Coley

The type of sealer really dosen't matter, unless you are using balsa wood. I have used all types of sealer on my baits. From Bullseye shellac to polycrylic. If you sand them down, you can use waterbased undercoating on any of them. You will not get a reaction using waterbased paint over any type of coating. Coley

Try this, very light, extremely hard and ready to sand in seconds. Put a drop of super glue in your hole, add a little baking soda and start sanding. Donot use on balsa. You will sand the balsa away and leave a hard spot. Coley

Tally, I have been using pieces of wire bent in different shapes and a propane torch to heat it with, then burning the stencil. Workes very good. You have to sand the edges around the burn to make them smooth. Coley

I looked this brush up and all I could find at the present time is a medium needle and medium tip. Coley

Look carefully at the label, there is acrylic enamel that is solvent based. Make sure you get the waterbased. They are in the same section and same type of bottle. Coley

Do a search on this site. I believe I read somewhere how to make one using an aquarium pump, a coffee can and the screen from a faucet filter. I know its here somewhere. Coley

If your bait is not balsa you don't need to use Devcon. Devcon is really hard to sand down compared to polyurthane, polyacrylic or Bulleyes shellac. Coley

I use only waterbased paint, so I use only water to thin it with. Also, I use only bottled water for thinning. This way there is no chance of anything contamiating the paint. Coley

Createx is a waterbased paint of a better quality than the craft paint. Createx autoair is ready to spray without any thinning. I use both createx, createx autoair and cheap paint from walmart craft dept. It all looks great once coated with Devcon 2 T epoxy. Easy clean up use waterbased paint. You can use almost anything paint you want as long as it is compatible with the coat its going over or the coat going over it. Coley

Tools I use, bandsaw, mini-wood lathe, belt sander, carving knife, drillpress, craft sticks and beer cans. The bottom is a great container for mixing Devcon. Coley

Have you guy's noticed how much it cost to get an order shipped from our vendors? I placed an order with Janns last week and the shipping was $9.25 on an order of around $74. The package only weighed 2.1 lbs. I talked to UPS about this high rate and they told me most vendors charge double the actual rate, pay UPS their share and pocket the rest. Not only are they making a profit on their products but, on the shipping as well. This is wrong anyway you look at it. Coley

Nice looking bait!! What I would like to know is, what type of material are you printing your photo on that goes around curves so nicely??? Coley

Great job Terry!!!!!!! Coley

Good job Terry!!!!!! Never thought about using crawfish, neat idea. Coley

Very good tutorial Art. Coley

Go here and scroll down a few posts, this is how I found out how to fotofinish. From the master himself, Lincoya. Those ideas are his, not mine. http://www.tackleunderground.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=2094&highlight= Coley

Just getting back up. Kinda drifted downward to far.. Coley

The epoxy mentioned here is Devcon 2 Ton or what they call 30 min. epoxy. Walmart sells it, It's packaged in a double syringe tube, it disperses equal amounts at the same time. After mixing throughly apply it with a brush. Walmart also sells a good brush in the model car section of the store. Cost is 97 cents. You can clean it out with Acetone after use. After applying the epoxy to your bait, you must rotate the bait until the epoxy is set or it will sag and run. Rotation can be done by hand for about 20-30 min or you can build a dryer to rotate your bait while the epoxy sets. Coley

Ken, stay out of this!! Titebond is about the same as elmers wood glue. It sands nice and makes it easy to feather the edges. OK, after you glue your foto onto the wood, before any painting is done, give the entire bait a coat of Devcon 2 Ton. Then sand it down, do your painting and then another coat of Devcon 2 Ton. This is as much protection as you can get. The beauty of this is, if you screw up your paint job, you can wash it off and start over. Anything that gets through two coats of Devcon 2 Ton is going to damage the bait beyond use anyway. Ken is trying to keep the Civil War going. Coley

I use a spinnerbait rattle. Cut the clips off and sand it smooth. It fits nicely in a 5/16" dia hole. Coley

Yes, you can pic up the clearcoat at Walmart. It's in a double tube syringe. Look in the house paint area for Devcon 2 ton. Coley

The paints available out there are many. Some use Createx, waterbase, no thinning required. Some use lacquer. Mostly, I use a waterbased craft paint from Walmart. Color selection is great and the cost is cheap. To me its not really the paint, its the clearcoat that protects the paint. I don't want to start another Civil War about it, I use Devcon 2 Ton epoxy. I am very happy with it. Coley

I don't understand what you mean by permanent?? I use Titebond Dark, waterbased glue. I think the clearcoat is what makes it permanent. I don't think there is any photo paper available that won't absorb water if exposed. Coley

This thing got 11 post down, about 10 too many. Coley

I don't know exactly what it is, but you can get it at Dixie Art and Dick Blick on the net and most office supply stores. The office supplies will probably only have black. Hobby Lobby has it in different colors. Bombay is a name brand. There are many different brands of India ink. Coley