A while ago Larry Dahlberg kind of cracked the window on this subject when he mentioned he had poured a hard bait, with alumidust, clear coated, and was ready for fishing in 5 minutes. I have inside information that indicates that he probably used some form of UV cure clear coat if it was done that fast. I kind of backed off of the subject in case Mike Faupel and Larry were working on a new product. I hope they are, and I hope this does not step on toes.
Let's start with a little history. For years a clear coat that held up to fish was desired. I still have a lot of lures that would be called vintage now, or even antique, just like me, and one thing common with them is that they used an oil based paint and the paint chipped and pealed over time. After those days, clear coats were used, to include varnish, etc., most with less than excellent results. Still, it was better than the previous lures. It was not something that everyone started to use at the same time, but it seemed that parallel development was going on with fishing rod eye wraps as well.
I first noticed that something had changed when the Big O's came out. I am sure that other companies were doing it, but heck, I was a young teenager so that is when I noticed it. From what I could tell, they were using the same new clear coat that the fly rod wraps were done with. Now I was still using a rod varnish so I was clueless, but in a couple of years we moved and I learned about the new two part epoxy type material that was being used from Ruel Stayner in Twin Falls Idaho. Ruel was the one that made a lot of the custom fly rods of the American Sportsman show and he reinforced my love of fly fishing something fierce. A few years later I was introduced to the hobby two part material and found a supply of the flexible two part epoxy used for rod eyes. I coated a few lures with that stuff, just like I did my fly rod wraps, and it worked pretty well, but it eventually got brittle and yellowed. Hummm, I wonder if that is why my vintage cane/bamboo rod needs to be re-finished and re-wrapped. But I digress. The one thing that was evident was that you needed a rod turner or a lure turner because the stuff would sag while curing. You needed one with the varnish to, but the new flexible epoxy was much worse.
Leap to today, I know that many people are coating there lures with a two part epoxy. Devcon 2 Ton seems to be the most common one mentioned. It requires a lure turner, it often fish eyes or pulls back from spots leaving contaminated spots uncovered or very thin, it traps bubbles if you don't heat it with a torch. Still, it is a very tough coat and it has followers. A step up from, or a side step to another product, was products Like EnviroTec. This is a pretty tough stuff used to coat table tops, craft products, etc. Again, you need a lure turner, and it takes even longer to cure then Devcon 2 Ton, but it fish eyes less, gives a little less brittle a finish, and it too has followers. This is what I have been using, and again, it still fish eyes on lures at times. Mike mentioned that you can use Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast the same way, and while I did not have any, my youngest daughter did, using it for her craft casting projects. It still requires the lure turner, but it fish eyes less and traps bubbles less and it cures faster than EnviroTec. I was expecting to go to this when my quart of EnviroTec was gone.
OK, that will take some time.The one thing about the Epoxy and the EnviroTec and the Clear Cast is that they are fairly non-toxic. They do not require special air flow, special respirators, or special protection for the user. Still, they are not perfect, with problems with fish eyes, air bubbles, etc. But, they are a major improvement. There are other options of course, others quite toxic. Some are using Moisture Cured Urethanes, of which Dick Nites is most frequently mentioned. I have not used it, but it has its followers. The major problem with it is that as soon as the container is opened, storage becomes a problem. The moisture in the air can set this stuff up once you open the container, so special precautions are needed. You need good air and better respirators. If you are a big production guy, or money is something you just have lots of, then MCUs are great.
Another option is the Auto Clears. Like many of the Urethanes of this type, they require good spray equipment, respirators, air, etc. Again, money, big production guy, maybe this is your option.
Next comes the UV cure material. I was thinking about how long ago it was that my Dentist started using the white fillings, curing them with the light on the end of the probe. I was also thinking about the 3-D printers that use UV cure ink. Even the ladies now get UV cure finger nail polish. I even saw on TV where surf boards were being coated with this UV clear coat, so I started an internet search.
One of the other lure making forums I visit has an ongoing thread about Solarez, a UV clear coat that sets up in seconds to minutes. It is fairly non-toxic, does a good job, but it is not without potential problems. I think it is only fair to give you a link to the thread and to the MSDS. After all, I have posted a link to Alumilite and makelure.com and this forum many times on TU (TackleUnderground). So, here you have it.
http://www.tackleunderground.com/commun ... ntry196684
http://www.tackleunderground.com/commun ... arez-haze/
http://www.solarez.com/MSDS/MSDS%20Solarez.pdf
I have included a couple of different threads, but you can search your own. You will find that just like everything else, there are good things and bad with it. I got some, or should I say my wife got tired of me researching and got some for me. Ouch! I like it, but it is not the do all end all of clear coats. It is cheap, or should I say very inexpensive, fast, and as far as I can tell, two thin coats are clear, shiny, and tough as nails.
So, now we are back to rippenlips question. I have not used as Clear Cure Goo Hydro, but I have used the Solarez http://www.solarez.com/productsnew/gloss.html. I also have some correspondence ongoing with Cardinal Paints, ClintE@cardinalpaint.com. I sent a few of my painted, un-coated baits so their lab could test different UV Clears on them. Drop him a line and let him know Anglinarcher said he was working the issue.
I really think that a UV Clear Coat is the thing of the future, but current products are not without their issues. Still, rippenlips, your question is a good one, one I am sure that will be answered in more detail in the future.
