Travis

Sorry to hear that. I talked with John through via email off an on and meet up with him a few times a some tackle shows. I usually parted with a few cranks he was selling and he was always quick to chuck in a few others. He was definitely a nice guy and we had planned at one time trying to get together and make some cranks and seeing each others methods.

I would also use bondo or durhams rock puddy as the crack is small and both finish up with smooth. The expanding glues often leave a lot of little holes to fill before paint. If you don't get them very good chance you will get a pin hole in your topcoat. While the lure, in this case won't care, just should be avoided in my opinion. I would have chucked the bait and did a new one as I have a hard time accepting something when I know I could do better and usually not worth the effort to fix and mess with this sort of thing if it leads to me having to then fix the topcoat.

I give too little credit to average consumer? If cheap enough and it has some sort of resemblance to fishing correctly they will be satisfied. Slap the work "clone" on it and the fact it was a lot cheaper than the (insert expensive lure) all is good.

I would be very cautious with "ivory" wood if they can't tell what species then crap shoot. Some of the ivory wood is very hard as in similar to ipe others more like oak. I also would be concerned base on country of origin as very unlikely there is any selected species and is just whatever is clear cut and brought in so now likely huge array of quality from chuck straight to the trash to great lure bodies to nice key chains.

I would reconsider this "deal" for me it all comes down to fishing out of it and I have fished out of about every style of boat there is on freshwater and that would be one of my last choices. I would gladly take the 12 ft jon and select waters based on it. As far as fishing really think about will this boat meet the standards needed for where you are going to fish and how too many guys end up buying a boat on price and often something the wife ok's because she thinks of riding getting a tan, pulling some sort of inflatable behind, or just sitting out with a friends and a cool one. If you go with the boat I would give it a very good look through or have someone that is familiar with boats take a look at it. Dry rot would be the big one to look for and condition of the transom as often ends up being a big issue. New battieries, bilge pumps, live wells, trolling motor, couple depth finders, keep taking on costs of things that will be needed and replaced on many old boats. I personally would just save up for something else more suited for targeting bass. Owner of older Procraft bass boat bought on a deal......haven't fished it in over 12 years and to be honest more likely to put on Craigslist as a curb alert as the space in the garage is more valuable to me at this point than the boat.

I would go with basswood based on the description and the images of some of the lures. One of the cranks displays the characteristics of spalted basswood. It is not maple they just used maple colored to describe the wood tone.

I ended up making a few forms on the bandsaw then clamping the lip in them once heated. For just a simple bend I just bend with a pair of needle nose pliers without any teething marks. I also have several different spoons laying around the shop and will heat the lip set on the spoon and then use the back of another spoon to press it into a concave shape. Blue painters tape is something I use frequently when making cranks. I keep probably 1/2 dozen rolls in a couple widths in the shop at all times.

I use a heat gun or propane torch. Just keep it moving, if you get bubbles you were too hot.

I highly recommend making what you consider you fish best or what you have the most experience with etc... For example a guy that doesn't fish cranks is going to have a very hard time building and even knowing if they have a decent crank. If you don't have experience with the bait no problems then buy some to compare with yours. A mix of commercial and custom baits (from legit makers).

In regards to testing definitely fish it as you would fish it normal. I would say most crankers frown upon swivels (as don't use them) and for many snaps even are questionable.

Those mats are what you want. I have an Olfa as they are routinely carried in the typical craft stores. The blades came from Ace and I believe they are "their" brand but could be wrong.

Easiest cheapest way to get started cutting tails is just stack a series of razor blades and washers. The blades I use have holes already in them so it takes like 5 minutes to put one together. You will have to use a backer board to press and have mat to go along with it but should come in under 20 bucks as the mat depending on the size comes in as the most expensive. With a hobby lobby coupon for 40% off may come in more around 10 bucks. You can buy premade cutters if you want but not needed if just starting out. Some will say you can't get consistent tails, decent tails, etc... but you are going to find out a lot of what can and can't be done comes down to the guy doing it.

100 cfm is what I see thrown around but that might not correlate to our application. I will check at work on Monday and see what our hoods are set at. Some use the square footage foot print and other set cfm to reach a certain volume of the hood space turnover rate.

If I recall correctly 100 cfm (minimal) per horizontal square ft. You also should have equal make up air for it to function properly and proper duct work to handle it properly. To be honest you would likely be better off putting a decent box fan in a window and setting up on a card table with a shroud build over it front of it. Use hinges and plywood and you can fold up your hood and put it away when done.

It wants to "drag" an awful lot and would be the reason it is hard to retrieve. In my opinion you have designed a bait that is not functioning properly as it is fighting against the motion it wants to do. Marks suggestion may help some for sure.

Not that I know of. I took the Mogambo grub and doubled the body.

Thought I was losing my mind.... in two sections.

http://www.unclejosh.com/C/Grubs/353 I think they were acquired by Uncle Josh several years ago but still go by Kalin's. I also have a single pour mold that makes similar. Picture wtih 5/0 hook.

Dental cement spatula. I bought some at HF or the junk bin at Ace not for sure when but was some time ago. Might come across lab spatulas for cheaper as lots of places go under and unload that sort of stuff. Ebay fairly cheap. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xdental+cement+spatuala.TRS0&_nkw=dental+cement+spatuala&_sacat=0

I am with you on this one Bob. I finish a bait for testing and take it out to the lake or creek and fish it. I may make a few different ones with some differences and modify while on the water.

I would likely skip the cloudy D2T but go ahead and mix some up to see what happens once mixed and test over some paint schemes on some scrap piece. May find that it will work for personal use on some colors (shad for instance). My local Ace (less than 1 mile from house) carries Devcon so I can sort through it.

Typically I don't do too many at once. Might do one or two crank designs at a dozen each. I have various baits in the works but find myself drawn to the 100's of other projects not related to lures.

Would work in a pinch for sure.

I have never found a commercially available product that will reproduce a a true scale pattern. As mentioned head to the craft store fabric section and pick out a few different sized mesh that will work. You can also strategically buy produce at times that has a little different pattern or size (garlic clove bags, individual pears, onion bags at times, etc...) At the usual Wal Mart, Target, Bed Bath Beyond, etc.. they sell a "body sponge" that is a just a bunch of tied up mesh, garment wash bags for lingerie, etc.., and some collapsible laundry baskets also have some interesting mesh patterns.

Hmmmm.....do any of these equations equal designing a better crank at catching more fish?