Got up at 5 am. Just finished sealing about 25 various bodies...this stuff is a lot of work, I tell ya...got a long beard and haven't seen my family in weeks...WTF.

I'm also looking at the $2000 needlefish(my first almost completed plug) hanging in my basement with paint peeling off and wondering wtf I got myself into here.

So with PlugFest just weeks away????
 

What do you guys have going?? What goodies can we look forward to seeing??:drool:

I hope to have some in sealer by tonight. I slotted and drilled yesterday. I've put myself way behind with recent events and all.:smash:

I was hoping to attend so as to provide comic relief for the masses, but I'll be up in NH with the family. Can I send you something to display if I get the paint to stick? I think the jointed eels are going to be good.

BB I hear you. I went on a spinning spree since a duplicator found it's way in my basement. Over 150 plugs , basically 5-6 designs since November. The turning was the easy part. With the bodies sealed and primed the ardulous tasks start. This wouldn't be as time consuming in respect if it was a day job. After work it's downstairs for a couple hours. Painting is done on the bulk and I started to assemble and epoxy. Thats seems to go forever. I hope to say good by to epoxy finishes some day. I would like to dip finish 1 part waterbase. The search continues. I must say the epoxy finish applied w/ 1" fpam brushes works quick and well. I do 4 seperate batches of 6 cc's and go thru a couple brushes. Mix in new condiment containers for each. Yesterday I wired 3 dozen and coated another dozen. The Atom 5B models are assembled and ready for finish. Needles need wiring but are epoxied and the spin Atoms and the jrs along with the BM jrs need hardware. Let me say when you take on a large batch of plugs it's surprising how fast your plug hardware decreases!

Just finished putting in the eyes and grommets on the best batch I have done to date.:) Pikies and a couple of peanuts.

Everybody gets warned that comes in the door Mike .. Many think we're kidding . Nothing like building the most beautiful plug you ever seen then your final epoxy coat crawls, gets snotty and sticky. This hobby will rip your heart out . You do get past the totally ignore the family stage though ..

There are over 200 plugs in primer hanging in my sunroom above the pellet stove. This is where they hang till they dry. How many I will actually finish this year I have no clue, a mere fraction probably. Intend to do some painting today, first time this year. I am about to get a delivery of vintage plugs so I can get them all documented for future reference. I will make templates, turn maybe 2 per plug to make sure they are exact, and move on to the next one so i can return the plugs to their owner in a timely manner. This is going to take some time so it will eat into my completion ratio but you don't get to touch these classics every day so I need to take advantage of the generosity of this collector. I won't be bringing much to plugfest this year but that was my intention as I want to mingle more this year and finish want I have promised others and myself at a more leisurely pace. This is something I have learned over the last few years, keep it fun with less emphasis on quantity. What gets done is what gets done, no problem mon.:uhuh: don't worry be happy.

I'm at the same stage as prof m, but on a much smaller scale. I'm not sure what will be done by plugfest. I'm trying to get all the wood working done before I start to paint so I'm not painting in a cloud of sawdust. And everytime I'm done I keep thinking of a few more I should turn.

I'm up in the air regarding what to do for the topcoat. I used up almost all my sys 3 clearcoat last year and I'm not sure whether to stick with that or try something else.

Sawdust would help my paint jobs.

Hey Mike ... maybe your going to smooth at the sanding stage . You have to leave some "tooth" .. My first plugs I did my last stage of sanding with glass . (baby food jar,seals pores like making baseball bats) .. I could peel the plug like a banana.. Not sure if this is it .. But you don't need more than 100 grit so paint can bite .. I had trouble with soft primers too .. Can you see what layer its seperating at ? Then figure out why .. Thats a very frustrating place to be .. I wouldn't paint 50 of something while at the stage .. Maybe do that cross hatch test (never did it myself).. Do your paint layers on a board ,,how ever you do it .. sealer,primer,paint,rattlecan?,waterbase?,protecti ve coat , epoxy or final coat .. Let dry .. Take a exacto knife and cut thru your finish criss,cross 1/4" squares,, Take a piece of duct tape and stick it down over that .. Now rip it off like a bandaid ,.. Where did it seperate ? There's your problem .. If nothing comes up you win .. ofcourse epoxy can can fail later in the water and negate all of the above .. At least then you know its your epoxy and where you stand ..

I am betting his adhesion problem is between the primer and the paint. I use 220 grit paper for final sanding....never a problem.

I understand you are "farming out" some of your finish work??:rotf2:

220 paper, but also wipe them down with MS and let them dry for an hour to get the sanding dust off.

I know people like to spray Zissner, but I've had much better adhesion between the sealer and createx by using brush on Zspar marine undercoat 105. You need to sand and wipe before priming and before finish coat. I start my finish coat with a "second prime" of createx opaque white.

I use 220 myself but ran out of it and haven't made it out to buy more ,, probably won't ... may be overkill .. I've been using 100 final .. and 100 wears out pretty fast so its actually even smoother .

I start off with a base coat of opaque white as well Numbscull!

Finally finished everything I started last winter so I've been turning a little bit of everything. I'm realizing I have no need to make more than 2-3 of any one plug for myself, so I'm keeping my batches pretty small only making an extra or two for trading. Also starting a bunch of one/two off prototype stuff to fish over the season.

oooop s ... I'm using 120 :1poke:... no diss Larry ,, your stuff is cleaner than mine .. Funny we all took different paths ... I'm using a coat of flat white or flat black rustoleum rattle can (depending) for a base coat right over CPES ... no primer ..

You know, the paint peeled right off the bottom of the plug but not the top. I did read in a recent post you shouldn't combine gloss and semi gloss paint. I did the top of the plug in gloss yellow, did the bottom in semi gloss white...stuff on the bottom half of the plug peeled off, including the primer, and the yellow is fine. Maybe combining gloss and semi gloss was the problem?

I only did one plug just in case there were issues...damage control is very important to me...:smokin:

LOL:biglaugh:

Weighted, bondoed and sealed, ready for primer in a coupla days. Mission accomplished, then the scary part, paint. Then the terrifying part, clearing, make or break all the work. Still have to spin up a little black danny for BF.

Get spinning youuuuuu!:)

After work tomorrow, my sealed plugs will still be drying. If all goes well I'll have yours sealed tomorrow night, too.:hee:

Hey George
 

You are using MS, an oil, to wipe off dust before spraying with Createx, which is water based? Any adhesion issues?

I would suggest wiping with water or denatured alcohol to keep things chemically compatible.

I wait an hour or two, it evaporates away very fast. No adhesion issues.

Let me get this process straight....

1. Dip plugs in whatever sealer you use (helmsman, BLO, epoxy, etc.)

2. Allow ample dry time for sealer... I'm giving it 2 weeks for helmsman spar.

3. Sand down the plug body...

4. Mineral spirit wipe down and let dry for one hour at least.

5. Primer.

6. Paint.

7. Topcoat.

8. Assemble.

9. Give all your stuff away....in this sense its just like making wine...bust your ass for months and weeks, then give it all away....

10. Repeat.

Don't forget step 8A. miss swivel w.through wire, give plug to buddy, who drops fish.

You been talking to Sauerkraut? Been there , done that.

It shouldn't take 2 weeks for the sealer to dry. Varnish ought to dry in a matter of hours. If you sand it and it comes off as powder you are fine. Valoil is good to go in 24-48 hours.

You should sand/wipe between the primer and the color coat.
If you are using rattlecans, some guys spray a clear coat and scuff that then wipe before applying epoxy.

Great, another %$%$%$%$ing step...thanks for the heads up though...that would be step seven, I believe...