Skeeter

Most of the painting is probably done by hand. But decals and photo finishes are used also. The clearcoat is usually some type of epoxy or clear lacquer. I am sure that the big manufactures have some type of automated way of painting their lures. Do a search on the site for photo finishes and foiling. You will be amazed at what comes up. We have alot of sharp folks here. They do alot of amazing things as far as making, painting, and clearcoating baits. We also have some extremely tallented painters here. Everything that you need is on this site. If not..... just ask. Skeeter

Use the 5 minute epoxy for lips, weights, and screw eyes. Use the long cure 2500psi for clearcoating. Of course the rest of the guys on this site know that I really don't have an opinion about Devcon vs. other clearcoats. But I kinda like the stuff. Skeeter

The RPM is correct. Go to Wal Mart and buy a rotissere motor setup for a grill. It works perfectly. It will cost you $19.00. Skeeter

I'm with BobP. Skeeter

One of my guarded crankbaits is a blem. Now and then we all get a bait that is a treasure. We can't explain what makes it a treasure..... but it is. But customers thowing out money for high priced lures expect perfection. Can't say that I blame them either. This is why we don't sell some of these treasures and hang on to them. Their loss huh? Skeeter

Martin, Beating up a lure is just a fact of life. Things wear. All that you can do is to make the bait as tough as you can without sacrificing the action of the lure. NO ONE is tougher on a crankbait than I am. My baits take alot of abuse from rocks and everything else. Many of the crankbait makers on this site are constantly looking for ways to make a bait tougher. No matter what we all come up with.... the baits will still wear. But the materials, time, and the process that a crankbait maker uses when he makes a crankbait will determine if his bait will hold up better than others. Skeeter

All I know is that anytime that I have used lacquer sanding sealer I have had that problem. There is something in that stuff that many types and brands of paint just don't like. If the bait is made of hardwood the urethane will do just fine. No.... it does not completely seal the wood. So what????? If you put your clearcoat on completely then you will not have to worry about water getting to the wood. What the urethane does is coat the wood and somewhat seal it. Many times folks will have trouble with bubbles in their paint. This is caused from air being trapped under the paint. The trapped air comes from pores in the wood. The urethane will help lessen this. If you make the bait completely out of balsa then I would do the same thing and then clearcoat the bait with devcon just like you would a finished bait. This seals the wood and really hardens the bait. Paint over the devcon and then clearcoat the bait again. Many say this is overkill. But I charge $20.00 for a one of my squarebills. The ones posted on the site are not the ones that I make for sale. That is alot of money for a crankbait. For that kind of money customers deserve the best that I can make. You can take a completed crankbait that is made of soft balsa and press on it hard. Many times you can feel the bait flex even when clearcoated with epoxy. This is why I double coat balsa lures. Many thin their epoxy with acetone and such to get it good and watery so that it soaks down into the wood. This will work, but it leaves an orange peel type of surface on the bait. The only way to get rid of that is either to sand it smoothe or either primer or basecoat the hell out of the lure. Many say that they thin the epoxy because they do not want the added weight of a full coat of epoxy on the lure. But by the time they primer or base coat the lure white, they have added alot of weight with the extra coats of primer or paint. Balsa is VERY forgiving when you weight it. It can take the extra coat of devcon. Tbait may be right also. If water is getting through an unclearcoated spot in your lure and it gets to the wood then that could be causing the peeling. When wood or especially balsa get wet then it will swell and crack all kinds of stuff including the clearcoat. I had this happen also. Is the clearcoat cracked? Skeeter

The problem is your sanding lacquer. Otherwise know as lacquer sanding sealer. Get rid of it! Just wipe some polyurethane on the bait with a rag and let it dry. After it is dry then lightly sand the bait smoothe. Then just shoot your HOK lacquer for a base coat an finish painting the lure. That is all you need to do. You are killing yourself with all of this multi brand stuff that you are using. The best way to shoot baits is to keep it simple. Skeeter

BEAUTIFUL!!! Do you know how much pressure the die is using to punch out the lip? Skeeter

