# spoon paint



## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

I just bought a couple lots of unpainted cooper spoons. I was hoping you fellas could tell me what is the best type of paint to use. I have read a few threads about the paints chipping off of purchased spoons and hope to avoid this.
Any advise will be highly appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time, Dave.


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

Dave, I have been using powder paint. It will not chip at all. Check out the YouTube videos.


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Thank you, my brother. I discovered just that yesterday in my research for paint. Seems as though there is a type you just heat and dip. Is this any good?
How do you apply it to your baits?
I am thinking of a powder coating gun, is this a good way?
Please explain how you apply to yours.
Thanks ahead of time, SP.
If they come out any good, i would be more than happy to mail some to you.


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## Eyecrosser (Apr 10, 2016)

It depends on what type of finish your looking for. Are you to use them yourself or sale them. 

I use the ******* method. Grab the spoon at one end with needle nose pliers and hold over a open flame warm them up. Dip it into the powder paint to coat the spoon and back over the flame real quick to set the paint. Than hang them on a rack and into the oven they go to cure. I use those disposable aluminum pans to hold the powder. I'd do the same with my jigs. Quick and easy and cheap.

Once the paint hardens on the spoons I put a thin coat of lacquer on to prevent chipping. I've got a couple dozen sonars that I made from the 80's and the paint has held using this method. I don't coat my jigs with lacquer.


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Just for myself, eyecrosser. Sounds like an excellent idea, i will definitly try it.
How does the finish look after the dip? Is it uneven, and if so, does the final heating flaten it out?
Can one airbrush spots or lines on the spoon before the lacquering?

Thanks for responding, any advise i get will help.


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

$diesel$ said:


> Thank you, my brother. I discovered just that yesterday in my research for paint. Seems as though there is a type you just heat and dip. Is this any good?
> How do you apply it to your baits?
> I am thinking of a powder coating gun, is this a good way?
> Please explain how you apply to yours.
> ...


I use a powder paint gun. Cheap n easy. I use a burnsomatic torch and 1lb propane. But you can get away with a good heat gun. Hemostats clipped at the very end, a few seconds above the flame and spray. It doesn’t take much heat. The problem I have is applying lines or eyes, you have to really be carful with the heat on the Paint area you have already done. I have regular paint guns and thinking about using them to add details. Still leaning myself. I’ve posted a few pics in another post. It’s fun painting them and not as messy as you think it would be. I use an opened cardboard box when I spray.


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Thats what i have in mind, SP. I have an airbrush i'm still learning to use (not very good) and thought about adding my lines and eyes after the bake. Can the powder paint stand up to a second bake?


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## Eyecrosser (Apr 10, 2016)

Once the powder on the lure is heated and dried add the lines with what ever color you wish. I use Q tips and dab a round circle for an eye with different colors to offset the color of the lure. Finger nail polish works great. And if I feel like it I will take permanent marker and outline the eye. Some I'll add prism tape or go to a hobby store and you can get reflective paper sheets that have glue on the back that you can cut to the size of your spoon. After everything is put on the lure a nice coat of lacquer will seal it. Check out Jann's Netcraft for their videos.


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

I’m sure it will, just follow the baking instructions on those videos. The reason why I didn’t want to airbrush was having to put multiple coats and lacquer.


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Thanks a ton, guys.
Great ideas, eyecrosser


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## bigcrank (Apr 14, 2008)

Has anybody added glitter to their powder paint? I've seen 250° for 25 min. Shake on after dipping...


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## Mrwiggler (Jan 26, 2017)

bigcrank said:


> Has anybody added glitter to their powder paint? I've seen 250° for 25 min. Shake on after dipping...


You can use an old salt or pepper shaker, to put the glitter on, while it's still hot. Also can use a small, small artist paint brush, and after dipping the brush into the glitter, tap the brush with your finger to sprinkle the glitter on. If the glitter don't blend into the paint, slightly re-heat.!


