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Americans are generally not willing to live without a washing machine, cable TV, Internet service, and a host of other things that many people elsewhere routinely forgo ( as outlined on this very thread ). If they were, our minimum wage would go miles farther. Heck, I'll be that many minimum wage workers here use a smart phone during their break, as but one example. Additionally our min wage includes workers comp, which provides protection and benefits for every worker for on the job illness or injury, along with contributions for social security payments in retirement, disability income, survivor benefits, etc. In my state, if you are injured on the job, Workers Comp pays 100% of all your medical bills, plus if you're off work for an extended period because of an injury on the job, you can collect a hefty percentage of your normal pay. I wonder if that's the case in Costa Rica? Of course, I am glad we have all these protections, but my point is that there is a reason why our jobs are driven offshore. Yet, we'd raise the mandatory minimum wage further? Everyone who punches a time clock should be able to have a house, 2.2 kids, and a picket fence? Ok, but ask yourself this question: Will that bring the jobs here? Or ... send more of them elsewhere? I certainly don't want to start a debate here, but the problem is not wages, folks. It's jobs, period. When there are too many jobs and not enough workers, the employers must bid for workers. When there are too many workers and not enough jobs, the workers must bid for the jobs. That is how it always has been and how it always will be. You cannot simply legislate comfort and prosperity, here or anywhere else on the planet. Competition is always a factor. I'm an old fart. I've lived a long time and had a lot of jobs. I had jobs like the ones shown in the video and some much tougher.. (I love their use of stencils by the way). I made minimum wage working jobs like that and it was a great motivation to get an education to do something harder that required more education and paid a higher wage. There is such a thing as an entry level position that requires only minimum skills and pays a minimum wage. Always has been, always will be.

It's French: http://www.almomail-peche.com Bye. Cami

Slide bars are most commonly used in the production side for blocking off the tail section of the bait to create a fire tail. The slide bar closes to block off the tail, shoot the body, the bar opens and shoots the tail a different colour. It is not used for shooting laminates.

To add to Dave's description - I have some propionate pellets here, only used it a few times and seems to be a good sealer, as a top coat it's a bit brittle-- A bit (a lot really) of research many years back told me it is/ was used in lot's of plastic apps, including those clear yellow chisel handles we use (very tough), sunglass and eye glass frames, for it's toughness and the weird property of always feeling like it is at body temperature when you put a pair of glasses on, (never noticed this until I read it)-----also used for spectacle lenses , so here's what seems to be the ideal plastic for our purposes. But the best bit------- Beg, steal, or bludge all the old sets of those cheap reading glasses from your friends (make sure they are not GLASS), pop the lenses out of the frames and place them on a piece of heavy cloth and cover with some more cloth, find a jar with lid, THEN bash the crap out of them (lenses) until you have reasonably sized pieces and tip them in the jar, then add some GOOD QUALITY lacquer thinner (about 4 :1 mix of - thinners : lenses), shake it up and leave it for a few hours and shake it again and again for about 48 hrs, if it looks a bit thick add some more thinners and you will have a jar of' "Prop"- thin it to your requirement and don't let it thicken too much, over time (weeks / months) it will turn into a clear solid lump, so keep an eye on it. Also- DON'T just dump the lenses in the thinners without crushing them, they will stick together and it will take a week or two to dissolve. Over time it seems to yellow a bit, just like all the other 'upmarket' clear coats we use. Pete

It would not make any difference. The idea of a pressure cooker, is that you raise the boiling point of water so that the water boils at say 230 degrees. This means that the higher temperature cooks the food faster. There is nothing in the plastic to increase the pressure (steam). Dave

My a/c runs 24/7 during the summer and I've never had a problem like you described with DN S81 MCU, but then it's not being applied over any type of rattle can clear. Have you tried warming the bait up with a hair dryer/heat gun before dipping into the Garco? It definitely won't hurt anything and you might find you get a thinner, more even coat by warming it up. Ben

QR - the second question about the MCU applied in an air conditioned room is interesting. Not so much a temperature thing as a moisture problem. I could speculate about low air humidity and high moisture content of the lure paint brought into the room from a more humid atmosphere. The MCU needs moisture to cure, if it cannot get the moisture from the air, maybe it is getting it from the paint. It is always a good idea to use a hair dryer to drive off any moisture prior to top coating, but the obvious solution is stay out of A/C when coating. Dave

Epoxy a section of an old blank inside or over the end of current rod blank. Or you can add a removable fighting butt like used on fly rods.

I think most just fold over the ends like a cotter pin once inserted in the weight. To remove any wiggle you can use some epoxy and dip the hook hanger before inserting. Usually it will take care of itself when gluing in anyway but won't hurt. Yes it is usual for the balsa to suck it up. Super glue (dollar general store) works better. Get some nitrile or latex gloves and cut the fingers off to make some finger cots or buy some and use your finger to spread it over the balsa.

You can buy belly weights with hook hangers molded into them here: http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Muskie-Bait-Parts/Plug-Belly-Weight-Inserts.html I like them because it keeps construction simple. However, it's just as good as far as the final product is concerned to drill a hole for the belly hook hanger and then drill hole(s) for the belly weights, and that offers you more options about where to place the ballast. Of course, you have to fill/repair all the holes you make in the bait after you epoxy in all the hardware. I use Elmer's water based wood filler for that because it's fast and easy to sand smooth. It's worth noting that the lower the ballast is in the body of the lure, the more stable the lure tends to be. But sometimes you want to place the ballast higher in the body to generate some body roll in addition to the wiggle. This is something that encourages the bait to "hunt", a desirable trait - if you get everything else right. My best advice for a new hobby builder - start out by copying a successful commercial wood bait that you particularly admire. They have been engineered and tested to work. And buy a small digital scale to weigh all the components that go into your bait so you can make as exact a copy as possible and later, so you can document how you built a good bait that you want to replicate. Building crankbaits is an exacting craft. You need to document how you build your baits if you want to improve later versions of that bait.

But no one should be "cheap labor". If you're willing to work, you deserve a decent wage. And decent means you can live off it, and raise a family.