Skeeter

Dave, Why do you use the Minwax? Seems that you could just use the FC to coat the bare balsa and that should seal the wood and give you a smooth surface to start your painting. Skeeter

It was a hardwood flat bait. Skeeter

I will have to agree with Dave. Sounds like a compatibility problem. What you can do is this. I wipe a coat of polyurathane on the bait with a rag and let it dry. Touch sand it with 220 grit sandpaper. Then you can just use regular white latex enamel house paint for an undercoat. You will have to thin it with water. Then just shoot your Createx. I have used this metheod many many times with no problems. Skeeter

Dave, Sounds like you have been watching Bassmasters as long as I have. You are right. That is where I go the idea. And it works real well on baits also. My baits are weighted very closely. Sometimes that extra coat can cause problems for me. Devcon is heavy. Skeeter

fish45, You have an excellent airbrush in my opinion, I have the same one. Createx, for me, is not real easy to shoot. If you are only going to shoot 2 or 3 baits then I would use the silver cup and fill it about half way. Push the cup up into the receptical and turn it to the side. You don't need to push it in there hard. It will wedge into place and stay there. You do not need to thin Createx with water. The stuff is just pour and shoot. If you run out of paint in the cup, then just pop the top and pour in some more paint. This is the one thing that I really do like about Createx. Yes, you will need to clean the gun between colors. I would get a scrap piece of cardboard and just set the pressure on the gun to about 12 to 18 psi to start with. 18 psi. is about my max for Createx. Use the #3 tip. Take the red plastic back off of the gun and learn to shoot without it. This gives you access to the nut in the back to adjust your needle forward or backward. Loosen the nut and push the needle all of the way forward. Just be easy with it. You do not have to push hard. Then pull the needle back just a touch and tighten the nut lightly. Give the cardboard a shot of paint and see if it shoots smoothly. You do not want to see dots or splatter appearing as you shoot. If it does then increase the pressure about 2lbs. at a time until it quits. This is where you need to be on your pressure. Get that shooting finger in shape. Pushing down on the trigger increases the amount of air and pulling back on the trigger increases the amount of paint that the gun puts out. If you need more flow still then back the needle out a little more. This will give you more paint comming out of the tip. With Createx, I have found that you cannot make more than a couple passes over an area or the pait will blow and run. However it does dry fairly quickly and you can do another pass or two after a couple of minutes. If you really need too you can fill the jar with water and have it sitting next to you to clean the gun quickly for another color. Run about half of the jar through the gun. Then disconnect the jar and shoot the gun dry to blow out the excess water. I have done this before and it will work. However, I like to clean the gun completely before I change colors. Spray the water on a piece of cardboard and make sure that you are not getting any color out of the gun before adding another color. Clean the gun with hot soapy water in a butter bucket and some dish soap. Then rinse the gun with hot water. It may sound like a pain, but as you do it more and more you will get pretty quick with the whole process. If you have any more questions, like how to tear the gun down completely just let me know. It is an easy gun to maintain. Skeeter

Coley is right. No thinner. You will have about 10 to 15 minutes to coat your lure. Just make sure that you use the long drying Devcon and have everything set up and in place before you start. Don't forget to spin the lure to level out the clearcoat. You will need to spin it for 20 min. before you can just hang it to finish drying. I like to let the lure dry for 20 to 24 hrs. before use. However, I have used lures after 16 hrs. Skeeter

DARN !!!!!! Well Hughesy.... at least we tried. Skeeter

As most of you know, I have been doing ALOT of testing in my pool this year. One of the other things that I tested was the effects of different shapes and angles of lips in crankbaits. I had made a shallow running crankbait for myself to use for the fall. I had the lip in at a 40 deg. angle to the bait. The bait had a little too much wobble for me so I cut the current lip out an put in another one with the line tie about 1/8th further out on the lip. It really didn't make much difference. So I decided to thin the width of the lip. I took a dremel tool and thinned the lip in about 1/16th of an inch. It made no difference. I did it again and it still made no difference. So I got mad and thinned the width of the lip to about 1/4 of an inch wide from nose to the tip of the lip. And guess what? That's right, it still made no difference. Thinning the width of the lip will work on baits with a lip that comes mostly straight or with a slight down angle. It will tighten the action of the bait. It does not work with lips at severe angles to the body. I am sure that there had to be some change. Like in physics, for every action there is a reaction. But it was definitely not noticable to my eyes. The only way to tighten the action on one of these shallow divers, is to decrease the angle of the lip. Skeeter

