All: I usually sit back and just absorb the amazing amount of knowledge that simply flows from the Q&A on this board. It really is a tremendous resource. Now I have a question that is sort of off-topic.

I am learning to turn wooden plugs for saltwater fishing here in New England. Would Permagloss be a useful finish for these plugs? I figured it sets up easily and 6-10 coats should be durable enough. Any thoughts?

Thanks, as usual.

Aaron Harp

I've sealed scratched and "toothed" up Poes with it. Seems to work fine.

I know you are inquiring about using Permagloss, but I just thought I'd share my experience with using Flexcoat on my lures. I have a number of basswood and plastic bodied plugs I made well over ten years ago. I used my airbush to paint the bodies and then applied one coat of FC over the paint job. I've been very happy with how well the FC has remained nice and clear with no signs of yellowing at all! Some of these lures have been fished in saltwater , never rinsed off after use and kept loose in my tackle box. I'm not sure if FC will work this well for you, but I have been very satisfied with it on my custom lures.

Rich Matranga
Folsom, California

I've been using Flex Coat on some of my surf plugs (pencils, needles and dannys) and the only advice I'd give is to make sure you seal the plug by completly imersing it in whatever type of sealer you use before you paint. Since the Flex Coat actually is flexible, on a few of my plugs the finish blistered when the wood shrank (admittedly not sealed well, but I was in a hurry to fish!) after the season was over and the plugs had a chance to dry out in my basement. Other than that, even slammer blues did'nt go all the way through the finish.

Thanks guys! I use Flex Coat on rods, so maybe now I can buy in bulk. The sealer issue is a good one Mark. It makes sense that the wood would have to be stable in order to not stress the epoxy during contraction/expansion.

Thanks again.

Aaron