Travis

The S10+ is a Mann's. The Matzuo topwater's were discontinued (not popular) and are fairly modern day lures.

Row 2: no 5 and 6 are Cotten Cordell Gay Blades

Ok if we take the last picture and number 1 through ... starting with the top left. Row 1: 1. Rebel Wee Frog 2. Rebel Wee Frog 3. Rebel Craw 4. Luhr Jensen Klawdad 5. Norman Weed Walker 6, 7, 8, and 9 spoons I don't use much 10. chatter jig 11. kwikfish, lazy ike, etc.. (all the "banana lures") Row 2: 1. Rapala floating (or sinker minnow), 2. ? 3 -6 are blade baits silver buddy, sonar?, etc.. will come to me at some point Row 3: 1.Rapala minnow, 2. cordell wally diver , 3, rapala minnow 4. bomber long a 5. rapala, 6. wallly diver again (I think) 7 - 9 ? Row 4: Mann's crank (forget name) 2, rattle trap 3. Nip I deedee 4. Norman Littlle N 5. Heddon Torpedo 6. Heddon Jitterbug, 7. forget will come to me 8. bomber model a 9-11 are "pop r" style baits 12. rapala shad 13. forget the name Row 5: 1&2 Smithwick Devil's horse, 3-5 Smithwick rogues, 4&5 Bomber long A 6. heddon torpedo ? forget what they called it Row 6: 1-4 don't recall, 5&6 are Cordell Red Fins, 7&8 are Rapala minnows Row 7: All the jointed are Rapala except the larger silver with cross hatching Rebel jointed Row 8: 1. ?, 2. box tells it 3-6 flatfish kwickfish Sure I missed some but overall should get you started. You have a nice collection of lures.

If carving details I would be using linden especially if you are planning on weighting anyway.

Dharma Acid dyes will give you better results than RIT dyes and aren't too badly priced. Few others likely better but get more costly and less user friendly. I have not died any tails for a long time so may be better options now.

I tended to order from Smooth on or US composites. Most of my bait making was done with RTV silicone molds (Mold Max 30 from Smooth On) and then 16 lb density polyurethane foam (US Composites). Never had any issues with either company, shipping was quick, customer service solid, and product was always good. Alumilite is popular with many. Larry D. is overall a negative component for me. He turns me off on the product as the few videos of him I watched he depicts a lot I find wrong with lure making... the slap it together, "good enough" mentality. I have used their products and would again however just don't seek them out.

I never had any issues with enough top coat getting onto the alligator clips to glue them shut. But 99% of my baits have been top coated with Devcon and I besides leveling don't have much issue with it running. I have use stiff wire spanning the hook hangers on some lures, mainly swim baits, also when needed.

I have always used a rotisserie motor from the big box store. I paid under 30 bucks for it and have gotten many years (15 years) of use out of it. It was a charbroil. I bought wooden spools from the craft store and used a file to make the opening square and used a set screw (cut off wood screw) to set it in place and slide on spools as needed. I drilled holes in the spool and glued dowels with alligator clips attached to the ends. You can hold by either the bill or by the hook hanger. Each spool holds six baits. I may break one every now and then but no big deal as rarely do I do more than 30 baits but can easily do more than that (over 100 if drill different spacing). For years I just slide the dowels into the spool but they slowly lose the friction fit. I use the alligator clip/dowel to hold while painting also. Better options out there I am sure and I intended to build another one with a Bodine gearmotor with speed dial that I seam to be always moving out of the way in my shop.

Ok you don't need a tall container for dipping. These aren't rigid baits they flex. I just dip in pyrex cups. For dipping lures I wanted the best heat resistant plastic I can find as I want it thin. As very much a speed game and I am not trying to build up a coat like I do when dipping tubes. Glitter can be added to the clear coat. Just need to use glitter than will hold up to the heat as usually you end up heating dipping plastic a lot more frequently or hold at temperature longer than plastic used to make the initial bait. I had messed with various container and insulation to keep plastic warmer for longer. Bread pan on a hot plate also works very well to maintain plastic. Dip/set bait horizontal in pan, pull out let drip and hang vertically. As the plastic gets used up need to start tilting the pan and dipping more in the edge but not too difficult. Really boils down to working out a method you find you like.