One of the problems that most of us have run across is a hole that forms in the clearcoat after it has started to cure. Most of this has been with Devcon by my calculations. But, I am sure that it has happened with them all. I believe this is from a thin spot in the clearcoat as we spread it on. As the hardener begins to cure the epoxy resin, it shrinks. The thin spot appears, and we all start cussing. I have found a way to fix these holes. Let the current coat of Devcon completely cure. Then mix up a very small amount and put it in the holes or separations with a toothpick. Don't glob it in, just put enough in to fill the spot. Then put a piece of regular celophane tape over the hole and the wet Devcon and make sure that it is laying flat and smooth over the hole. Let it cure and then remove the tape. The tape will not stick to the bait and you will not be able to tell that the hole ever existed. It is perfect. I haven't tried this with the other clearcoats that are generally used on this site. But I don't know why it won't work with them either. If someone uses this metheod with the other clearcoats, please let me know how it works. Skeeter

OK guys, here's my 2cents. We all want to make our baits bullet proof. Painted well, pretty, and tough as nails. Angling777, I would say that if your coating passes the test, then believe your eyes. As far as hardness, I have found the following about Devcon. I believe it to be the hardest stuff out there. I have not had a bait yellow or fade. Many of these baits are years old. It will scratch. But they are very very shallow scratches. The bait is still well protected. But one thing that I think that we are all missing here is a factor that has never been mentioned. WOOD. What type of wood are you using? Balsa is just plain soft wood. As most of us know, you can dent it with a good pinch between the fingers. Devcon will flex!!!! I have dented balsa baits coated with Devcon by really squeezing the hell out of it. You can feel it when it starts to flex. I feel all clearcoats, regardless of what you use will flex. Some just easier or harder than others. I cannot cause any disfigurment of Devcon coated on hardwood baits. BUT...... I did have a guy take one of my hardwood baits and mess up the Devcon after it was cured. He came over to the house to buy some of my small round crankbaits. They guy asked me about the clearcoat that I use. I told him that it was the hardest clearcoat he will ever find. While he was looking one over, I turned my back to get some other baits to show him. When I did, this guy stuck the back of the bait in his mouth and bit down on it as hard as he could. That's right, this dude just bit the hell out of my bait like a shark. He put some really big holes in my bait!!!!!!! However, he never got through to the paint. That is why I use it. If a bass ever crunches down on a bait hard enough to do that to the finish, DON"T LIP HIM!!! If I use a clearcoat that scratches and dents with a finger nail, I wouldn't use it. That cut from a finger nail should tell the story. Skeeter

Joe, Regardless of what you use, you can never be guarenteed success 100% of the time. You just have to keep trying. This is what separates Excellent work from good work. I would try the Devcon long drying 2 ton epoxy for starts. Get it from Wal Mart near the paint section. Get some acetone from the same spot for cleaning you brushes. I use baby food jars to keep it in. Go the the model section and get the Testors white handled paint brush with the metal holding the bristles. If you don't the acetone will eat the handle of the brush. Follow what Coley says and you will be just fine. For gluing in the lip and stuff use the Devcon 5 minute epoxy. Get some of the glue down in the 1/32 holes that Coley mentioned and put the sucker in. IT WILL NOT COME OUT!!!! The face of the bait will break off before it pulls out. The cost for everything mentioned will be about $8.00. You can clearcoat at least 12 large baits with that much Devcon. It is a cheap experiment. Give it a try and let us know if you have any questions. Skeeter

