Just wanted to get a feel for the process everyone is using for drying their E-tex. I'm considering building a drying box for my plug wheel/rotator. I currently apply E-tex, spin on wheel at room temp (this time of year ~65 degrees) for about 4-6 hours, then move the baits to my insulated heat box where I cure them @ about 110 degrees for another 16-18 hours.
I'm curious with all the cool heated drying boxes I see here if it would help for me to be able to get the original set up temp around 80 degrees, and then when it's set (~ 6 hours), crank the heat up. I know to much heat early the E-tex will tend to run off the plug.

Thanks,

MS

I think I heard 90 F is the temp you want.

I plan to build a box with spinner, heat, and thermometer at some point.

This winter I Had great results just flipping my Etex coated plugs every 20-30 minutes in my chilly 58F basement. After a couple flips they were firm enough to hang overnight without drooping. Next morning they were still sticky enough to take fingerprints, but a few hours hanging in a warm oven finished them off.

Using a heated box and spinner will allow you to use a heavy coat of Etex because it will flow and level, however, an armor plate thickness of Etex may harm the action of your plug.

With the hang and flip method you are forced to evenly apply the Etex in an appropriate thickness.

I find that if I apply unthinned Etex using a 1" wide artists brush, and I use a combination of application strokes around the plug followed long spreading and smoothing strokes along the length of the plug I can get a very even coating.
A warm plug helps the Etex flow a little, but not so much that it drools. The cool basement then thickens the Etex and helps hold it in place while it slowly cures.
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