I have trolled for whites a few times. We used deep diving cranks typically on about 125 to 150 ft of line tied to a three way swivel with a drop line with a small ball head jig/grub or spoon. I think cranks dominated the trolling for whites. Not something I enjoyed doing. We really targeted them only a few times during the year. They make spring runs up creeks and rivers so we would find a bridge over creek and climb down onto the log jams and limit out with chunky females. July may fly hatches fish at night with floating lights and drop lines with up to half dozen flee flies, summer months follow the jumps, and then winter below the dam.

What is the intended use? I buy mine at Dollar Tree. 2 bottles (0.28 oz total) for 1 dollar. So a little over 7 bucks for 2 oz. Don' t have to worry about bulk going bad once opened. The bottles don't clog or dry up easily. More controlled dispensing. Easily can coat a few balsa bass cranks, glue line ties, etc...

They are sold under various "brands".. Strnek. They should be avoided. The reported specks (guarantee reported higher than actual) are 17 psi and 6 L/min. Of the two the 6L/min is what one needs to pay attention to. The 6L/min is equivalent to 0.2 cfm. They typical airbrush needs minimally around 0.3 cfm to properly atomize the paint and deliver the paint. Gravity feed brushes are more likely to perform better at lower cfm than siphon feed since gravity is working with you.

It is the compressor. I imagine the amazon page reads: Just plug it in and the user will get "amazing professional results". Included are two adapters so you can fill an air mattress or clean your keyboard, toaster, the possibilities are endless. Act now for a limited time offer and receive the matching anodized ice blue model, just pay shipping.

No. 15 and 14. You are correct in that a new airbrush should have functioned properly... that is when you should have called for help. Nine months later after chucking it against a wall? Micheal's has a lot of coupons now. one is 60% off one item. Drive over to Keller and buy another one. I looked at one earlier this week thinking I might see about it for spraying finishes on small woodworking projects.

Iwata in my opinion about the best brush I have used. No major differences between them just subtle things in regards to quality. I have used the Iwata Eclipse HP-SBS autographics brush for years with no problems at all. Neo is budget friendly option so going to likely come across lemons more frequently. I am in agreement with Bob and likely defective brush from the get go or also likely just need to be tweaked out of the box. If the brush was leaking air first place to look was the valve body set and valve body o-ring. May have been as simple as a cracked o ring. Trigger sticking even after cleaning likely needed a little airbrush lube or possible to clean up some flash from the casting so it was freely moving. If paint not spraying could be a few issues. Paint too thick, not enough pressure due to escaping air to function properly, small bit of dried paint clogging nozzle, etc.. Difficult to paint with brush not functioning right especially if not enough time has been spent painting to know what to trouble shoot.

Simply allows you to dilute the color without thinning. It will be the same mixture as their illustration line of paints just with no pigment. Allows for better control and smooth gradient color transitions.

Most of the stuff I turn on the lathe ends up being for others as so many that didn't fish much recall top waters from their parents or grandparents. I don't sell any lures anymore so mainly personal use. I have a lot of tackle so tend to hold back on some designs as already have more than I will use in the next 40 + years.

Mainly make shallow cranks and top waters as much of my fishing now ends up being wading shallow creeks. Do make a few deeper diving cranks also but just don't fish near what I used to. I also like to make wooden sammy style top waters. I have turned several prop baits and poppers also. I use basswood (99.9% of the lures) then balsa, big tooth aspen, and paulowina.

I wouldn't judge what is being done based on what gets posted. It will skew your view. I make almost all my baits from wood.

Since you stated by the time you finish I doubt you have any issues in regards to proper cure and resulting performance of your top coat. I have a lot of plastic cups deform when residual epoxy is left to cure.

Epoxy curing is exothermic reaction (gives off heat). If you mix enough volume and have sufficient depth it can heat up to surprisingly warm temperatures. Hot enough to melt some plastics and cause burns. Depending on volume/mass, far more than what we use for lures, curing epoxy can reach temperatures in excess of 350 °F. Typically we mix volumes in containers that result in thin layers. The thin layer increases surface area and allows to cool. As the layer gets thicker it gets hotter as heat can't dissipate and the hotter it gets the faster the curing reaction progresses and further increases heat.

