# Super Sealing



## TIGGER

Hey everyone, I thought I would bring up the subject of sealing the wood baits before the painting process. There are many ways that you can seal the wood before the painting steps. I have tried many of them with success.

Minwax sanding sealer..... This is a good way to seal your baits. You can throw the bodies in the can and let them soak over night or for just a couple of hours. Works very well.

Krylon Fusion........ This is a spray can primer. I have not tried it but I know people like this product. Can be bought at many places.

Pre-epoxy coats. I like to use this one. It is mostly for the larger musky baits. I will take the wood blank and coat the lure with the top coat epoxy before paint. After is dries I paint right over top of it.

Dissolving cups in lacquer thinner or acetone . This done by taking plastic cups and adding them to Lacquer thinner or acetone. Place the cups and liquid in a glass jar and let the cups dissolve overnight. The plastic suspends in the solution. Dip your wood bodies in the solution and let dry leaving the plastic in and on the wood. Not much build-up of the coating but it does stop the water from entering the wood.











Super sealing.................... This is a new method I just started to try. Our fello member "Swede" has this material available. You can Pm him for access to this product. I believe this is the same product that Rapala uses to seal their balsa wood baits. Rock hard stuff.

Steps in this process.........

You will need a jar .......... Virgin lacquer thinner or acetone. Acetone will dry a little faster. Also the pellets.











The pellets are very small and clear












You take the pellets and disslove them overnight. There is a point that reaches supersaturation with the solution. I think I added almost a cup of the product for the larger pickle jar. The solution reaches a thick honey type of consistancy. You can mix with a wood stir stick. If the you have not used it in a while just stir and it is good to go.











On the first couple of dips you may want the material to dry overnight. The next day you can dip almost every 15 minutes to create a very good build up of coating on the baits.

I take the baits with pliers and dip it into the solution




















I made a little drying rack. Just a little frame with 6 eye hooks at the top. It is important to have a smooth bottom plate. This will let you razor blade the material off the bottom and add it back to the solution. There is no waste with this product. If it is not on the bait it is one the floor to be scraped up and reused back into the solution










Here is a pic of the some baits there were dipped only 3 times. I will dip them up to 8 to 10 times. It leaves the baits very very smooth and ready for paint with no sanding and such.










One key with the dipping is to rotate the tail / head dips. do the tail first for 3 dips and them the go to the head for 3. This will leave an even coating on the bait over the span the dipping process. I may be missing some little stuff but Swede can fill in anything that I missed.

John


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## Swede

Thin your solution til its like milk in consistancy (this is how i do) I´d rather 
dip in very thin solution since it penetrates the wood deeper& dip more times 
I dip up to 30 times on some lures just because i want to be 100% sure nothing will penetrate the lure by biting .You can use both Acetone &Virgin Laquer Thinner for disolving . 
I prefer Acetone since my experience is that it cures harder & it smells less .
If you use laquerpaints you wont need a special primer just see to that your paints is compatable with eachother & shoot a white base & do your pattern over it .With some metallic colors & most waterbased paints you can use it as a topcoat too,but do a test before you dip your lure (ruined paintjob) seal a wooden dowel & test your paints if solution disolves them you must use a protective clear like createx waterbased clear & dont forget to heatset the paintjob before dipping .If anyone got questions i´ll be happy to try to answer them 

Roger


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## etch

excellent product, use in a well ventilated area, thinner soloution is best,10 to 15 dips, its like it changes your wood lures composition, to that of a plastic lure, bullet proof stuff for sure

Etch


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## Swede

I forgot to add somethings that can be very interesting for some of you 

1.No potlife if it driesup just add acetone or virgin laquer thinner
2.No spinningwheel needed just dip & hangup 
3.All dripoffs are reusable theres no waste 
4.Got worn or beatenup Rapalas? (wooden) dip &reseal them so you can use them again


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## hazmail

I would just like to say, I have used two different brews of this stuff, both are very good, but Swedes is that little bit better, mainly clarity. pete


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## TIGGER

I am falling in love with the stuff. I am just beginning with it. I will thin it down a bit on Swede's tip. I am really thinking of doing a clear exotic wood bait just for fun. I have some curly maple and burl type of woods. I think it would be great on those type of lures.

