I friggin hate epoxy - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Diggin Jiggin · 01-10-2006, 10:46 PM

Sorry, gotta vent...

Envirotek light,
sys 3mirror coat,
sys 3 clear coat.

Anyone got any other suggestions that aint gonna kill me that I can put on in the basement?

I used etek and mirror coat last winter with pretty good success. But any plugs that had thicker coats of etek are now yellowed, and I could not get more than 6 done before it started setting up and going on too thick. Mirror coat went on nice but I had some durability issues with the mirror coat, but maybe that is something I could work the kinks out of in my finishing process if I went that route again. I also noticed some of my mirror coat plugs have cracks in the epoxy, and I don't think they were cracked when i put my gear away in the fall?

Clear coat just has me dumbfounded. I got it last week and I've tried it 3 times. I can't get a good finish with it. It doesn't flow well and its tough to remove the brush strokes. I've tried heating it, heating the plugs, all kinds of things.. I get it on good, flip em a few times and 1/2 an hour later it looks like it pulls back in little spots. And this is over a scuffed clearcoat and the plugs are clean.

Sudsy · 01-11-2006, 12:37 AM

It could be pulling back due to an incompatability between the surface tension of the paint and the clear coat, it happened to me once and that's how the engineer guy at the paint co. explained it. FYI, it was Envirotex over Lumiere light body acrylic metallics.

A coat of Modern Options brand waterproof sealer (glorified name for some formulation of polyurathane) as a scratch coat before the Envirotex solved the problem.

To get the finish to run smooth and to remove the bubbles I put it on the spinner, hit it with a hairdryer gently blowing through the back. Hot Co2 works like a charm, just make sure to blow out the inside of the dryer with some compressed air every now and then to avoid sticking small clumps of dust in the finish.

Tagger · 01-11-2006, 06:28 AM

I've always battled with epoxy.. my basement is to cool to apply epoxy .. I epoxy them with mirror coat on the kitchen table.. I get set up with the plugs upstairs and my epoxy (unmixed) on the table.. crank the heat in the house about 74 ,,plus I put a space heater on the table..not blowing on the plugs but bouncing of the wall .. then i go away for about an hour... Plugs are not hot,, but the room is toasty.. Its been flowing and kicking pretty good so far .. I only do 6 plugs at a time ,, small batches .. I wear a powderless glove on one hand during and after paint so my oily fingers never touch the plug prior to epoxy ..I had durabilty issues with etex.. a little knick and i could peel it .. Not mirror coat ,

Jigman · 01-11-2006, 08:08 AM

I never bothered with a scratch coat for the Systems III clear coat. Like Tagger said, the room has to be warm. A spinner helps too. The thing that I found with the Clear Coat is that you really need to mix it well. When doing a batch, I would mix in a small plastic cup for a couple of minutes. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then stir well again. Get everything set up ready to go, then a final mix. Can do up 12 plugs at a time with this stuff. The key seemed to be mixing it well and doing it in a warm place.

Jigman

Diggin Jiggin · 01-11-2006, 08:19 AM

I think I'm heading back to the mirror coat. I do want to try the clear coat again without the scratch coat, maybe that will make it easier...

thanks guys.

MAC · 01-11-2006, 08:42 AM

The clear coat is very tempermental temperature wise. If it isn't 70 degrees, with our humidity you will have problems. I use it in the basement but have to crank the heat. The glove is a must too.

piemma · 01-11-2006, 08:51 AM

I was going to post this before DJ's post but I will now. I went back to just mirror coating 2 years ago. Since I don't sell my plugs I am not concerned with looking like a commercial plug. I have posted pics of my plugs and the general consensus was that they looked great.

I usually do 2 or 3 coats of clear gloss. One word of caution!!! Use the same brand gloss as the paint you use. I made the mistake once of mixing different brands and the gloss coat crinkled like crumbled aluminum foil .

striperondafly · 01-13-2006, 11:27 PM

Im just in the process of making my firsts (njtackle kits) buy I've used epoxies builkding rods & tying flies.

I found the most important thing is get as close to a perfect 50/50 mix as you can. You don't do you might as well start over. I had a rod I made that never dried - it remained tacky - luckily it needed one more coat of epoxy (I finished it like 6 months later it was still tacky).