Sealing plugs
 

Just talked with mike at m and d he said dip the plug in helmsman poly for twenty minutes. Dumb question gloss or satin. Nother question when you put in a belly weight do you epoxy it or just shove it in the hole in the body and then fill it with plumbers epoxy? thanks for the help Charlie

gloss or satin: Either. May want to scuff gloss with a Scotch Brite or fine sand paper to help primer adhesion.

belly weight ... epoxy it or just shove it in the hole: If the hole is just barely deep enough then you will want to epoxy first. If it is deep and a lot of plumber's putty will be used then you can get away with not using epoxy but better safe they sorry.

A plumber's putty trick I use is spray a little water onto a glossy magazine page, stuff the putty, then roll the plug across the page, then remove any extra putty. Eliminates a lot of sanding.

satin, they add wax to the gloss

What kind of filler
 

Professor what type of filler do you use once the belly weight is epoxied? Plastic wood, Plumbers epoxy famowood?

Dang - I did not know that. I respectfully change my answer to satin!

I use an epoxy that MAC showed me when I first started, a 50 minute dark grey marine 2 part stuff made by Loctite,it dries rock hard and you will ruin a file on it so may not be what you want I am just used to it and have lots of files and such so I will continue to use it but i would probably go with the plumber epoxy or bondo route which are probably softer.

thinning helmsman for sealer
 

I was told that satin helmsman is good for sealing plugs. Two questions do you thin it with paint thinner? Second how long do you soak it and do you do it for different times for AYC as opposed to red cedar? Thanks Charlie

I cut the helmsman 60/40 with pure gum spirits. 32oz.(1 qt.) helmsman and 22 oz. pure turps. works great, dries in a day. prime and paint in 2 days. I do hard woods 45 minutes and soft woods 10 minutes. Scuff b/4 priming. gray pad.