I really do like the "No" waste aspect along with the clearity. I scooped up some tonight and added it back to the solution.

Swede, Whats the longest you have let a bait soak in this stuff for the first dip. I know the first dip is the only long dip that you would have. It would start to dissolve it in any of the other later stage dips.

Definetly have a vented area when doing this.


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## vc1111

Great thread, Tigger. 

I have a shot of this stuff, which I received from another member, but I haven't dumped it into the acetone yet. 

Really going to listen close to learn from your experience and from the other guys.


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## Swede

TIGGER said:


> I am falling in love with the stuff. I am just beginning with it. I will thin it down a bit on Swede's tip. I am really thinking of doing a clear exotic wood bait just for fun. I have some curly maple and burl type of woods. I think it would be great on those type of lures.
> 
> I really do like the "No" waste aspect along with the clearity. I scooped up some tonight and added it back to the solution.
> 
> Swede, Whats the longest you have let a bait soak in this stuff for the first dip. I know the first dip is the only long dip that you would have. It would start to dissolve it in any of the other later stage dips.
> 
> Definetly have a vented area when doing this.


The longest i´ve soaked a lure is about 20 - 30 minutes 
then there were no bubbles on the body of the lure .
I dont sand any raised grain down inbetween dips either like some thats using this ,theres no need to do it either since all rised grain will be covered with plastic


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## rjbass

You want to hear what real procrastination is???? I bought several bags of the pellets from Swede and somemore on Ebay over a year ago and they are still sitting in my shop in the shipping boxes, right next to the Acetone I bought to go with them.....how sad is that.....

Rod


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## chappy

found some stuff on ebay but the pellets are blue, is this the same stuff?


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## Swede

Rod i cant belive that you havent tried it YET lol if you do you´ll never go back to the old way of sealing baits .Just dont mix the diffrent bags since that other guy´s stuff isnt the same .He states in his sales description that it is what the big companies use but it isn´t .He tried to get me to give him all the specs on this in a trade for some in my eyes "junklures" i wasn´t interested so i guess he went & bought the first stuff he could find .

Chappy the stuff you found on ebay isnt the same, he claims it to be but there´s over 60 diffrent qualities . He says his stuff is Rockwell 80 in hardness
& as far as i know (i´ve tried to melt plastic kitchen ware) that the harder it cures the more brittle it will be .

I also got some lips in same material for shallow running baits


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## chappy

where can i find it.


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## Swede

chappy said:


> where can i find it.


I can sell you some & if you´re interested in the lips shoot me a pm with your email addy


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## Swede

Forgot to add that this is the sealer a total newbie can get same result with as a Pro gets .


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## Jason413

Hey Roger. Good to see you! I purchased some from Roger myself and was impressed. I used it to seal a small bluegill lure I made and couldn't believe how smooth and even a finish it has! It even hugged corners that epoxy would shy away from. I had some trouble with it getting cloudy during humid weather, but Roger told me I could just dip it in pure acetone and it would take that away. Roger is a heck of a guy and sells the right stuff. I would reccomend him to anyone.


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## smithwick

I have been using epoxy for the first coat on my baits and I was wondering......Is this method better than epoxy for the first coat? Both are smooth, but is this a "tougher" sealer that will never let the hooks wear through to the wood?

Thanks.


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## Swede

This is much simpler way to seal your bait . Requires no spinning just dip& hang til you got the surface you want, on first dip you let it soak for up to 30 minutes depending on the wood you have used .After that its just quick dips&hang up .Best with this is that if you forget the lid & it fully cures only thing you need to do is to add acetone to get it disolved again .
Never worry about potlife or if you have the right 50/50 mixture like if you used epoxy.Hooks will wear thru anything in time .
I prefer this way because it simplifies the way to seal & build up a basecoat on your lure compared to epoxy 

Roger


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## eyesman_01

I bought some but still haven't had the time to use it. Looking forward to it. How well would this do as a sealer after painting spoons?


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## Swede

eyesman_01 said:


> I bought some but still haven't had the time to use it. Looking forward to it. How well would this do as a sealer after painting spoons?


