Travis

Ok it went better than I expected. I tried a few different things. First all this was done on basswood blanks. They had been previously carved to the point where I would sand. I typically start with 120 and may go up to 220 (150 to 180 usually). I could do the final prep work faster for sure with sandpaper. Yes it creates dust but easily taken care of with a box fan/furnace filter set up. The scraper left very small shavings to "dust" but not the lovely wispy shavings I am accustomed to getting when using them. Mainly due being short strokes and the crank paint having no flat surfaces. Used some goose neck scrapers for some also. When I was done still ended up hitting it with sandpaper to take care of any small flat spots left by scraping a round surface (very fine and likely would be covered by a good seal coat/primer). Overall the process wasn't as fast in my opinion as sandpaper nor easier. i did three other blanks and speed does pick up some but I can't see sticking with it as sanding was easier. You guys should try it but I can't see this being a viable method as mentioned making them is easy and they are cheap if you decide to buy one. I will agree most would be well served adding card scrapers to their wood working activity but sandpaper has its time and place. Wood dust is a hot topic with many in the woodworking community with those that pay no attention to it to others that are borderline paranoid.

I have to say my first instinct is there is a reason guys haven't heard it..but I have not tried it but will this afternoon. So you are using cabinet scrapers on lures? How long does it take you? I would think holding in one hand and scraping would be a less than ideal way of doing it. I am far from a pro when it comes to scrapers but do have a dozen or so I frequently use but never would even think to try to use it on a 3 inch bass crank. There would be no reason to sand after using a scraper either unless your are trying to scuff it up back up. 320 to prep for paint is in excess as generally accepted at 320 you have decreased the adhesion.

I didn't see anything controversial either and in fact do agree with some of the his points. For example he is dead on when stating any one can make a handmade bait.....his point is just because someone makes a handmade bait doesn't make it good. It doesn't take long, if you are crank bait guy, to learn a lot of handmade baits are junk and that in my opinion is his selling point. Many of us would take a hit to the ego if our best work was put in the hands of serious crank bait guys (ok probably just state something to the effect our baits work for me so good enough, the fish I catch don't seam to mind, etc... ). I also think that it would be quite possible to make them dependent on a few factors. Are we talking 5000, 1000, 500, etc... the three bread and butter cranks he has are all the exact same body just different lips. Once you get everything worked out how long does it take to cut, shape, drill, sand a balsa crank? With a shop with the correct tools, set up to do the same thing, with correct stops and jigs one can churn out some bodies. Only 10 paint colors...once again once set up a guy knowing how to paint will whip through a lot of cranks in no time. I know if I bought balsa strips (correct thickness as he does) I could spend an afternoon cutting out several hundred blanks. How long to knock the edges (carve)with a knife and sand, drill,weight, etc...How many could one knock out between events or over a month or so? I have looked at them a few times in the past but never bought any........he has two less Series 1 now. Will have to see if I have any balsa flat sides left or how my best attempt fairs.

I have done clay masters also just not high on my list. I like it to make jig trailers and similar as easy to roll out and make a "cookie cutter" out of flashing to stamp the overall jig shape. One for the bottom split tail, craw shape, etc... profile then another to cut the "meat" of the jig trailer. I then just stack and smooth the seam. i set up a plate of these and pour the mold. I don't set the clay just wad it back up for the next time.

I always preferred just carving the master from basswood. Easy to carve, sand, then usually just seal with shellac. The bait style dictates on how I mold it. Flat side get mounted on plexi with small screw and then molded. Other designs get put in clay, wax, etc...usually more detailed molds.

I thin to water consistency and start layering. It soaks into the mold for the first several coats. I keep building until I get a smooth finish. It leaves a very thin layer each time and doesn't really run (putting it on too heavy if that is the case). If it does run, it is like water and you just tilt the mold to the desired area or brush it out.

I don't mess with the torch now just used it several times based on some accounts of it working well. I will try about anything to see if it improves something just find majority of the time just unnecessary. Knocking the bubbles out works the majority of time. Few times there are bubbles filled afterwards with thicker mix (puddy) and rubbed smooth. This may be 2 or 3 pin head sized bubbles. I can understand using POP to work things out for sure. Most of the POP I used made very good molds but DWP just seamed to pick up detail much better and overall seamed to make better quality molds (especially 2 piece as they held up a lot better along face joint/cavity points).

Simply let the mold dry. Honestly we screw ourselves over so much in our rush to make baits, wonder wait percentage of posts on this site boil down to nothing more than guys rushing/taking short cuts, etc.... Any sort of special drying, storage, etc.. is simply not needed, just creating solutions to non problems. I did have mold the first few molds (12 years ago or so) since then several hundred molds and zero issues. I just let them dry a few days before storage. I will seal and pour baits the following day (mold still wet) and just leave out on a drying rack before actual storage. I also don't use Elmer's as just adding water back to the mold. Devcon thinned gives better results in my opinion. I don't use POP as much anymore and prefer DWP. If you have bubbles I have to say it is user error.. I use a very complicated method...dump into bowl add water mix. then knock the bowl a few times. Then I hit the bubbles with air (through straw), air brush, or quick pass with torch to bust then mold. As far as cleaning up the mold, I have a few still with the mold stains that I use but chucked the others.

