Big and Med Ballarina

[Eric Roach]

I couldn't find Muskyslayer96's post on his E-Tex method.

As mentioned elsewhere, keeping your painted plug away from your skin oil is important. I don’t touch the lure body at all after the first primer coat (I wire at that point). Also, anything with silicone (like the aquarium tubing used to cover hook points) is a real bear; a “billimeter” of silicone creates quite a huge fisheye.

Some paints are tougher to finish than others. Rust-Oleum metallics come to mind – fisheyes and uneven thicknesses. Acrylics that haven’t fully dried (or layered over anything that isn’t fully dry) can create problems too.

I've only been burned with mis-measured E-Tex twice (I think). I used to use a graduated mixing cup, but after a little inconsistency I decided to follow the process I use for rod building finish: Now I use syringes. Because the E-Tex bottles are so tall I burned two syringe-nipple-sized holes near the top of the bottles (one to draw from, one to vent). I leave the bottle cap on. The syringe fits tightly so nothing leaks and I don't have to wipe excess. When done, I cover the bottle holes with a round of masking tape.

Excess is plunged out of the syringes until they are exactly equal in volume. I squirt them both into a mixing cup, which is placed in a Pac Bay epoxy mixer and spun for at least 7 minutes (I use a timer).

The mixed epoxy goes in a small aluminum tray to let the heat dissipate (this increases pot life). Any bubbles in the mix are popped by exhaling gently over them with a straw. I apply to the lure with an acid brush previously cleaned in denatured oil to get rid of the loose bristles and annoying black flakes.

When applied, I use the straw (or occasionally a small butane torch) to pop any bubbles on the finish. I have a couple of pins around to pick out any hairs or other large crap that made it onto the plug while applying.

In an encased spinner it goes, where it will turn for several hours around 75-80 degrees. Once firm, I turn the heat up to 90. I don’t like to set it at 90 initially because sometimes bubbles will show around the belly grommet or eyes if the air underneath the soft epoxy heats and expands too much.

Anyways, this process has worked well for me with E-Tex.