All depends on how well your paint adheres to metal. On spoons with a body like Rapalas minnow spoon it works well but on bare metal with deep cups i´d say use something else .My tests havent been real good on bare metal but thats me .I know of a few thats used it on spoons with good results .

Roger


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## cedar1

Could you dip lead head jigs in that stuff?


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## swest34643

I posted this on a different sight but thought I would try here as well. Can you use this sealing method with water based paint? Intuitively I would say now because the reaction of residue acetone/virgin lacquer thinner but I have seen a couple of posts that contradict that. 

Thanks in advance,
Shane


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## TIGGER

Hey Shane , welcome to the site. All the recent baits that I made for the night bite walleye fishing they were sealed with this stuff. All were painted with Createx paint. 
One thing that I did notice was that I had to spray the paint on the bait a little on the lighter side so I didn't get the Rain-ex effect. They painted up very well ........ I was happy.

I even tried something new also. I brushed the liquid on the bait with an acid brush. I let it dry and very lightly sanded it with 320 paper. I have my mixture very very thick at the moment. It sealed the bait very well. You might ask why I did this. I like to put my lips in at the beginning. and paint over the lip slot. I would not be able to did the bait with the lexan lip already inserted.

John


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## Jim45498

What is the name of the pellets? Is a certain brand best to use?


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## swest34643

Thanks Tigger - I am going to give this a shot and post the results when I am done.

Shane


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## TIGGER

Jim ,fello member "Swede" has them. He is from Sweden. I think It is the same stuff that Rapala uses on their balsa baits. You can pm him and he can take care of you I think. I did a trade with him a while back for a lure. I have not seen him post in a while.

John


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## Jim45498

Thanks Tigger


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## bowhunter29

Tigger,

How many of your muskie-sized baits can you cover with the amount of topcoat that you have in your pickle jar? I'm working on about 45 8" muskie lures- some of them are slim (think rapala) and some have a bigger profile (shad style). Could I coat all of them (from base coat to final topcoat) with a jar that size or will I need to add more? I plan on using a pretty thin mix so that I can do coats of it between paint layers so it will probably be about 10-12 coats per lure.

Thanks


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## ThreeRiversEsox

This is not a topcoat bowhunter, it's a sealer!! you don't want to dip a painted lure in that stuff!!!


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## bowhunter29

Now I'm confused. According to Swede, it can be used as a topcoat with certain paints (I could have misunderstood what he said, it's been known to happen). Has anyone used it as a topcoat with success?


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## TIGGER

Hey guys, I think Swede used it as a top coat on an all natural bait like one in this thread. I used envirotex on these. I almost tried this stuff but chickened out. I am going to make some more of these and try it this time.

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=89698&highlight=puzzle+baits


There is no waste with this stuff. What ever drips you scrape up and insert back into the mixture. I have dipped probably 45 lures in it and only have lost 1/6 of the pickle jar. I have been only using it as a sealer so far.

John


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## peple of the perch

Can you also use that to supplement the epoxy?


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## bowhunter29

Cool, thanks for the help!


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## Swede

bowhunter29 said:


> Now I'm confused. According to Swede, it can be used as a topcoat with certain paints (I could have misunderstood what he said, it's been known to happen). Has anyone used it as a topcoat with success?


I have used it as a topcoat over metallic colors .The brand i used is Auto-K 
sold through Europe .I guess it´s a trial & error kinda thing since some colors/brands isn´t compatable with the acetone/virgin laquer thinner


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## bowhunter29

Swede,

Thanks for the info, I can't wait to try this stuff!

jeremy


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## TIGGER

I brought this forward on sealing. I was asked about sealing by muskylip. Has anyone tried dissolving cups in acetone. I have only used the pellets from Swede. I couldn't answer his questions about the cups. Maybe someone can help.


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## rjbass

John,

I have done the plastic cups in the Virgin Laquer Thinner. It does have a nice plastic coat to paint over, however.....it is a slow, slow process. You have to dip it many times to get the thickness you would like to fill all imperfections and it is about 15 minute drying time between coats and then at least overnight at the end of the process...The solution does not soak into the bait to form a waterproofing base as sanding sealer does......not my cup of tea....at least not for Musky Baits. I have way better results soaking blanks in sanding sealer and then applying a thin coat of epoxy before paint...lots faster for me when building the volume that I do. I guess it is a personal preference type thing, but that is my opinion from my tried results. 