I typically would just do a set of molds and clamp between speed clamps. I used 1/8 ply cauls. Easy cheap, takes up the least amount of space. Never needed much pressure and initially just used rubber bands.

Need to be careful.....If some looked at what they spend making a lure in materials, tools, and time they might realize how much cheaper it is to buy lures.

I skipped this one initially. I have to ask what is the rush? I have never understood why so many have this strange need to slap something together in some sort of breakneck speed...some sort of strange instant gratification so common in today's society I guess. If you have to have a bait on day x make it the week prior. Seams so many lure makers process is to use poor planning, poor methods, or poor product selection.

Most don't bend the ends, some may scuff the cotter pin with sandpaper but rarely bend.

Cotter pin usage comes up off an on over the years for crank construction. I think most don't use it based on the non traditional look. In regards to strength....for bass cranks the typical twisted wire never fail so hard to be a selling point. I never had a cotter pin (without bend) pull out a crank either but didn't make too many of them. If you build your baits in halves, as pictured, I would much rather use your set up for sure than twisting and bending an internal harness.

Like the creativity but in my opinion you are going to have all sorts of issues with that mold. I would seriously reconsider your plan of attack. I would expect over 80% failure rate (incomplete fills, trapped air, etc...).

density=mass/volume We know the density of lead, bismuth, etc... and we can easily calculate the volume of the cylinder (v=πR2H). Plug them in and then solve for mass. Or http://www.custompartnet.com/quick-tool/weight-calculator http://www.gearhob.com/eng/design/drill_eng.htm You will have to convert to ounces/grams but easy enough to do. But the first link is useful for various odds and ends you might come across outside of lure making.

Yes I understand it is completely different.....I was giving the closest thing readily available to the common public based on pouring for the past 15 years and working in chemistry. You buddy was probably talking about a product made by Calhoun's. Mark have fun on your quest.

There are some additives that make it more stretchy and more robust but it does not appear they really ever took off. http://www.bearsbaits.com/BBCP-ULTRA-RD-55_p_126.html

For Gitzit style tube dipping rods will give you the most consistent product similar to the original. For the most part you aren't going to be able to make any super baits (relative to strength). Cutting the tail can be used by commercial cutters or ones you make yourself. There is a lot of information on the subject recently and throughout the site, you will just have to dig a little. If you use Google chrome or whatever search engine, and use keywords Tackle Underground, tubes, tail cutter, and select a user name and you will find about everything you need to know in no time flat.

What I don't like about foam was it just never felt like I was crafting something. It became much more about stamping out widgets sort of thing and not so much about enjoyment in the making process. I also still like the "feel" of fishing wooden bait.

I didn't use the aluminum container set up too long. For me just using Pyrex cups was quick enough. If I had a lot of tubes to dip I would crank up the presto pot and stirrer and just fill cups as needed.

I like to use balsa for my walking baits. They get tricky to weight as a lot gets packed into that tail section but I end up with a a killer creek bait for smallies. Basswood gets used the second most in my shop and then will do some expanding foam at times also.

I must be lucky.... I use a spoon (as the same type I used to eat cereal with) and poured into spoon and then just dumped it into a dixie cup. Spoonfuls of then mixed for about 20 seconds, it doesn't take that many lures before you visually can tell it is mixed well. The 16 lb foam I filled the mold about 1/3 full pouring direct from the dixie cup. For my purposes I usually could fill 4 molds with out any issue at a time. The dixie cup is left with a little in it and once it was set (12 minutes or so) I would demold. I typically would use two sets of 3 or 4 molds and just kept it moving. So while waiting for one set I was mixing, pouring, and clamping the next set. I have always stuck with US Composites stuff and never had any issues. I would mold the joints as doesn't make much sense (time wise) to have to cut. Also do it right the first time and every bait you make from that mold is dead on correct. Once you start trying to cut you bring in some variability and screw ups if you don't have jigs, or take careful measurements, or just aren't paying attention when cutting. Same reason I molded in the lip slot on cranks. http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

RTV is the way to go for sure but you can save money by using Plaster of Paris, Durhams Rock puddy, and bondo body filler can all be used to make molds. They won't work if the design has detail that will work to lock the lure in place but if not then no issues. Also you can use both halves of the prototype mold to hold the lure and mold the first half using RTV. I use 16 lb foam but think that seams to not be the norm. Simple topwater using a rock puddy mold. No major undercuts so no issues. RTV mold once I worked everything out on a simple crank design. I use the rock puddy mold as described above as a holder to mold with the RTV.

This product fits the niche market and you have to remember that Japan bass fishing is an entire different $$$$ league. Then you have big bass hunters and while expensive you have to think most really aren't that concerned with 400 bucks. One has to remember there are a lot of guys that drop 50k on a boat and 50 k on a truck to fish 10 weekends a year.

If you take a look at the weighting you are going to see that in the end you will be float testing and taping, adding, subtracting.