All boils down to what you want in a mold and the time you want to put into it. Guys use methods and techniques that I found to be poor for various reasons and they in return likely have negatives against my favorite thinned epoxy. I am not for sure if any technique that is mentioned on this site I have not used over the past 15 or so years when I have made molds. I switched out to aluminum molds for many of the lures that are essentially knock offs. Of the molds I kept (maybe 100) majority ended up being Durham's and epoxy coated. Few are high heat paint and maybe a dozen RTV. Saturate with PAM, Vegetable, etc... oils.... over time sticky molds, molds go rancid and smell, and need to clean the mold as always a "goop" built up no mine that I did that way. Cleaning molds never a good thing. Modge Podge.... peeled and finish poor. Overall I think it is just too thick of a product even with thinning and it seams to maintain a level of tackiness as we have non lure making things coated in modge podge that will stick to the surface of something if left sitting without moving or worse of a problem with heat. Elmers thinned... had it go soft a few times and peeled from some cavities. Think it is easy to leave brush strokes even in thinned stuff. Slower set time so need to apply thin. Slow flash times as thinned typically with water and not a fan of adding water to POP molds. Can end up with mold growing under the finish but doesn't effect the mold. High heat enamel..it wore and gives less additional strength to fine details or edges. Very quick however in drying time but with the need for multiple thin misting coats to slowly build up adds more. If you are heavy handed and impatient not the best method. Titebond.... mixed in to mix stronger mold finish pretty good. Thinned and coated finish better but some loss of crispness. Superglue... sets up fast but finish can be tricky if you plan on building up a glass like finish. If just coating to let it soak in great but finish not as smooth as building it up. I do use it to strengthen areas fine raised details initially as no pressure/brushing needed just touch the drop and it wicks in. Epoxy thinned. I thin to water like consistency and apply with a small brush. First several or more coats go on very quick and it wicks right in like the super glue. Just you can apply it much quicker. The dryness of the mold plays a huge factor in how many coats it takes. Wetter molds don't get as much penetration. Dryer is better. I probably end up doing a dozen coats consecutively. It flashes off in time you can go back and start the first cavity so no long weight times. I use Devcon 5 minute for this and just leave it to the next day typically but have poured after sealing a few times to test out. With all the paint/glue methods you can get really good baits just some a little more tricky than others. For two piece I didn't like paints as it starts to effect the joining of the two halves. Elmers and Titebond and Modge podge just seam to build up too thick and tendency to pool slightly in deeper cavities. Go to brush it out and easy to steak. Titebond mixed into the mold wasn't too bad in the ones I made. Bondo body filler, easy quick method to make molds but it does shrink and is soft and doesn't do well with heat/clamping. Shrinking can be nice if you want to go smaller bait. One of the first time I used it was purely because needed baits quick. I made a mold, and started copying that mold, the next mold, etc... I made I believe 8 total molds and the final mold gave baits about 20% smaller. Bondo fiberglass good but need to incorporate backing and rigidity from my experiences as if you do any long pouring sessions have had then start to curl. Picks up detail very well. I ended adding support rods during molding and eventually just poured thicker and increased margins around cavities. But starts to add up in costs if you are making many molds. Least amount of experience with however. RTV silicone, cost the big negative and in time they start to lose their luster. Takes a long time for larger pours to cool and poor heat transfer. Picks up detail very well. POP cheapest material and not the best strength but can be improved with glue/epoxy coating methods. Some loss of detail in molding but if you take your time can get good detail. Durhams Rock Puddy not too expensive but more than POP. Tougher than POP but very similar overall in handling and product. Picks up detail slightly better from my experience. Dental plasters.. worked well but didn't find much better results than one can get with Durham's or even POP. Bottom line do what you want that gets you baits that you are satisfied with.

The way of forums.... on open ended questions understandable specific questions well guys read/interpret questions in different ways or participate for different reasons. He did find the specific double silicone bowl he was looking for but he had started two threads. The important thing is you all missed the real issue DEVCON or NOT ???

I have had some spooks that were modified with some shot in the main body cavity. Never found it any better. I had some older spooks and they were weighted with a cylindrical lead plug in the tail on those. Most of the modern spooks have a large steel ball in the tail end that is either held in place or molded into a larger cavity in the tail section.

As mentioned no real need for weight transfer as you can cast a spook as further than you need most of the times. They are also tail weighted so no need to transfer weight on the cast. It also isn't a crank bait that needs the weight transferred forward to achieve proper action. Just the opposite in fact as if the weight shifts towards the mid section as action is killed. Even if you place a weight transfer system in a spook the walking action puts the weight in tail. No way to move it forward unless you nose weight the lure so when paused it shift nose down.