RiverMan

Also Dean, have you noted any problems with the Kilz wanting to stick when you put it over the top of the PC? I have found with the Shellac I use that it will stick but the coating goes on thinner than when the Shellac is left off. jed

I still haven't found a sealing process I am completely happy with either. I think after running 400 experiments tho that the type of wood makes a big difference. Some woods expand much more than others when wet and will thus have a greater liklihood of failure in the event they absorb water. I have been working with hard maple lately and it is a wonderful wood, very little grain to deal with and hard as a rock. It seems tho that any wood bait will fail if water gets to it so the outer seal is of paramount importance. I know of some builders that soak their baits for about 30 minutes in wood sealers which makes sense as it gives the wood time to absorb some of the sealer. For guys making small baits on this board I don't think the sealer is quite as critical but for those building the big guys as I am the problems escalate. Dean, have you ever tried soaking baits for an extended time, say 25 minutes, in the polycrylic? Windknot, Paint the bait and seal. Be careful to not go to heavy with the clear coat or you may see the action of the bait change and/or become non-existent. By the way, I have tested my screw eyes and the pulling power of an individual screw eye exceeds 140 pounds which is as hard as I could pull...they might be greater than 200 pounds for all I know. There isn't a bass or musky that will pull one out when it is properly set. Jed

An amazing amount of work there, great job!!

Guess it's one of those things that "when you think you have it all figured out"............you learn something new. I have always dried mine end over end but have found that there is a range of speed that works better than others. If you get the wheel going too fast it will cause the etex to puddle in various spots rather than remain even throughout the surface. Too slow and and it tends to gather at the nose and tail, strange. jed

Corey, I will be home this eve, call anytime up to 11pm pacific time. thx. jed

I will try that overkill, will turn the heat down on them and see what happens. I will let you guys know tomorrow or the next day. Thank you! jed

Yea it probably does Dano, that's why I asked if heat affected it at all. I generally keep the drying room at about 85 degrees F. Strange tho, the small baits, little problem, big baits, big problem! jed

I dip it in on one end, flip it over dip the other and hang it til dry. I wrote you an email the other day Corey from the address on your web page.....did you get it? jed

I dip it in on one end, flip it over dip the other and hang it til dry. I wrote you and email the other day Corey from the address on your web page.....did you get it? jed

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I don't ever put on a "thick" coat Rob but I will give your suggestion a try. The reason I don't think it's coming from the etex is because the bubbles will keep coming from one spot like a hot spring at Yellowstone! I pop it, it's right back, you can pop the bubble a hundred times and it just keeps bubbling! The air has to be coming from the wood and or sealer. I also find that some baits bubble like crazy and others not at all. Some batches of wood bubble like crazy, others do not. And, the larger the bait, the worse the bubbles by far. My 6" baits are much better than the 1"x8" baits. I plan to experiment with some new sealers and primers....thanks again! jed

There are quite a few different places you can order unpainted bodies if that is what you are after...think Jann's caries them, maybe Stamina, perhaps others too. jed

Does anyone know if etex will have the tendency to bubble if warmed up too much? The reason I ask is my drying room is about 85 to 90 degrees F and wondered if this could be part of the problem I am having. Just cuious as to whether or not anyone else has seen this happen. jed

Nope, sounds interesting tho.

I think it's a great idea Karl. Dtrs.....awesome idea, gonna try it! thank you. jed

Should work fine scoop...lots of the big name builders out there use that same wood. Wear a mask when working with it tho. jed

Thank you..that should work! jed

Robert, Can you give me a model number for it? Thank you! jed

There is a BIG difference between eastern red cedar, like the stuff cedar chests are made of, and western red cedar. Western red cedar is very light, lighter in fact than basswood! Go to this link and you can see the specific gravity of all the cedars, yellow, eastern red, and western red. http://www.tuktupaddles.com/tuktu_paddles_wood.html I have used western red and had no problems but it wouldn't be my first choice for baits if you are building musky or salt-water lures because it's so soft, great for smaller species like bass. Make sure you use a good sealer, it expands when wet because it is so porous. It is a very lively wood tho, great action!! Make sure you use long screw eyes and glue them in with epoxy! Anyone know what mask we should be using for etex? Stuff gives me a headache! jed

That's hilarious! Man can I ever related to ALL OF THAT travis. If I had a dig camera handy I would snap a pic for you of all the "misfit" baits I have...there is literally a 100 or more, might be 200 for all I know! About two weeks ago my new Iwata airbrush arrived in the mail, woohoo! Well during my lunch break I hurried home and decided I had time to paint one bait, you know, try out the new brush. So I fired up the compressor, attached the brush, the paint, set the pressure and was ready for my first attempt, this is gonna be great! I aimed the brush at a practice sheet, pushed the buttom and poof, blue paint everywhere!! I still don't know what caused this but blue paint went everywhere.....I mean everywhere! So, I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning blue paint off the curtains, table, floor, dog bed, houseplants, and several pieces of furniture.....it was horrible on the wall, took forever to get cleaned up. Ok, now I have maybe 15 minutes of lunch break left, time to clean the airbrush, forget trying to paint the bait! I carefully take off the end piece, then the next cone piece which is real tiny, loosen the nut in the back and out comes the needle, great. Rinse everything off and begin reassembling. All goes well until I get to that "tiny cone piece" that fits over the needle, "oh no, where is is it?". The very first damn time I have used this brush and I lost part of it! I look everywhere, floor, sink, floor again, nothing! I can't blame it on my wife, she's not here! I then figure I must have washed it down the sink...so out to the garage I go to get some tools in hopes it's stopped in the water trap. Open up the sink, disassemble the pipe and water starts spilling everywhere! With one hand holding the pipes together I reached for a dish and quickly slide it under the mess managing to catch half of the water in the dish, whew. I remove the trap and dump the rest of the water in the dish and to my delight, there's my brush part!!! I grab the part, carefully set it aside and dump the water in the dish down the sink............you guessed, hadn't reattached the pipes and the water ran right out and onto my feet!!! This is the honest to goodness truth!! Yes, building baits is a labor of love....................... jed

Years ago I tried mixing Toulene with silicone. An experienced hobbyists told me she would mix the stuff with 100% silicone until it was a liquid and then pour it over various items to be reproduced. I use "goo" at work for repairing waders and it never dries hard, it's like silicone...the stuff you are talking about must be something different... jed

I got mine last week and man are these things amazing! I had about 30 baits that all needed 4 screw eyes and I flat flew with this new tool! I would highly recommend this product to others on the board. jed

You guys are the best...I am still amazed at just how helpful and friendly folks are on this site!. Thank you. jed

Thanks Rick, they look awesome! By the way, I really like the name of your company, very cool. jed

I like that scale pattern Lapala, may try to work on something similar, thanks. Cody and Tom....great idea! The other night I put on the sticky backed foil and then layed some scale netting over the top of it. I then took a roller like you suggested Cody and roll over it several times...it did leave an impressiion but it's much more subtle than I would really like to have. I am always nervousabout the foil coming off the bait so personally I would prefer to get the scales "after" attaching the foil. I will work on several options tonight and if I come up with anything I will let you guys know....thank you. jed

I would really like to improve the scale patterns I have been doing on foil and thought maybe someone here could inspire me! I really would like to use the "stick on" tape stuff if all possible for it's convenience. I know guys have used the handles of various tools and "all thread" to make scale lines, any pics, suggestions, comments, other? RM