Rod


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## Downriver Tackle

TIGGER said:


> I brought this forward on sealing. I was asked about sealing by muskylip. Has anyone tried dissolving cups in acetone. I have only used the pellets from Swede. I couldn't answer his questions about the cups. Maybe someone can help.


 I've painted a few blanks people have sent me that were sealed in the cup method and I wasn't too impressed at all. More of a laminate than a sealer. Sanded like crap and had a tendency to peel. Don't know if they were done wrong, but that was multiple baits from different people.


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## Pikopath

Ive used jewel cases (cd covers) dissolved in Thinner with great success. My mixture is pretty thin, and I leave them in till the bubbles has stopped. I then dip a couple of times, with little build up (I like to still see woodgrains in my baits) I have friends that have one thin solution and one thick for build up, and theyve also had great success. Jewel cases are made of general purpose polystyrene, the same as many plastic cups, so I cant see why plastic cups wouldnt work, as long as theyre made from PS.
Ive also tried propionate, that I got from Roger (swedes) before he passed away (rest in peace brother!), last year but I prefer the jewel cases.

Michael


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## TIGGER

Eyes see if this answers your question about the pellets.


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## All Eyes

Yes Tigger, that more than answers my question. Great thread! Thanks!!!


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## All Eyes

The plan is to get some pellets and give it a try. Lately I have been using Createx sealer followed by a thin coat of epoxy. The sealer is new to me so we will see how well it works over time. It really makes the wood grain swell up and looks unsanded no matter how smooth it is before it is applied.


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## fishergibb

Can anyone tell me how I can get a hold of Roger for some pellets?

Cory


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## bowhunter29

Cory,

I think I have some pellets left over from my last batch that I got from Roger. How many do you want?

jeremy


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## fishergibb

That'd be great! I'll take whatever you can spare!

Thanks,

Cory


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## TIGGER

I have not seen Swede post in years on some of the other tackle making sites. He was the contact for the pellets. Looks like Rod had bought some on Ebay a while back.

John


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## fishergibb

Thanks John. Unfortunately, read in this same thread that he's passed away. I looked at the ones on ebay, but Swede said in an earlier post that they aren't the same, even though the seller claims they are. 

I've been building for a little over a year now & have tried so many different methods & products for sealing & top coat's, but they just keep going to crap! I'm so frustrated with my lures not holding up that I didn't want to the other stuff & have it fail. I make deep water wood plugs that we use to fish down to depths of 150'. 

I think it's a combination of problems, including the pressure from the depth, lack of oxygen & coldness of the water.

Cory


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## socdad

I have a large pickle jar with a pellet (from Swede) / acetone solution that sat for a couple of years. The acetone evaporated off leaving a 'lump' on the bottom of the jar. My guess is if the jar was refilled with acetone it would dissolve the 'lump', leaving a useful sealing solution. Anyone that would like to pick it up (Clayton, just north of Dayton) is welcome to it


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## rjbass

Just for the record, I tried this method and put alot of time and effort in it. I jumped on this band wagon when Swede first introduced this. Honestly, for the work and frustration it isn't worth it. My method for years now is to seal the baits with sanding sealer, thin coat of whatever epoxy you like, paint and clear coat...easier and foolproof!!! People have used my baits on downriggers for lake trout in California, Idaho and Montana, for Largemouth bass and Stipers in California and the East Coast, Musky in Canada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Penn. etc.... and they don't fail at any depth...I use cedar for all my baits and use the method I mentioned. Of course this is just my opinion, throwing this out there FYI.

Rod


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## fishergibb

That's not what I wanted to hear, but I am definitely glad you told me! So you seal, epoxy, paint then clear cost? What brand sanding sealer are you using & how long to u let it dry? Also, what type of epoxy & how many coats? What are you using for your clear top coat?

I have tried sanding sealer. I have also used epoxy, as well as automotive for a clear top coat....Still just can't seem to get them to hold up....frustrated! 

Cory


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