RiverMan

I have mailed out several dozen lures in the past months and until today haven't had a single one of them come back for repair. Well today I was following up with a few guys that have my baits and had a guy tell me that the finish on one side of a bait came off. I might expect this to happen with some of the photo-finish baits but this particular bait was painted with the airbrush/water based paints. He told me that he's caught many pike and some garpike on the bait too but most were small, less than 10 pounds. I asked him to send a photo but have yet to receive one....he's in Canada. I just can't hardly believe the Etex could come off with three coats! Im guessing that somehow it got a hole in the finish and let water get in against the water-based paint and then the whole side came off. This really concerns me...not sure if this is just a "freak" thing or something that's just a result of the serious teeth on these critters. Anyone else have something like this happen? Thx. Jed

For others trying to watch the video you might have to right click on the link and choose "save as" then save to hard drive and open. I couldn't get it to open up otherwise. Chip, Lots of belly roll to that bait, should certainly "fool em". Jed

Great idea Lunge, will try that and thank you! Jed

I would totally agree with Lunge...bigger is better.

On this same subject, has anyone found a particular type of netting that provides a really great scale pattern? The stuff I have now works ok but could certainly be better. Jed

My BeerBelly Bait is 6" long (15cm) and very similar to the magic maker. I use a 3/0 "roundbend" Mustad. Jed www.bikinibaitcompany.com

"Overspray" would be an understatement Rich. The good news is that one side of my shop has now been repainted so starting today I am turning my chair to face the other way....should have the other side painted within a week or so. I have been having a large amount of trouble with overspray at all air pressures, particularly when working on the belly...the beer belly. Last night though I turned the brush down to about 20# and it definitely helped reduce this problem but certainly hasn't eliminated it. I find at 20# there is fairly narrow window of where the paint is either "too wet" and hits the bait looking like water color paints or too dry and hasn't properly atomized. Things are improving though as last night I was able to keep spraying for quite some without clogs, wooohoo! Thanks! Jed

Rich, The 45 PSI came right from Paasche and to be honest really helped things start working for me. I also met a guy through Ebay that does some of the most amazing paint-jobs I have ever seen on cranks and he told me to run about the same pressure. I will try to reduce it some next time and see what happens though now that I have thinned the paint some from what I was using before. The psi dial is on the tank and it holds very steady so long as the tank is allowed to refresh itself. I can spray for about 10 minutes or so before it will kick in...scares me half to death everytime it does! It kicks in at about 100# in the tank and shuts off at 120. Yessireeebobby! Jed

Good point, hadn't thought about that Corey, thx. Jed

Not sure what you mean but the tips need to be tightened. I rinse everything real well in warm water after each session of spraying and things look totally clean to me but I will start soaking the tips in thinner. Most of the problems I have been having are with the metallic colors but do have hassles with all paints. I found that by turning the PSI up to about 45 alot of my troubles have gone away. I posted this same question on a Yahoo Airbrush Group and half the people told me it was the Wal-Mart Paint and half told me the Wal-Mart paint works fine, lol. Go figure...sounds a bit like our presidential candidates. Thank you. Jed

I use a router on my baits without any jig at all...just my fingers, all seven of them, lol. Seriously though I am nervous every time I use the router, it's the most dangerous tool I have for sure. Be careful! Jed

Yea that was good, no idea how those poor folks can take living with those kinds of storms. Of course I can't understand living in a city where you have to worry about traffic and gangs either but people continue to live there. jed

Several options for you: 1. You could have just left the lead in, nothing wrong with a bait that sinks slowly so long as it swims fine. 2. Now that you have removed the lead and find it too light cast it with a spinning outfit, they work better for "light" work anyway or add a couple splits shots in front of the bait 12 inches or so. Ever tried casting a 1/16th oz crappie jig with a baitcast? Good luck! 3. Use a more buoyant wood next time such as balsa or cedar so that addittional lead (and weight) is required thus improving casting distance. 4. Increase the size of the bait. RM www.bikinibaitcompany.com

Great job Terry..what brush are you running if you don't mind? Jed

You are welcome. If you are buying that many I would probably also check Stamina and Moores. Do you have a website so we can see your stuff? Jed www.bikinibaitcompanny.com

