I have tried lacquer before as a top coat, it doesn't seem to like the paint though. turns into snakeskin essentially. I guess CCB used special paint too?

The paints and lacquers Creek Chub used are illegal today because of VOC and lead content (I think). As a kid we had lacquer paints called "airplane dope" that would make you dizzy, but some guy in Brockton bought them all up and you can't get them anymore.

Nitrocellulose Lacquer was a standard (and very tough) furniture clearcoat until recently. I suspect the old lure guys like Pichney and Musso used something similar, but burned out the ozone layer and cost Salty all his hair.

Joe,

Anything to report on the tung? I just purchased some after reading your post about switching to tung and want to try it out on my next batch of plugs.

yup... although I did not fish plugs as much this season ( fussy fish = eel use) I soaked them enough to be convinced that this is the way to go..
One "go to" plug in particular got hook scarred and blue fish attacked pretty good, most of the epoxy and paint was removed from the exterior of the hook areas....I had planned on cutting it appart to check for water stain/intrusion when I was done fishing at the end of the season... but last Saturday a freight train took me through the mooring field.. she shoud be entering the canal post haste.. towing about 20 yards of 15lb Ande and my PLUG!...

Aside from that, I've got a few goo-goo's that stood up to about 20 hours each of wire line trolling and a hundred fish or so between them... the plugs are beat up but do not appear to be soaking any water...I'll be giving them the " band saw Eddie" treatment when I hang up my rods for the season..

The only thing that has not had a good test are the darters, which are birch and maple, but the boat's coming out of the water Sunday... so the rest of the season I'll be rock hopping and jetty jumping and will beat them on the rocks( and hopefull some fish beat them as well)...I'll know by the end of the month for certain..

as an aside/benifit... the plugs sealed in tung oil ( I leave the cases in the boat and they are subjected to heat and cold more than the ones hanging or packed in bags in the shop) showed no sign of bleed through.... sommething I can say happend to quite a few plugs I sealed in BLO.. as the Clorox comercial said " the whites stay whiter"

This is the set up I used for seailng with the Tung once i commited to it...Each set of tubes are connected, thus allowing for lesser amounts of "product" to be used...and compensating for different dispertion of the liquid... each wire has a slight bend in it to hold the plug in place, this also allows for adjustment to the length of the plug...

I've gone to a double dip, 24 hours appart... it seems to give the best coverage and hardens the softer woods..

for short term storage, i slide the plexi cover over the tubes, I have test caps that I put in each tube for long term storge....

just last night I was cleaning the shop ( and rods and reels) I checked the mixture to see if it had "crusted".. the solution was as good as the day I put it in... I did top off each tube ( to aid in locking out air) before calling it a season... I plan on stealing the wifes turkey baster to remove excess before sealing any plugs to avoid spill over....

Great tips as always Joe....

Thanks for the update. Gonna be doing some experimenting with the tung next week.

One more thing, do you wipe the plugs after dipping, or just let them hang and drip dry?

I dip them twice... no wiping....after the second dip, a glaze will form from the varnish resins.. I give that a light sanding before i prime...

after yesterday I think Mike is going to be working down his cellar a lot this winter.

I'm about ready to begin....I hauled the boat Saturday afternoon... Washed, winterized and covered it on Sunday.. then picked all the green tomatoes and rototilled the garden...I've allready cleaned the gutters and put the storm windows up.... it's go time...

Just bought my wife and kids respirators...turned some of those donny pines at 4:30 this morning too...thanks for the design tips.:btu:

question on the soak jig Joe
 

is that a one piece four way fitting
or are the unions covered by the metal strap?

very original by the way...

I glued the pieces as needed... I figure 3 rows of 4 was plenty..

here are a close up of the plug "holders" as well as the test caps..

thank you joe
 

your an inspiration......... that is for sure :wave:

Joe,

What's your dry time with the tung? I dipped/wiped/hung a bunch about ten days ago and a few seem to still be wet. Looks like the tung came right up through the primer/paint.The yellowing occurred after I finished the sys 3 and took them off the dryer this morning. Does it sound like I need a longer dry time?

I have 40 or so plugs ready for primer, but don't want to mess them up. Think I should give them a couple more weeks before prime/paint/epoxy?

overnight... prime the next day.. something doesnt sound Kosher...

did you use pure Tung oil or a blend...

Pure, got it from Rockwell woodworking, says 100 percent pure tung oil on the jug. Plugs were dipped for about 5-10 minutes, then hung to dry for about one week, then lightly sanded. I'm using zinnser cover stain oil based primer. The plugs that came out good are like iron, but a couple others seem to be excessivley wet in addition to some bleeding through.

