Joe

Sorry I did not post the pic sooner, I was out of town over the weekend. The pic shows the white skirt I am talking about and the other skirt is also one I use, just the pairs on a band.

Mr B , the skirts I'm looking for are the Terminator type skirt. It is 3" long and pure white silicone. I also use the skirts that you mentioned, but many of my customers prefer the wrapped skirt because when it is on the bait, the skirt has a lot more flair to the shape as opposed the standard pairs held together with a band. Thanks, Joe

I called Z Man yesrerday and was told they no longer make the wrapped skirts. The person I spoke to said she did not know of any other suppliers. I know there are some out there because I'm still able to get skirts in colors other than white. Did Hydro Silk give any date as to when they may be up and running? Do you have a phone no. for them? Thanks, Joe. I'm going to keep checking around and will let you know if I find anything.

Hi Guys, I just found out my current supplier of wrapped silicone skirts is no longer able to get the white skirts. Does anyone know of a supplier? The skirt is much like the Terminator Skirt and is 3" long and pure white silicone. My customers really like this skirt and my supply is about gone. Thanks, Joe

I think what happens with the warmer is that the little bit of heat does not really retard the setting of the Devcon, I think it just keeps it soft enough to be able to work it a little longer. Last winter I was having a problem with the Devcon being too stiff right after it was mixed. This had to do with the temp. of the material before it was mixed. I started putting the tubes of Devcon on a shelf which had a light mounted below it and the problem went away. The little extra heat from the light helped to keep it soft. Some might say the heat is no good for the Devcon, but If the product is shipped all over the country in trucks and by rail, I'm sure the temps. in those shipping containers is far greater tahn the little extra heat I'm using. Just my thoughts. I don't know what effect this process would have on a wood bait, as I usually put in on pretty thick, but for the spinnerbait and buzzbait heads it's easy to make a second pass while the bait is in your hand and only takes a second. To date, I haven't noticed any loss in strength to the topcoat by doing it this way. Joe

OK Guys, I'm not trying to get the topcoat war started again, but wanted only to pass along a little trick I came up with. I use only Devcon II for all my baits. When topcoating wood baits, I mix enough for two baits at a time and have no problem with that. I have also been making a lot of spinnerbaits and buzzbaits and topcoating with Devcon II and my problem was having to keep mixing so many batches of Devcon II to get the job done because it sets up so quickly. I got the idea of using a small metal cup, not much larger than the plastic cups many of us use. I purchased a coffee cup warmer and after mixing the Devcon II and putting the metal cup on the warmer, I've found my working time has doubled. Again, I did this only as a means to extend my working time and this may as a side result solve the bubble problem some have had.I find I can topcoat about thirty heads before mixing a new batch and I am using about 3/4 " from the tube at a time. Joe

Chris, I thought you had picked up some new molds after what you were saying about getting some new equipment. The barb collar works great. There is no way the skirt will slide off the collar when beating grass off the lure. I'll say it again to all here, If you need spinnerbait heads or buzzbait heads, call Chris. You can't go wrong. Chris, just be sure you keep my orders at the top of your list. Joe

Check out Chris at C n R Tackle, on this site. He has been my source for spinnerbait heads and buzzbait heads. His service is great and so is the quality of his products. You can't go wrong. Joe

I received a letter in the mail promoting the Golden Mountain Park Outdoor Expo. The location is Sparta, Tennessee and will take place in August. The web site is www.goldenmountainpark.com Didn't know if anyone might have an interest in this or not. Joe

Jerry , Thanks for posting the info on your machine. If we all put our heads together, I'm sure we can come up with a winner. I have been working on a carver that has a main body much like the inner frame of your old model. On top of each side I have mounted 1/2" travel rods from old printers. On each rod is the travel sleeve from the printer. The sleeves move freely the length of the main body frame. Attached to the two sleeves are two peices of 3/4" plywood hinged together. One of the hinged sections is attached to the sleeves and the other half is able to rise as high as you like and drop down about 1 1/2". The router and stylis are mounted side by side to the free moving part of plywood.As the top travels the length of the machine with the stylis riding on the model, the router cuts the blank as it rotates inches away. This machine also has a threaded rod attached to the top plywood router base and as the rod turnes thru a threaded nut in the router base it pushes and pulls the assembly back and forth. As with your machine, limit switches can be added to stop the travel at any point as needed. If the width of the main body is widened, You could put the stylis in the middle and have two router on each side. This would allow you to duplicate four baits at a time. There is also a rod attached to the hinged router base that extends up and over the fixed part of the top plywood to with weight added to counter ballance the weight of the router or routers. Hope this all made some sense. I have drawings somewhere, I'll see if I can find them. My drive motor is a small elec. motor with a drill chuck epoxied in place and operated by an old sewing machine foot pedal. Joe

