Lincoya

Phil, I own two 500CX's. One of the CX's has a growl in it when you reel it in. The other one is excellent. I have had both of them for a couple of years. I also have a 500CX PT that I have had for almost a year now. It is smooth as silk. If you can spare the extra cash, the PT is the way to go. Gene

Several years ago I saw a lathe attachment for a drill press. It was basically nothing more that a heavy piece of steel that attached to the drill press table and was used as a rest. The turnings are all done vertical instead of horizontal. There was also a bearing that mounted to the table which acted as the live center. Gene

Rob, Go the fishing department in Wal-mart and buy some minnow nets. They make some great scale patterns. Also, check your local fabric stores, Hobby Lobby, or any other craft stores that may be available in your area. A tip for using the tulle: get some aerosol spray adhesive, spray one side of the tulle (not the lure), let the adhesive dry and stick it to the side of your lure. Spray your paint, peel off the tulle and you're ready to finish painting. BTW, this tip comes from Coley. Gene

I went to my local sign shop and had them make me 250-1/4-inch yellow "dots", 250-1/4-inch red "dots", and 500-1/8-inch black "dots". That was 500 eyes. I paid about $20 for them. The "dots are vinyl which is basically the same as the electrical tape. You can have whatever sizes you want made. If you decide to have this done, you can save a little money if you "weed" them yourself. "Weeding" means removing all of the unwanted trim from around the dots. Gene

I use what is called "Diamond Dust". You can find it at any good craft store. I mix a SMALL amount in with my clearcoat and brush it on. Gene

Two other things to consider when buying a bandsaw: 1.) The availabillity of blades. In other words, is the length of the blade a popular size? Some saws have blades that are uncommon in size and therefore hard to find 2.) Does the saw have two wheels or three that the blades runs on? Three wheels put more stress on the blade causing premature breakage. I would recommend a two wheel saw. Oh, I own a bandsaw and a scrollsaw. I'll take the bandsaw any day. Gene

Pete, No, I haven't moved out yet but if continue to spent all my time out there I'll be adding a bathroom next, if you know what I mean. Yes, the bench is in the area where my lathe was. I moved the lathe to the back wall next to the bandsaw and dust collector. Jerry, I added the lip to save me some time. You know, to keep me from having to pick all of that crap up everytime I knock it off the bench. Reeves, You should have seen it before I cleaned it up; especially while I was building the cabinets. Blades, I see that you have a little room left on your bench so, I have about a hundred crankbaits that need to be painted that you can add to that empty space. Just take your time painting them. I won't need them until late next week. Gene

KC, The fridge is on the other side of the shop. I'll make sure that it's stocked when you come to visit.

Here is my newly re-vamped work space. I built the bench earlier this year but I just finished building, painting, and hanging the upper cabinets this past weekend. I still have to move into the cabinets and install some lighting. Gene

If you want basswood try this link: Heinecke Wood Products . They have excellent quality basswood at the best prices that you can find anywhere. No, I don;t get any kickback from them. Gene

How much free wood do you want? Every time that you go to the lake fishing how much wood do you see on the banks? Besides making my own lures I also carve human faces and I pick up all of the wood I could want for carving. All you have to do is pick it up, take it home, cut it into usable pieces and make lures out of it. You will need to learn a little about what your picking up, if that important to you though. If it doesn't make a difference, you're set. The wood is also cured and ready to use. In other words, no long wait for drying. If you want cedar (eastern red) or juniper, they aren't hard to spot once you know what you're looking for. They are usually very slick and a silver gray color on the outside. Around Percy Priest Lake alone here in Tennessee there is enough eastern red cedar to keep all of us in lure making wood for the next several years. No joke! Besides, while you're out there collecting wood you can restock your tackle box with lures that other fishermen have lost throughout the year. Gene

Lacquers are also very suseptable to "worm burns". In otherwords, the chemical that keeps the plastic worm soft will also soften the lacquer. I guess that's not a problem though as long as you don't get your lures and worms mixed together. Gene

I cut my lip slot while I still have a flat side to work with as this helps keep the lip slot square. However, I go one step further. I don't worry so much about getting the exact size for the lip with the saw. Once I cut the slot on my bandsaw I use a diamond bit (which looks like a very small drum sander) in my Dremel to size the slot perfectly. If your lip is 1/8th-in thick, just use the 1/8th diamond bit and run it through the slot. The bit will follow right along in the slot. No wandering off track. The final cut makes a nice snug fit. Same size every time. And it takes less than a minute to do. The diamond bits are not true Dremel bits. They are made by several other manufacturers and come in different styles, sizes, and shaft sizes and are almost indestructible. The bits that I use for the lip slot look like the ones in the link below. You can find them at flea markets sometimes as individual bits for around $2.00 a piece. Harbor Freight sells a set of 20 assorted bits for $4.99. If you need more information, just ask and I'll see what I can do for you. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40547 Gene

I thought that if you were closer, that we might could meet somewhere and talk lures. I'm just southeast of Nashville and travel to Alabama occasionally to visit my mother-in-law. She lives south of Florence but that's still 3 hours from you. Gene

My experience with privet (which is only when I've trimmed it) is that it has a bad tendency to split. I would suggest that you pass it up. Where in Alabama are you located? Gene

Beekeeper, I had a friend many years ago that had a wooden boat that his father built. He told me that it was painted with epoxy paint. Gene

Jay, It sounds as though you are spraying "downhill" as I'll call it. That means that you are spraying the belly and the overspray is falling on to sides. Try turning your bait upside down and spray from the side down over the belly or "uphill". This should help you control your overspray. I hope that's clear as mud. Gene

SmokeyJ, Actually, there was a lure made many years ago that worked the same as the one in the video. It had a string that was pulled out when it was casted or you could just give the rod a quick jerk and the cord would pull out and wind up the "motor" inside. Gene

Sonny, Try wiping your lure blank with rubbing alcohol. It will raise the grain the same as water but will evaporate much faster. Gene

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm already using as a sealer and I like the way that it works. I tried it on a lure painted with enamels as a top coat and it disolved some of the paint so, I was curious to see if anyone was having any success with it as a top coat. Gene

Army Doc, Are you looking for something to carve & paint or just something to paint? Gene

Anyone using proprionate as a top coat? If you are, are you sealing your paint with something else before dipping? And are you having any trouble with your prop blushing? Gene

Witchcraft Tape ( WTP Inc. ) is a good place to start along with Jann's-Netcraft. Gene