Fastest Method for Sealing a Plug

[Ken_J]

I am one of the Etex/Alcohol people. It was recomended to me 1.5 years ago and I discuss it quite a bit. I have a minute, so I will explain what I do.

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Wear gloves and eye protection.

Lets say you had 10 plugs:

Properly mix 2 ounces of etex. Add 1 ounce of denatured alcohol to that in a 16 ounce solo beer cup. Mix for a minute or so.

Take your plugs and stick them in the microwave for a minute. I have not stuck plugs in microwave with belly weights already in them, I add the bws after sealing.

The etex/da is the consitancy of water at this point and you pour it in to and on to the plugs one at a time from one cup to another cup. It should take no longer than 20 seconds to do this per plug. All the this business with syringes and this and that is not needed. If the etex is too thick, you are not using enough DA.

Hang plugs vertical, tail down. There may be a tiny drip on the tail and you can clean that up with a sponge brush an hour or two after you sealed them. If you have deep eye sockets, you can clean them up with a dowel if you want. With a water consistency, there really isnt any buildup.

I keep my plug drying boxes at 90 degrees and you can primer at 36 hours, I usually wait 48-72.


Safety: I forgot to mention, for the first few hours after you seal them, make sure they are in a ventialted area, as DA fumes should not be allowed to build up in enclosed areas. So, do what needs to be done for this.


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I really love the results and with a plug that is hardened with epoxy and sealed at the same time, its brilliant.

I have bluefish damage below the primer, but it never really penetrates to the wood like other methods.

just brilliant done properly

[Ken_J]

also

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Propionate is the fastest sealing method, without question. I use it for prototyping.

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Safety: gloves, goggles/glasses - organic respirator in general

, especially in enclosed areas - keep acetone enclosed in jars/containers as much as possible. Read warnings on acetone container and take seriously. I have taken a face full of acetone fumes, its not pretty.

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I use:

1/2 gallon mason jar 7/8 filled with Acetone. ( that ring inside the mason jar lid needs to be removed, acetone and elbow grease removes it. You dont want that ring to dissolve in your acetone and spoil the solution)

Pour something like 1/4 pound of propionate in there. Mix. Initailly it could take a few days for it to dissolve, but once its ready, it is ready forever. ( I bought a pound of the stuff initally and honestly dont recall how much was used in this size mason jar, you just have to add until you get consistncy you are looking for)

The amount of prop. you use is determined by the consistency you are looking for. Generally, people use milk consistency.

If I am doing simple prototyping, I dip and keep in for 15 minutes. Remove and hang dry for a few hours. After that, put on hardware and cast in to water, it is sealed.

If I am going to primer and paint though I would keep in container for several hours, then dry for overnight. It is really important that the solvent is evaparoted or you will have your primer/paint/topcoat ruined by acetone seeping out.

A lot of guys with prop do very thin and dip many times with shorts periods to evaporate. That is their preference. My preference is above.





PS



Also, if you want to do quick and dirty plug building for whatever reason, this method is awesome. I caught two 40" + fish last fall on a Danny that I made in 4 hours from square block of wood, no primer, no paint, no nothing except sealing. I fished that Danny for 3 weeks and it is still 100% sealed and still swims the same as the first day


awesome

gl