I weighed some plug bodies, before and after the sealer.

The plugs were sealed with spar urethane and mineral spirits, mixed60/40.

Soaking time was 3 hours for all plugs, fully submerged.

Plugs were not heated, room temperature, which my house is around 66 degrees.

Plugs were allowed to drip dry, then moved into my storage room, which is about 72 degrees.

Plugs have dried now for 3 days.

They were weighed a postal mailing scale.

Small Danny
Unsealed: 1.385 oz
Sealed: 1.460 oz

Large Danny
Unsealed: 2.320 oz
Sealed: 2.4 oz

Bottle Swimmer
Unsealed 1.205 oz
Sealed: 1.290 oz

Darter
Unsealed 2.255 oz
Sealed 2.305 oz

Was interesting to seeing how much they gained. There was a few plugs that gained some serious weight, one large danny now weighs 3.8oz after 5 days of drying.

Be careful here. A lot depends on the wood type. Hardwoods (maple, soft maple, basswood, birch) absorb more sealer than softwoods, and they do it in a non-linear fashion....meaning at 3 hours they may have absorbed 1/4 oz, and over the next hour they'll absorb 1 oz. Particularly with darters this can mess you up. A 1/2 oz extra in the same body can turn a good plug into a dog.

so the remedy is to take them out every hour and weigh them till you get to where you want?
Obviously some blanks of the same material will weigh different so do you have to keep some in long and some in less or just get together all the same weight category when dry and put them in as group soaks?

the solution is don't worry about sealing your plugs:)

Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr Howard!!!:rotf2:

This was the first time Ive done the soak method and it was suggested I take weights before and after.

Going on other builders recommendations I went with three hours, as that seemed to be the most common time frame.

I was warned about darters getting to heavy by everyone.

In the past Ive just sprayed them with BIN 123 primer/sealer and never worried about it. and just painted and epoxied.

Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr Howard!!!:rotf2:

I think we need a group soak:gh:

Who pee'd in the tub :rotf2:

I think we need a group soak:gh:

so the remedy is to take them out every hour and weigh them till you get to where you want?
?

For soft maple darters that is what I've had to do (although pretty quickly you can judge by how they float in the sealer when you take off the weight submerging them). I usually just weigh the one that floats deepest, then take the others out when they float the same. Heavy darters (for a given shape) roll out too easily.

okey dokey.

I second what numbskull said above. The other variables are the amount of thinner and the type of thinner used will also effect the rate and amount of sealer that will be taken up. Moisture content of the stock is another consideration.

One other thing to consider, the plugs will lose some weight (about 0.1-0.2 tenths of an ounce as they dry)...then again they gain weight when you epoxy them. Usually it all comes out about the same.

Take the plug you are trying to copy, weigh it, then weigh the equivalent of the hardware it is carrying and subtract. That will be close to the weight you want your plug to weigh when it comes wet out of the sealer.