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

After I watched this video of a professional painting spoons, my results improved. I’ve found that if I can paint on high quality inkjet paper without running, then it will go on the spoon well. Also I started adding createx 4030 additive in the paint. I use combination of powder and paint. If there’s any paint, I add a coat of non yellowing acrylic clear. I only use created colors. 







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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

I’ve been using a combination of powder paint and createx paints. Here is a set of blades and spoons in the ‘pink panties’ pattern I painted. Some have solid pearl powder on front and back and some have a clear pink powder back. All other colors were airbrushed and then clear coated. My airbrush and JT Tackle powder sprayer that I use in conjunction with a soldering torch are shown with the ‘pink panties’ spoons and blades I painted. At this point I have maybe 6 hours experience, so it’s a quick learning curve


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

I’m going to add one more unsolicited comment. If you want to make something like the ‘nascar transparent uv’ pattern, I believe I have found the proper uv tape. It’s on eBay sold in 3x12 inch sheets at $4.00 for two sheets. The seller is madrivermfg01 and the item description is ‘TRU UV TRANSPARENT 3x12 2pk’. I have purchased this and it has the exact same properties as a genuine store bought spoon when held in light and rotated. The colors on the eBay tape change exactly the same as the genuine spoon. This is an extremely effective color scheme for walleye at times and is worth making or buying genuine ones. 


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Great job, bro. I really like the little hook boots you put on them.


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

You can put 70 spoons in one Plano box with those hook covers. They’re very inexpensive on amazon. The search term is ‘hook bonnet’. Solves the problem of all the lures catching on one another and allows you to stuff that box full. 


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

Those look good! I have the paint guns and compressor. I guess I’m going to have to add this process along with the powder paint to be able to get more creative. I use the same PP gun and torch. Have you tried a heat gun?


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

I have a really nice heat gun. I’ve found that the torch in low flame can bring a spoon up the temp so much quicker and the powder melts better at higher temp. I do use the heat gun to quicken the drying of painted items so I can move to the next color. I also use the heat gun to make plastic templates. It softens the template material slowly and covers a larger area than a torch flame. At this point I’ve made almost everything I need for next season. I’m just going to do a few more batches of uv patterns since I found the UV tape. 


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## hailtothethief (Jan 18, 2017)

I got some left over primer and paint. Wonder if it would work on a jig head. I got some clear coat too. Says the primer will bond to all surfaces.. look forward to putting it to the test


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Good info, fidler, thanks.


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

Wanted to follow up with the UV tape. I painted up three of my favorite UV patterns: NASCAR, Sir Walleye, and Black Tuxedo using a combination of gold and copper blanks. Some of the nascar spoons have metallic pink, metallic chartreuse, and opaque chartreuse backs. The procedure i used was to powder the back when applicable, paint and bake the spoon to cure the water based paint, then apply the UV tape followed by a heavy clear coat. The black tuxedo has a large white dot with smaller black dot over the UV tape before the clear coat. We’re just a few weeks from spoon season in Lake Erie!


















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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

I’ve caught some fish on my home painted/coated spoons and have learned some lessons. My procedure has been to use a torch and powder airbrush to lay the base coat. Then I used createx paint. I’d bake it in the oven then apply a heavy coat of non yellowing clear acrylic from shaker can. I have one spoon that’s caught about a dozen fish and it’s not holding up well. Even the powder paint is scratching off from the walleye teeth. I ordered some clear epoxy and reducer from Klass Kote and I believe this will fix my quality control problem. It’s amazing how much damage walleye teeth can do to a bait without a really strong outer coat. 


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

dgfidler said:


> I’ve caught some fish on my home painted/coated spoons and have learned some lessons. My procedure has been to use a torch and powder airbrush to lay the base coat. Then I used createx paint. I’d bake it in the oven then apply a heavy coat of non yellowing clear acrylic from shaker can. I have one spoon that’s caught about a dozen fish and it’s not holding up well. Even the powder paint is scratching off from the walleye teeth. I ordered some clear epoxy and reducer from Klass Kote and I believe this will fix my quality control problem. It’s amazing how much damage walleye teeth can do to a bait without a really strong outer coat.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yea I was just gonna say... those teeth are sharp and they have been slamming spoons. I have some marks on my homemade powder painted ones also. They will still hit them with scratches tho haha.