Well, I just returned from Branson and Chicago. Talk about two different life styles. At one, there were Bass Boats everywhere, at the other, not one boat was seen. I picked up a couple of baits at the different Flea Markets in the Branson area. One was a Rapala minnow style balsa bait and a Poe's Elite flat sided bait. I'm not sure,but I think the bait is cedar. I also found a handmade flat sided crank, much like the one's made by folks on this site. The baits all sold $2.00 - $3.00 so I couldn't pass them up. The quality of the handmade bait was far superior to that of the two factory baits. The Poe's bait looked like it had been made by a six year old. Nothing was straight and the body itself was not carved properly and not balanced one side to the other. The Rapala was not quite as bad, but you can see time was not taken in the building of these baits. It's like Skeeter and others have said, the big companies do not take the time to put out a quality product like the guy's on this site. Joe

Hey Guy's, I have two packs of the 340-108 bills and you are welcome to them. I have tried these on my baits and have had better results with the next size up. You are welcome to these, just pm me with an address and I'll send them out. they may help till you can find a supplier. Joe

Basskat, I know just how you feel! I'm leaving later this month for Branson and then on to my wife's aunt's in Chicago for a few days. The saving grace here in Bass Pro Shop in Springfield is on the way. Joe

Bit # 5461 3/8" dia. Carbide height 13/16" shank size 1/4" Bit #5462 1/2" dia. Carbide height 15/16" Shank size 1/4" Price $16.00 each with free shipping. Joe Page 19 in the catalog.

This is for the guys using routers to shape baits, it may be old news for some of you, Received a catalog a few days ago from MLCS Woodworking. www.mlcswoodworking.com They offer two types and several sizes of full radius router bits that would shape both sides of a baits back and belly with just one pass through the router. Again, keep in mind all the safety recomendations mentioned in earlier post as far as using a router for baits. Joe

Jerry, You can add me to the list!!!

I'm not sure what was used on the bait you refered to, but I have used a metal contour guage and the finish was very close to what you are looking for. Just use it like a comb and apply light pressure moving from the top of the bait down the side to the bottom. As you move down the side, move the guage side to side and it will create the wave effect. As far as painting with cans, if you mask the area to be painted leaving the edge of the tape up just a little, the overspray will go under the tape edge giving it a softer edge. Good Luck, Joe

Chip, The Devcon 2 has one tube that is clear and the other has a slight yellow tint. Is this the one you are using? Joe

Thanks Guy's, Coley, I have been doing just what you said for the rear hook hanger and I tried your cotter key and I like the way it works. I am using the lips with line ties attached, so I guess I'm doing it right. What threw me on this, was the D Bait and the use of screw eyes in some applications and no mention was made of putting a dowl in place to attach the screw eye. For the topwater, I'll continue to use the through dowl method to give something to attach to front and back. Thanks, Joe

I have used cedar and other woods for my baits and they all hold screw eyes tight. I am begining to make a few balsa cranks and topwater baits. The belly hook is set in place with epoxy in the weight. How do others address the line tie and rear hook? I went so far as putting a dowl inside the length of the bait to use as attachment points, but is this really necessary? Can the screw eyes just be epoxied in place and will this be strong enough to hold a fish? Thanks, Joe

Nathan,looks like you have been hanging out for too long with Toby at Funny Farm! Where and how do you guys come up with these ideas? I thought the rodent crankbait was a winner, but this rat is something else. Please keep us posted as to it's success on the water. Keep up the good work, Joe

Hey Guy's, All the baits I have seen look awsome. Everyone did a great job. If another swap is in the works for the future, I would like to join in. Good job, Joe

Thanks Clemmy, Joe

Does anyone have a web address for Battle Field Wire? thanks, Joe

Years ago, I carved a lot of duck decoys, the wood of choice was cypress root. It also was odd shaped, but if you cut just one flat side on a band saw it will give you more control to keep things lined up straight. This will also give you a flat surface to place on the table saw to make your cut. Joe