Don't let Husky fool you. That is not an avatar that he got off of that web site. I believe that is a true picture of him when he was a wee lad. He has always been a curious sort. Skeeter

Glad you enjoy the site AaronM. We all are learning here. Otherwise we wouldn't be on the site. Making crankbaits is probably one of the hardest of the lures to make. There are allot of variables in making these lures. I am into my 5th year of making crankbaits. I had a new design fail on me last week. (Back to the drawing board) But if you love it.... you will figure it out. You are right. You will have to weight your baits. Take one thing at a time. Get the weight right first. Then if the lure does not run right you can start to play with the lip. If I can help you in any way just let me know. There are allot of tallented baitmakers on this site and it is a wonderful thing that they are all willing to share. Welcome. Skeeter

Thanks, it would be interesting to see. Skeeter

So then your actual cutter is in two halves, then the shoe lines up the two halves, and holds them together. Then that is put into the press? Skeeter

What is a die shoe? Skeeter

Yes, you can do this. I do not have a press but I do know that it can be done. I really don't think that 500lbs. is enough pressure to cut it. Also the polycarbonate can be no more than 1/8th inch thick. Really it needs to be about half of that. You need to have a perfect drawing of the lip and get a good machinest to make the stamp. The stamp should cost you between 80 and 180 bucks. Also remember that the stamp will have to be made to fit the press that you buy. Skeeter

Normally folks would try auto clear instead of the devcon or other type of epoxy. If you use the epoxy you will not need to worry about auto clearcoat. To share information is what we are all here for. Welcome. Skeeter

I use Devcon just as Tally. The thing that we all want to do is shoot the clearcoat. Brushing and rotating is just tedious. But...... there is just nothing tougher than an epoxy clearcoat. Devcon, Etex, and Brand XXX, it just doesn't matter as long as it is a high grade of epoxy. Auto clears just plain chip and tear down much quicker than epoxy. I don't care how expensive the clear is. All paints..... water, lacquer, and enamel work just fine with the epoxies. There are other things to use, but the cost is outrageous for most of us. I have watched many folks pass through this site with all kinds of ideas for clearcoats. Many claimed that they were going to come out with their own super special clearcoats. I haven't seen them offer it yet. I have also listened to the folks that say they spray epoxy through their airbrush. Maybe..... but it is way more trouble than it is worth. Use whatever paint that you like. There is a TON of tallent on this site with different types of paints. But use some form of epoxy for your clearcoat. Skeeter

That's the stuff!!! I never tried it. Let me know how it works if you use it. Skeeter

Welcome to Crankbait Making 101. I wish I had a dollar for everytime I had to start something over. I'd be rich! Skeeter

Thanks Mike, But there are folks on this site that are more tallented than I am. I'm just an old guy with a passion. Much like the others. You do good work. Skeeter

Using car paints will work just fine. The only problem is the automotive clears. They don't seem to hold up too well, especially when the crankbait is thrown around rock. I have talked to paint jobbers and they feel that you could put some kind of flex additive to the clear to help make it more durable. Many of the old bait makers used alpha - cryl as a clearcoat. But the EPA banned it due to the fact that it contained lead. They did away with it about 3 yrs. ago. Personally I think any type of epoxy clearcoat is the best. Skeeter

Great job! How does it fish? Skeeter

finlander, It is a trial and error thing. savacs I was the one that put that the line tie should not go past the half way mark on the lip. But I was talking about baits for bass fishing. All of my baits are less than 4 inches long. On baits that size I start to loose wobble in my baits with the line tie 3/4 of the way out on the lip. In my early days of bait making, every lure that had the line tie out toward the end of the lip had no wiggle at all. The bait just came in straight. From reading posts from guys that make musky plugs I see that different things work for those large baits that will not work for a smaller one. How big is the bait that you are making with the line tie out that far? Skeeter

Congratulations!! Feels damn good doesn't it? Now go make another one!!!!!! Skeeter

Anytime you remove wood you are going to lighten the bait. They weight of the rattle is greater than the weight of the wood removed. Any air space will be replaced with the wood putty. Skeeter