redg8r

Foiling isnt limited to foil tape, its the most convienent, but you could use a low mil aluminum foil, mylar, even leaf if applied right. I agree rustoleum chrome is one of the best in the rettle cans (excluding Alsa's) but topcoat always kills it for me. It's the way theyre made, they arent made to be topcoated. I once had a "bright" idea to spray crome the "inside" of a clear body before gluing it up, didnt work, the underside of the paint is "dull" just as if it were topcoated.

Exactly, retail price dont reflect the production investment, ROI could take years. Vacuum metalisation is what most use to chrome plastic parts. electroplating can be done after a copper paint base coat, yet still not cheap. Foiling is the most affordable for diy'ers, but more labor intensive, once buffed out, they shine up nice.

Woodsac put down the hobby bout a year ago to focus on another, photography. Lemme tell ya, he's just as talented behind the lens. Hated to see him go & would love to see him back someday.

Hi Danny, The cheese is correct, but i'll touch on a few of your questions... #1 Look for a sanding sealer instead of conditioner, unless your staining your baits. I typically will only prime my bass baits, if your fishing for toothy critters, sealing is preferred. #2 Spray cans are fine, many guys do great work with rattle cans, hang on to the airbrush, when your skill& patience increases, you'll be glad you have it. #3 Epoxy is a great topcoat, searching here will turn up tons of tips on topcoats, epoxy usually requires a drying wheel, but theres other methods explained here. #4 either, or both....sparingly. #5 Hang onto your first baits, they will be priceless to you as time goes on. enjoy

I once used food coloring...........once. Water based food coloring + Hot oil based plastisol ____________________ Interesting polkadot paint job in the wife's kitchen.

Like Coley said, RPM's are the same, regardless of distance from the shaft. I think what he was getting at is with a higher RPM & a bait on a holder, centrifugal force might push the topcoat to the end farthest from the wheel.

Coley's right, but for our practical purposes you wont extend the bait from the shaft far enough for centrifugal force to be a factor, especially at low RPM's it might be a factor at 14rpm, but not 4-6rpm. The reasoning behind using a drying wheel is to allow gravity its due time on as much surface area as possible to allow the topcoat to level properly & prevent it from getting a chance to droop or drip. At 14rpm, if your handy enough, you could use 2 gears or pulley/belt to reduce the ratio to 3:1 meaning that the drive shaft rotates 3 times while the driven shaft (wheel) turns only once. That'll give you @ 4.5 rpm. If you could find a pulley to fit your motor shaft with a 1" dia. & use a belt to attach it to a 3" pulley on the driven shaft, you'll be in business if the motor can output the needed torque, which is just as important as RPM. Good luck, let us see it if you get 'er goin.

Just to clear up any potential confusion, "Sugar" as referred to here is actually a clear polyester flake, correct? Actual food sugar is not a good additive. I heard someone ask this before, just to be clear.

Yep, epoxy surely works, Ive used shellac, clear acrylic, polyurethane. Sculpey makes a clear glaze that goes on & bakes to cure, but from the looks of it, it isnt very viscous & might impede the detail. for the glossiest coat, diluted 5min epoxy is the cats ass & would stand up to any solvent based mold release you choose. More importantly you need a good mold release, Ive heard of people using paste wax, diluted in a little mineral spirits, vaseline diluted the same. professional releases made for releasing from polyester is a sure bet. After the polyester mold sets up, the heat will soften the master. if you dont mind destroying the master, thats the best time to remove it, if not make sure the mold fully cools first. You doing a 1 part mold correct?

Cool thread fellas, Me & a fat Snook, didnt weigh her, in a hurry to get er back in the water, probably 38-42 inches.

Good info, Rodney, our resident patent guru debunked this before, but unfortunately many still put faith in this process. I contacted Mr. Shaver, the author of the above mentioned blog. He is a patent attourney & fly tying enthusiast who joined us today. Hopefully if he has time, he can help answer these hot topic concerns. Thanks for the links. [PS. moving this to "The Docks"]

To my knowledge there is no current printed periodical devoted to the general luremaking craft. Theres some fly tying or rodbuilding rags, im sure, but all encompassing? dont think so. I know of 2 different sites that announced intentions to print a periodical at one time, neither made it to print.

Ive been drooling over this machine since it was first introduced a couple years ago. Craftsman is a liscensed reseller. The only downsides Ive heard is that its very loud (uses flex shaft drive) & the software offered by sears/craftsman is crippled. Carvewright, the actual manufacturers are offering a more robust software solution & working on a probe attachment. Whether it can efficiently carve baits is still unseen, as its intended use is one-sided carving, however I'm a custom woodworker by day & would love to try the thing out on alot of different projects.

Request denied, we're keeping it here until you add your photos to it. Hope you get your clearcoat dilema figured out, I'd try & help, but I have no experience with that brand.

Dull bits could be the culprit, but by looking at the photos, it looks like the wood has some wild grain which is more likely your problem. mind if I ask what type of wood that is? When selecting wood, look for cuts with the straightest, most uniform grain pattern & keep the grain running from nose to tail when you carve. You do have some chipping of the wood around the ballast holes also, so its most likely a combination of the 2, dull bits & poorly chosen wood. Don't give up, the carving job looks pretty darn good, get ya some fresh bits & straighter grained wood & you should be good to go. definitely predrill for your screweyes or you might split em again. If you're set on salvaging those, glue & clamp the splits, then use some type of putty (wood/joint compound/bondo) to refill the damaged areas. It might not pruduce a perfect result, but I know its tough to lose the work you put into it. Making a little extra effort to repair the bait is good practice & they might even go on to catch ya some fish.

Yes, if the supplier didnt instruct you already, you should protect yourself. The paint ive used contained Cyclohexanone along with thinning solvents like Methyl ethyl ketone, like all solvents, it will evaporate if not tightly sealed.

How did you get the RPM's on a cieling fan down around 6 RPM? Also, how's the torque? interesting.

Sweet tip, wouldve never though of that.

Incomplete pours, excessive buildup on the spout, & lifting of material when cleaning the spout are signs of premature cooling. Going on what you've posted, I gotta ask, Are you pouring in a cold climate, garage, basement, outdoors? I ask because you say you have the temp to 350 which is good, you could go 375, but not much more, so that leads me to think you plastic is cooling too fast & your molds are cold. just my

http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=773 I'll see if I can dig up my old pics of mine.

Theres a post here about modifying a presto fry cooker, but I'm not sure about a frydaddy. The presto has an adjustable thermostat & if I'm correct the frydaddy doesnt. How are you not burning your plastic in the frydaddy?

I thought the post was fine, as I have watched the site for awhile. He has handfulls of other online mags, one in particular focuses on avoiding the high cost of making & buying lures by trapping your own live bait. Anyway, I recieved an email this morning from Mr. Hamon: I havnt really a clue what he's talking about other than accusing us of violating his copyright by a TU member linking from this post to his website. He wants me to ask permission to link to his site, which I'll decline & prohibit from here out. He got a free plug here in TU & asked it be removed....brilliant!

Depending on the file type, you can post it here in the forums. we'd be happy to host the chart with credit to those involved. Good luck, need help lemme know.

http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7509&highlight=all%201800%20forum%20attachments%20gone

You were right, again, thanks for the tip.