them wet, it's that simple. If you want them to survive catching lots of fish then figure out a procedure that will work for you. There is a ton of info on this site and others, some good and some not so good. Figure out what works for you. Different woods will need more submersion time in sealers than others. Paints and primers and finish coats have to all be compatible or it will separate. Once you figure out what works, stick with it.

Lots of woods can be used for plug building, I have always had a hard time with birch or maple since it swells greatly even from humidity in the summer nevermind siting in water. It needs a good sealer to keep the water out. I don't know if Val oil is the answer, there are so many things to try. There are clear penetrating epoxies, wood hardners etc.

One thing I know, what works for somebody else may not be what works for you and what works for you may not work for somebody else.

sorry I said anything

I'll take the advice in Goose's signature:bl:

good luck Lower

another reason not to use poplar...if you seal it with BLO the wood will soak up the oils and expand a bit..even if you dont get the plug wet be careful where you store it..
I have some poplar plugs that I made a couple of years ago that are stored in my cellar.. because of the dry winter air, the epoxy has formed bubbles under it as the wood dried out and the plug has shrunk...

winch your problem with those plugs is that you didn't seal them what the heck did you expect to happen?

I expected the paint to fail. Wanted to see it for myself to get a better understanding. Plus I figgered nobody would ho any of them at the plug Bash. :usd:Testing your design, material and it's limitations is what gives you a better idea of building lures. Could of I just taken the easy way and believed what I saw written? No yo know me better than that.
Failure and understanding why helps.
:spin: