Travis

The tubes are standard bass tubes. I could knock out a lot of tubes at one time dipping them the way I did. I honestly would skip glass for this application for various reasons. It is going to get scratched with salt. Anyone that has dealt with plastic will tell you salt is going to scratch the the pyrex and will just as easily scratch the non stick coatings in the DIY presto pots.

PVC a no go. Temperature too close to the melt, you will have a very soft spongy pipe at those temperatures likely folding on itself/warping. Easy enough to bend PVC pipe in just boiling water. Also it appears he wants to be able to heat the chamber Thin aluminum is fine you just have set up a mold and pour a mixture pearlite and sodium silicate around it to insulate it. Leave the bottom not coated to allow heat transfer through the aluminum. I may still have some thick walled aluminum containers when I was making a few dipping pots. How many are you dipping? I can knock a lot of tubes out dipping out of a pyrex cup without little effort. Nuke in microwave tilt the cup slightly and dip/twirl rod and hang, repeat. Will do a set number then go dip the second or same color if needed for double dipped, triple, etc... up to where I will cut the tails.

Nice clean article with some visuals to help tie it all in. I still recall one of my classes in middle school doing the Archimedes lab. That Introduction to Chemistry and Physics course really probably did more (class related) to steer me down a career path than any other.

The first lure I made was probably 28 years ago and was a yellow popper and a jerk bait. I caught a few fish on them the first few times but didn't fish that much then and they sat for a little while until I got in college then I had money and bought lures and the hand made stuff got stuffed in a box. I think I kept onto them up until several years ago then believe they got purged in tackle clean up process but could be wrong. They were some of the ugliest lures from what I remember.

I don't think anyone intentionally gives bad advice either just it happens. Explanations would be helpful or links to the prior discussion concerning the topic when it applies. I don't think I have ever come across anyone not being tolerant of an individual that didn't have the same tools/means. I can't think of too manky times (can think of a few guys) that were essentially ran off but I don't think too many tears were shed in those instances.

Molding always an option and as you eluded to brings and entirely new set of skills, challenges, and issues. I like mold making but not so much the final product as for me didn't seam like I really "made" anything after you had the mold. It was just odd as I was used to have so much "hands on" when making wooden lures. Still make some when I run out of some of the stock and have a few projects down the road plan on doing also. For line through just making a saw kerf with any of the Japanese saw blades (most all have very fine kerfs) you could quickly make the horizontal channel and then glue a thin "laminate' strip back in leaving your line pass. Easiest to start with square blank. I used various thin walled extruded tubing in the past to get smooth pass through. Started out with the easiest thing in the shop..WD40 spray tube then got a lot of various plastic tubing (PTFE, HDPE, Kapton, Polycarbonate, etc...). I was making wooden poppers and then a line through Spiral lure knockoff for kicks. I had a few 6 inch drill bits, Hertel maybe, but snapped one and the other fell and rolled into a crack between my flooring and shop wall. I pre drilled with the short bit then changed out to the long bit so as had some walls to support the bit to finish up drilling. Ben is right run out on the press will get these style bits in no time.

2 3/8 is the spindle travel, so the tip of the chuck will move 2 3/8 total on the stroke. 10 inches would mean that you could drill a center hole in a ten inch circle. The distance from the center point of the chuck to the support column will be 5 inches. Depending on the quality of the machine they can be "liberal" in their measurement and you may find for example that a 10 inch is really more like 9 5/8.

2 3/8

I have no problem with people posting ideas. For me the issue is (not politically correct) advice that is just poor to being completely wrong. Fine to have bad advice but lets point it out when it shows up. We can put: In my experience, It works for me, etc.. and any other catch phrase commonly accepted in today's society of PC feelings but it doesn't make it right. I already think that the most likely useful resources (those with vast amounts of experience, know how, and real world application) abstain from active participation on the site because of just not wanting to deal with much of it. Others are too nice or just don't care to point out that XYZ advice is bad. Yes many ways to do something but bottom line some ways are piss poor, stupid, and lack any merit. Having an open mind and thinking outside of the box are great and should be encouraged but frankly that isn't an all encompassing zone. This isn't kids sports it is ok to have losers and winners and some advice is just bad. A guy showed up to roof your house and was going to use a stick to drive the nails is an idiot. Anyone that hired them to do so or followed their lead is an idiot. Does it work yes but to give it as advice as an acceptable way to approach roofing a house is foolish. There is usually only a handful of good methods to skin that cat the other 1000's methods (while also work) are poor methods that no one should strive to use.

I used a small nail plate in the past as my base for a small stencil vacuum box.

I would skip the scroll saw completely and get a small band saw if power tools are the way you are going. The foot print is smaller and cuts much faster and opens up a lot more options of use than a scroll saw. My scroll saw gets used some but mainly is a rust collector. The band saw with proper set up and blade selection will be able to easily cut out cranks, make lip slots, re saw and break down wood, and cut lips effortlessly. You also have a tool that can do other things outside of lure making. If space is the limiting factor I would redesign your work bench area and make so you can slide in a flip top cart and have the drill press on one side and the band saw on the other.You can size the cart appropriately to fit the tools and never mess with lifting or moving them. A small band saw no big deal to move typically but the drill press will end up staying in place. Craigslist can have some good deals, as mentioned, and will let you spend the same money on higher quality machinery if you go used or old. I have a 14" inch band saw that gets most of the work but kept a low budget Delta just for cutting out blanks. The scrap wood on the band saw was left over from cutting out 6 blanks that were then taken to the drill press. Probably 10 minutes from start to finish to have 6 blanks, hook and lip tie drilled, lip slot cut, ballast hole drilled, and ready to shape with the knife. ]

I am sure with a enough time you could get a rough blank knocked out with a chain saw. The rotary cutter is a bad idea along with most anything else that isn't intended to cut wood. Yes you can make it work but why when there are far superior tools designed to do what you need to do. It does not take too long for most that do any sort of woodworking on a consistent basis to come to the conclusion proper tools and set up (doesn't have to be expensive) has significant impact on overall time it takes do to a task and often makes results better as less error when something can be done effortlessly. A coping saw and decent blades is a far better choice to cut out a blank. A run of the mill ryoba will make short work of ripping and crosscutting any wood to blanks or PVC for that matter.

I use mine a lot also and still comes in as the best buy and best tool every other year when they do they oscillating spindle sander shoot outs. I don't use it too much for cranks when shaping is concerned but have used it a few times on larger swim baits. I am not for sure what tool I would choose if I had to just pick one. Quality tools (hand or power) make a huge difference in enjoyment and time spent being productive in the shop.

Epoxy or superglue for balsa and shellac for most of the cranks I make (basswood). Lots of threads on the subject.

See I dislike the way it is set up and find it completely useless in today's age of fast downloads and computer use age not to have pictures in the post (dial up thing of the past). Efficient.... nothing about any forum is efficient as 2000 posts on the same topic pretty much destroys that efficiency. Forums are more about wasting time when you can't be out doing what you want to be doing. How many "topics" make up the bulk of posts in any given subject. Honestly take a look at hard baits or soft plastics and delete all the repetitive stuff and you would whittle out huge chunk of material. Is it efficient to have the same conversation about top coat, what wood to use, where to get micarta, bubbles in plastic, etc...... The same topics get rehashed over and over. You find the exact same information just presented by someone else that was said two months ago or even years ago in some instances. Honestly if one is wanting to learn best bet is to search and read the threads and posts from members x, y, and z as most on sites end up being regurgitation of what x, y, and z said anyway. I honestly don't think I have visited too many forums that reach a certain size that don't get to that point, especially when it deals with the exchange of knowledge. As far as contribution to the site that is all up to the individual. I guess if all they post is pictures but to be honest for some that is enough as seeing good work may lead them to improving a paint technique of body/lip shape or pour differently. I can give you a list of individuals that (for me) contribute a ton in regards to actual information, expertise, and knowledge that are far from active participants. I can also point to people that (for me) chime in all too frequently and add little unless one finds scrolling through their posts as beneficial exercise for there fingers. We are all different in that way Many would argue "hey look what I did" technically describes almost every post as well sharing information on a site dedicated to making something is just that.

Jdeee, I agree not a great solution. Very much a budget approach as far double up usage in same space and for best dust collection option for indoor use in house. I have a spindle sander so don't use the drum sanders on the drill press anymore. If one is using a low priced drill press I wouldn't be too worried as the run out and bearings often not that great to begin with but still should get a lot of use out of it and those drills are priced to be throw a ways. The flap sanders don't really exert any pressure on the spindle as the flaps give way so no real side force is being applied. Yeah balsa wouldn't be much of an issue or likely any that I listed prior as all very soft easily worked. I used the drum sander attachment in a Craftsman 12" drill press off and on for several years. No issues and the drill appears to still be no worse for the wear. The drill press was meant to be replaced but never got around to doing it as it is no worse for wear. I use the power tools when it makes sense and saves time, but prefer hand tools. Breaking down basswood beams goes quick with the table saw and band saw (usually 8 to 10 foot beams). I might run a length through the planer if needed to desired thickness but usually good to go after the table saw or band saw. Shorter pieces just gets chucked on the table and passed over a few times with a hand plane. I prefer using a knife also and just do the final sanding with sandpaper as it really doesn't take much. I use the flap sander more if I have a small tub of blanks to finish as it does go quicker. I like using hand tools because slip out early in the morning with a cup of coffee and use the dozuki and the bow saw I made to get blanks ready for carving.

The sanding drum works well. Simple box and drill a hole for the drum to pass into. You can make various inserts for different diameter drums. Drill a hole in the side or back of the box and the shop vac hooks up to it so dust free. The shroud with the flap sander slides over the same box and does a decent job at collecting fines. I have other sanding options now but still like the flap sanders.

I would reconsider the tool selection personally. Space isn't the biggest deal in my opinion as one simple shelf can hold most of the stuff out of the way and just forces one to have to move things from one spot to the other. Budget.....big fan of budgeting but to budget to by inferior or poor performing tools ends up costing way more in the long run. If budget is concern. I would take a decent dozuki or carcass saw and fret saw or bow saw over the dremel. To be honest a small band saw won't take up much more space and if set up properly (good blade, alignment, etc..) will give more than satisfactory results. I used a small Delta band saw for years, as it was light weight and small foot print. Hooked up the shop vacuum you can cut in the house dust free. I used it a lot in the winter and just set up in the kitchen and cut out blanks instead of shoveling snow to get to the shop. As mentioned you can build a rotating cart and chuck a few tools on it. A drill press can also work as your sander and do a better job with dust collection if you build the appropriate attachments. Teamed up with a vise makes using jigs and can also be used to mill slots. The two methods below work well...one for template work and shaping bills the other whips out contours easily. To be honest if using balsa, basswood, pawoulina, and PVC sanding by hand really ends up being about the easiest method if space and cost is up most concern.

Rock the custom tackle making industry.... I am beginning to think this is sort of like Geraldo opening Capone's safe.

Sure, anglers are some of the most gullible individuals out there. Just don't believe the sale add was going this route.

Problem with lawsuits and small lure makers "business" is you better have been running it legit with regards of reporting of income, taxes paid, etc....... Otherwise you would be fool to take it to court.

I would do absolutely nothing and usually don't even give it a thought as far as "copying" by others. In regards to paint I would have a hard time calling this individual out....are those cranks original design or knock offs you are selling? I see it hard to take some sort of moral high ground, if using knockoffs, on someone using similar paint schemes Now if the individual is selling baits and claiming they are painted by you that is fair game to contact them if you feel so. Legal would be one of those things that opens a can of worms.

Yes several have used it, just have to wade through some posts to find it.

I never found the smaller baits I made to be any more difficult to tune. More difficult to make...not that much different but did use a scroll saw to cut them out and proceeded as normal. For me the issue is they drive me nuts to fish. I am more about quality of fish anymore as using a small crank insures constant action with majority of that being the usual assortment "gills" and dink bass.

I used to give a lot of it away to kids when fishing at local places. However have a lot still and manage to find bargains on stuff just more selective. My kids have shown little interest in fishing and don't see that changing but always a chance. I keep thinking I should just ebay a lot of the stuff as even at bargain prices going to add up.