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## Wantsome (Oct 26, 2014)

dgfidler said:


> I’ve caught some fish on my home painted/coated spoons and have learned some lessons. My procedure has been to use a torch and powder airbrush to lay the base coat. Then I used createx paint. I’d bake it in the oven then apply a heavy coat of non yellowing clear acrylic from shaker can. I have one spoon that’s caught about a dozen fish and it’s not holding up well. Even the powder paint is scratching off from the walleye teeth. I ordered some clear epoxy and reducer from Klass Kote and I believe this will fix my quality control problem. It’s amazing how much damage walleye teeth can do to a bait without a really strong outer coat.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have about 500 or so spoon blanks that I've been sitting on for a few years. I haven't decided how I'm going to pain them yet. I have a ton of powder paint and createx that I bought a few years back. The spoons are from the 1960's. I haven't painted them yet because I don't want to screw it up. I had to strip the old paint off and it took me a long time to figure out how. It took a lot of work too. I finally found this really nasty chemical that would take the paint off. I had to use a respirator and it stunk up the entire neighborhood. 

I'm going to buy some spoon blanks to practice on before I decide what I'm going to do. My biggest dilemma is the clear coat. You said you use a rattle can clear. 

Have you thought about a powder clear coat?


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

The rattle can clear coat failed miserably. All it took was about eight fish on one lure and the paint was coming off and even the powder paint had tooth marks. I ended up buying this two part epoxy paint (clear paint) called ‘Klass Kote’. I just brush it on with acceptable results. It seems much more durable. 


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

Here’s the spoon that got beat up from only 8 fish. The white base was a pearl powder and the back is a candy pink powder. I now consider it a ‘myth’ that powder alone can hold up to walleye teeth. 




















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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

Hers is the epoxy clear I’m using now. It dries REALLY hard and I think it’s worth the $50 you’ll spend on it. I mix it up in very small batches where I use 5g of catalyst, tare the scale and add 5g of epoxy











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## Wantsome (Oct 26, 2014)

Yeah walleye teeth tear stuff up. I've seen large walleye puncture hard plastic lures. I really don't like the idea of epoxy on spoons because of the weight it adds. It just makes the spoon heavier.

On the topic of clear coats. I'd really like to know what Rapala uses for their clear coats. I've caught 50 walleye in a night on one Rapala and it's hardly damaged. Seeing how their lures are balsa and really soft. Their clear coat is really thin too.


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

For me, powder coat and cover for clear with West Marine 2 part clear epoxy thinned out just a bit.


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

The funny thing about that beat up spoon is it seemed to do better and better as it got beat up. I think on any given day a certain action is what provokes strikes and that day that particular spoon ‘had what it takes’. I’ve found that an unpainted blank also works, so all this painting might be more for my own entertainment and it’s up for debate whether it actually increases the catch rate. I’ve also had two trips where spoons only caught sheephead and crankbaits behind boards were necessary if you wanted to catch walleye. Either way, it’s all about having enough tackle to experiment and figure out what works on a given day/location and painting your own stuff is an inexpensive way to have a lot of tackle to experiment with and provides something to do in the winter. 


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## lawrence p (Sep 3, 2015)

Get envirotex lite expoy and brush it on it is tough as nails and fairly cheap I be caught 100s of walleyes and no scratches


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## matticito (Jul 17, 2012)

Unfamiliar with painting lures, will this work with rooster tails. I always have paint chip off 1/2 ounce


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## dgfidler (Sep 22, 2014)

It would work for the spinner blade for sure. 


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## vib-E (Jun 21, 2015)

Any of u try kbs clear coat?works good on my custom painted jerkbaits

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