The only other thing I can come up with is this: Most of the bleed through is on the belly side of the plugs where I sanded the wood filler down. Maybe sanded too much and re-exposed the oil?

Used a bunch of different wood also and had the problem with all 5 wood types:

White pine

AYC

WRC

Birch

Spanish Cedar

And there in lies the problem.... I've been using a blend.. not the most economical way to start, but it needed no thinning..... I'd try cutting it 60:40 with turps....

Got it. In the meantime I'll stay away from white bellies and go with more yellow and silver until the current inventory is used up.
I had the same issue this summer with blo, but gave the plugs an extra week or so to dry before finishing and they came out ok.

I had about 4 dozen plugs primmed and waiting for paint since last April, that go for a charity raffel I donate to each fall, I started painting them last night, I inspected them closely, none of them bled through...I primed all of these no more than 48 hours after sealing...so I'm confident that once you thin the TO a little and adjust your dry time all should be good..

Thanks, Joe.

I just spun all 25 bodies on the lathe. I got just about all the old oil off with sandpaper and I'm back to step 1 again in the finishing process.:uhuh:

I'm going to mix up another batch with the turps/tung and report back.

go mike go. luv to see the enthusiasm.

Been doing 50/50 tung and terps. Needless to say things are much improved, but I still find the drying time with any oil based sealers to be lengthy. I'm giving all my stuff 2-3 weeks before I prime, mainly on account of the end grain still being wet despite the plug body itself being dry. I also made a "custom" dryer...:laugha:

Mike I just sealed some large plugs, 3 hour soak, AYC and Pine, and I was priming 3 days later with the spar sealer. I usually don't worry about time to dry, I usually wait at least a week most times as I got plenty of stuff in various stages, but it does dry pretty fast. Not trying to dis your technique. There are many ways to seal a plug. Got to use what you like and experimenting the way you are will teach you a lot more than just going on what some person tells you. More for others just getting into this insanity to offer some alternatives. I'll bet they both offer the same end result.
I thought I was the only one who dried stuff at work.:)

I soak at home and hang at work, and then hang at home after they are semi dried after the work day, nite is over. That way they don't stink up the house.

The spar unquestionably dries much quicker than the oil. Had I just stuck with your recommendation from last spring I would still be using spar. Seeing I dropped 50 bucks on a gallon of tung, I feel guilty not using it all up. Once its gone I'm going back to the spar.

Sort of the understatement of the year I'd say.

That sucks that you cannot get the stuff to dry.. that is/was never an issue with the Tung for me....it's coming down to the cost and longevity/practicality of it for me...

One thing that all of this varnish ( includijng urethain) has in common... it is still derived from the reduction of Tung or linseed, and sometimes flax seed oils... then thinners and UV blockers are added....i guess it all boils down( as many of us have said many times) it's about what works for each individual....

FYI... if my spelling is worse today than usual.. I forgot my damn glasses today.. I lost the ones keep in my truck... so I'm screwed!

LOL. I usually don't even listen to my own recommendations. I got several cans of stuff down my cellar half full that I have given up on ,and PNG has us all beaten, Eddie too, both always experimenting.
If val oil was still easy to get I'd probably still be using that.

Hey hey hey , but true:uhuh:

I'm off to work right now so later I can band saw up some stock to start some more plugs, not finishing the many that are in various stages of completion.:confused:
That is my goal though this year to finish up stuff I have already started, really it is.:uhuh:

joe are still using the blended tung oil??

This is a great post with a ton of information. I have been using BLO, but to be honest it scares me thinking I could burn the place down. Luckily it has been farily cold and I just dry the plugs with a couple paper towls and thow them in the fire place to get rid of. That Tung oil sounds great, but expensive. I may give it a try when my current mixed BLO is gone.

still using it... have changed the mixture to a 50/50 mix with poly utrethain, thinnned with about 20% oderless minerl spirits... this combo is less prone to skinning and is less expensive.. dries quickly and never bleeds through... off season I store in 1 gallon paint cans filled to capacity and sealed with duct tape... at the start of the season the mixture is poured through a paint funel into the tubes i use to dip my plugs in... after the plugs have been "dipped and dripped" I put covers on the 3" PVC tubes I use to dip my plugs in and cap them off with a wedge shaped cover ( so I can get them out) the solution in the tubes requires stirring each time I need to use it...

Great post. So glad I have 3 gallons of val oil on the shelf.

I still use Val Oil and if it is unopened I'd gladly buy it from you.

Anyone still using Tung as their sealer?