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Stirred it up and it works fine. Also found a bottle of hardener from the old stuff. Tested a little in a batch and again, worked as it used to.

I have been playing with Fusion 360 for a bit and have designed a few lure bodies with the program. I have seen some cool templates printed with a 3D printer, thought I would give it a try. These are for an undefined pumpkinseed pattern. Link to gallery image: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/17764-crankbait-templates/

Gary, Every wooden bait is different, so I don't know any hard and fast formulas for how much weight to use. When I make a balsa crank, I seal it with runny super glue, to make it waterproof temporarily, Then I use .072 sst screw eyes both as the line tie and rear hook hanger, and as a temporary belly hanger, so I can add my trebles and split rings to get a true reading of how the bait sits in the water. Once I've got it ready, I float it in a bucket of water, to see how it sits. I typically have a similar crank that I'm trying to match, so I'll put it in the water next to the one I'm making. I add lead weights to the belly treble hook points, until I get the two baits to sit the same in the water. Then I take the temp. screw eye and weights off, weigh them, including the weight of the temp. screw eye, and, if I have a belly hanger that's close, I take out the temp. screw eye, and, using the screw eye hole as a pilot, I drill a larger hole for the weighted belly hanger. Once I've got the hole drilled and have test fit the hanger, I coat the inside of the new hole with runny super glue, and let it soak in to strengthen the balsa around the hole. Finally, I coat the inside of the hole with gap filling super glue, and push in the belly hanger, turning it crossways, so the treble will straddle the bait and not cause too much hook rash. Once I've got the belly weight right for that particular bait, I write it down onto the pattern I'm using, so I'll know for next time. I hope this helps.

Ok, now go back and read the very beginning of this thread starting with the title. Again, I'm not trying to be smart with you but the person posting, and everyone else, including myself, was talking about the painting and curing with the weed guard cast in the jig head. The guys commenting before you posted were describing the heat resistant tubes that go over top of the weed guard to allow you to apply heat to the head to paint and cure without messing up the weed guard. You then said you can get a cheaper version of the tubing for 1/1000 of the price from a hardware store. Just so you understand some of our terminology, heat resistant TUBE goes over a weed guard to keep it from melting when it has been cast in the head, heat resistant PINS are used to create a hole in which to glue a weed guard in after the paining and curing is finished. I think you commented without reading the other posters, and as Cadman has said, most everyone here has been using Teflon pins for quite some time, the OP wants help with keeping the weed guards from blooming out when he heats the head. After your answer I understand what happened, you failed to read what the thread was about and are confused over tubes and pins, no big deal just remember in the future not to assume and carefully read what the post is about and you'll be fine.

Whooooa , just Trying to share the type of tubing he uses... that’s what you wanted me to share? no need to jump my case. It works for him . I haven’t tried it so I’ll be sure to let you know. As for his website I have no idea if he even has one. He mostly sells to bait shops around lake Barkley, ky area called all-American jigs.

Creek Mouth, With what you posted here based on the information you supplied, majority of the guys on TU have been using teflon pins in the same fashion for the last 6+ years as what your guy is doing. So according to you he puts in the Teflon pin into the weedguard hole before he paints to keep the paint from going into the hole, and then he pulls it out after painting and glues in his weedguard. I don't know if you pour or not, but there is nothing new about his process. I am going to bet that he learned about using Teflon pins (or whatever he uses) from this site. Thanks for the info though. BTW can you PM me his website so I can see his $6.00 football jigs, I am very curious.

I’ve found pulling the Teflon before I bake or heatset the powder best. I can remove the paint off my pin easier. For me, if I bake the paint on my pin it’s much harder to remove.