Ph: 660-647-2488

Hey some great ideas guys! We don't of course have to select just one charity source but I am thinking it may make the most sense for the amount of dollars we are likely to raise. Another option for us is to give to one charity this time and another next...assuming there will be a next. To all that have posted a potential charity source for us thank you....certainly not trying to ignore the ideas that anyone has. At this point I feel most strongly about helping the TU member that jigjointer has mentioned if this person is willing to accept our contributions. I think we will all get a great sense of satisifaction knowing exactly who we are helping. If for some reason it doesn't work out then we will consider the other sources. Someone willing to make a motion? Do I hear a second? Jed

Hi, This subject has been discussed before and if my less than perfect memory serves me it was Skeeter that mentioned the cost of laser-cut baits. He will probably chime in this thread soon but if not send him a PM. Jed

Jigjointer, I am all for that idea if this particular person is willing to accept some hospitality from TU. I am guessing that the guys here would also support this concept. Funny Farm, Do you have a contact for that charity? Jed

Hmmm, that's amazing you are thinking it's the needle Corey. The needle looks ok to me...the cone is clear the tip looks fine, heck I don't know! As far as color........no it happens with all the colors although a green metallic I was spraying was the worst. Last night though I was trying to spray black....stuff was like water, stop-go, stop-go, no paint then ALL the paint. Headed to the garage to try again, wish me luck. Oh if you hear a thumping sound, that would be me beating my head against the wall. Jed

You are an arteeest FF. It looks like an artifical heart with eyes to me. Jed

So Corey are you saying that you are using that little cup that fits on top most of the time now? I think that would be a disaster for me, have enough trouble keeping the paint in the jar! I tried several days ago to modify the length of the tube in the jar, no change. Thanks though for the suggestion. Cody you are scaring me cuz I haven't been "overly" careful with the needles although I haven't been particularly rough on them either. I doubt though that this is the problem as the paint reacts the same with all of my needles and has done this since day one. I tell ya during the 10 seconds out of every hour that I get my brush to spray right it is truely remarkable. lol. Jed

Well I guess it's good to hear others are having similar problems, "misery loves company" you know. I too have found an increase in air pressure helps, been running about 35psi. I also dip the brush in water all the time and it will spray water fine but put the paint bottle back on and I'm right back to where I started. I also found a nice little stash of paint goo in the metal fitting that sits on top of my jar, for those that haven't checked this spot take a look. There must be something else to the problem though as otherwise the big guys painting hundreds of baits could never get their job done. What I am wondering is if it's the brush, are there brushes that eliminate this problem? Jed

Last week I had my paasche single action working like a dream. Sprayed several colors and all went along just great. Last night, however, the brush turned into a monster! Here is what's going on. The brush will spray perfectly then stop completely. I give the needle a turn and it sprays again for about 5 seconds then stops. I turn the needle again in either direction, same story, five seconds then it stops. The fact that it starts spraying again when I turn the needle makes me think it has to do with the a particle in the needle but I can never find anything clogging it. The breather hole on the jar is clear, the nozzle on the top of the jar I took apart, it's also clear. The tube in the jar is clear. The paint itself has no particles or problems that I can see. The gun will spray water just fine. I cannot seem to identify why the brush is doing and it is driving me crazy! It sprays, stops, sprays, stops. I wrote a guy that does alot of spraying and he told me that this is something the Paasche brushes are known for and that his does the same thing. Are you guys able to get paint to spray and spray without stops? Thank you! jed

The results Blades had with the Devcon is interesting. Some of you might recall that I put a Devcon covered bait in the window of my truck back in June or so. Well the plug is still there and has now withstood a full summer in Eastern Oregon...I live in the Desert Guys, it's hot here! I would be happy to post pics of the tortured bait if anyone is interested.....pretty boring. Anyway, that bait has taken temps of over 90 degrees (air temp) for literally weeks on end and there may be a "slight" yellowing, no cracking whatsoever. On some of the days that were over 100 degrees I looked at the bait and the Devcon had pulled away from the wood and there was a flex to it, like a bubble. I believe this was a result of the glue below the photo-finish tho. What's interesting though is some of the baits I made a year ago with Devcon that have never seen a minute of sunlight have more yellowing on them than the bait in the window, explain that! Several have far more yellow than I would like to see for a bait that is only a year old. I have tried FlexCoat and didn't like how thin it went on but some serious builders have told me they very much like it. Devcon is the most friendly to use I think but I have settled on Etex because of its reported longevity. Jed