I was lucky enough to get introduced to a man that had been making his own crankbaits for about 15 yrs. He ran his own business selling them for over 10 yrs. He was nice enough to point me in the general direction and give me advice as I went along. If you aren't lucky enough to have a mentor like him, then this is the best place in the world for information and support. But the bottom line for being successfull at this: You just plain have to love it. Skeeter

Hughesy, I too have the exact same problems you do with age. I'm 46 and alot of stuff is starting to go on me too. What you and I really need to worry about is the fact that Coley is older than both of us. Skeeter

Hughesy is right. Coley's ideas are very inovative and above the rest. Minds like his are what this craft needs. The thing that scares me, is that he is just starting. Kick ass Coley!!!!!! Skeeter

Dave, What do you seal your wood with? Also, what type of paint do you use for your white undercoat? One of the the things that I have discovered is that you cannot use lacqer based sanding sealer to seal your lure and then undercoat with water based paint. The sanding sealer causes the undercoat to peel. The lure will paint up just fine.....but as soon as the bait heats up in the sun it will cause the lure to bubble and the paint will peel off just like skinning a rabbit. Devcon will bubble and wrinkle right along with it. I have seen lures that have had slight color changes when fast curing Devcon was used. The quick and hot reaction of the hardener will cause this. Skeeter

It's the only way to go. The more you use it, the more you will love it. Skeeter

Vyatutas, I think that you can do this. If you made 500 lures and are able to sell your baits at 15 USD per lure then you could gross 7500 USD per year. I would try to sell your lures here in the U.S. or one of the other countries like England or maybe Germany. There are alot of fishermen in those countries too. There are fishermen that would pay 15 USD or more for a quality lure. If your lures catch fish and are of good quality, then I see no problem. I would try to make 100 lures and see how long it takes you. Then I would try to sell those and get a feel on how and where to sell them. This will all take time if you do it right. Check in your country on shipping to the US or one of the other countries and get an idea of the cost. Also check to see if there are any taxes or tarrifs for sending your baits out of your country to another. Keep your job until you get answers to your questions. Try to make and sell 100 baits and keep track of your time and cost. See what it takes to get it done. It will be a good learning experience. These are just thoughts. But, I think it is very possible to do. Skeeter

Good luck Chirmy, I would just love to see one of the local guys here on the site win a sack of money. Skeeter

Yes, I would believe it. There is just too much talent and creativity from you and the rest of the guys on this site to doubt you. They really add alot to the bait. What an excellent job. Skeeter

Pop, You can soak that sucker in hot soapy water and it should loosen up any paint in the gun if it is water based. If not then clean it with acetone. Put some on a Q-tip and scrub out as much as you can. Then just soak the gun in some acetone for about 5 min. and then use a dry Q-tip or cloth to wipe off the rest. I have a VL also and as far as I know there are no rubber O rings or seals that you have to worry about. The gun will break down easy. There are not alot of parts to it. Just take your time and be careful with the needle when you put it in and take it out. You don't want to bend the tip. I have had mine for 3 yrs. and have taken it completely apart many, many, times. It is easy and you will get the hang of it. If you have any problems or questions, let us know. Skeeter

Excellent job !!! Really fine looking crankbaits. How do you do the fins on the side. It really adds alot to the bait. Skeeter

Forget the cans. Mylures is right. Skeeter

Looks like a mighty fine job to me. Skeeter

Looks like the stuff holds up well to me. The bait looks to be in real good shape. The blue flat bait in my picture in the gallery had over 50 hrs. of cranking time here on High Rock. There is alot of rock of all kinds in that lake. It was the only "dolphin" colored one that I had when I took the picture. It was coated with Devcon. Overkill, I have Devcon that has been open for 2 months and don't have a problem. I have never had Devcon go bad. Tell me, How long was it open and was the only thing that happened was that it just didn't harden? Did it get sticky or didn't work at all? Skeeter

Dave, Those paint jobs are flawless. Beautiful work. Skeeter