Quick update, having a great time building plugs. Spent some time last weekend with a friend who has been building for a few years and picked up some more pointers. The attached pic shows some of my latest work.

Now for the topic. The two bottle nose on the bottom were painted, but didn't work out so well. I should have taken a pic of the problem, but instead removed all the paint and started from scratch.

The paint bubbled up at the last stage. When I rubbed my fingernail against the paint it was a little gummy and rubbed off. Here were my steps:

I am using BLO 60/40 to seal. I soaked for 20 minutes.
Let hang for 1 day
Sprayed with Rustoleum primer, dry one day
Sprayed 3 layers of Rustoleum paint, one day dry between each
Sprayed with Rustoleum crystal clear enamel (this is when it bubbled up.

Did I let it dry long enough with each stage?

Thanks!

Step 2 was probably not long enough!! It can take a week for BLO to dry in good conditions let alone in winter time.

Did you put these plugs near a heat source when you dried them?Did you sand the paint before clear coat.I use helmans spar or val-oil.I put these near a heat source the whole time it's drying.Some sealers take more time to dry than others.Helmans i dry for 24 hrs,Val-oil i dry for 48 hrs.Soaking time is about 10 minutes for each product for me.:btu::

Not next to the heat source
Didn't sand

At least I am 100%, HA!

They are in front of the heater vent now drying, and going to be there for a little while. Thanks for the quick feedback.

I use BLO/Mins 70/30......dip for 1 minute! Thats all......1 minute! Wipe dry and let dry for at least 5 days in a warm area, summertime 3 days.

Live and learn. These will be infront of the heater vent for the week and then primed. Thanks again.

I like to have them all in a different cycle some sealed and drying some already primed etc. that way if your waiting for something else to finish you have something else you can do.If that made any sense.

Sorethumb
That sure makes sense. Being new at all of this, I don't have patience to wait around and i just want to hold that finished plug and having plugs in every stage I could always be working on something. Sure wish I could make plugfest, sounds like a heck of an event.

When I paint I do my coats in my day, a few minutes in between coats. I'm using spray paints.

Some paints need two days in between coats.

It's probably the sealer as I had some of the same problems.

Shapes look good though!
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Hookset I hope you read the "Warning" thread stickied at the top of this forum......boiled linseed oil is very dangerous stuff!

Larry, you using AYC exclusively? Wouldn't other woods need more protection than a 60 second dip would provide?

For me, sealing with polyurethane mixed 3:2 with mineral spirits is the way to go. Or epoxy if I want more durable plug.
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Bigfish
Thanks for the heads up. I read it twice some time ago. When I wiped them dry I used a papertowl. Then got rid of the paper towel in the fire place. I have the BLO/Mins in a big mason jar (that is safe, right?).

As long as it is sealed well and not kept near any type of heat source.

Jon I use helmsman and val oil. Soft wood 1 hr, hard woods 2 hrs. Couple days to dry in a heated area. take a scrap piece soak it whatever time you want and cut it in half. See if you get penetration. Main idea is to seal outer and inners of plug. Once the bluefish get it and the hook rash occurs all bets are off. Cedars alone have a water resilience. Sealing keeps them from soaking in water until the above occurs.

more than likely the problem is with the spray clear coat, if it contains any of the xylenes tolunenes it will cause the layers underneath to bubble.

Well, I have 10 plugs in front of the heater vent. I will prime on Tuesday night which will have been a 3 day drying period.

I think I had two problems, one was not enough drying time for the BLO/Mins and the second was the clear coat may not have been the best choice.

Great feeback everyone, thanks!