Travis

Please no!!! While not a young guy not for sure how many old coots this country can take.

Ditch the thermometer, stir more often, and in shorter bursts. No reason to try making something difficult that is so easy.

Bottom line you have to ideally eliminate but reduce moisture (humidity) from the environment during the dipping procedures. When you dip you expose the contents of the can, vessel, etc.. to the environment. Various ways around this issue however but easiest readily available method for most likely being dehumidifier (but limits on how low one can effectively lower a small room humidity) or glove bag/box with dry compressed air feed.

Depending on your needs may want to look into buying/renting a tank of CO2 or N2 for many hobbyists you can go a very long time before refill. No noise....

Even though old thread these little clamps come in handy for various things. http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=68938&cat=1,43838,47843

There is probably half dozen or more of threads dealing with this exact question. 1. Forstner bit, quality (not HF or the usual big box stores) 2. Keep them sharp so a set of files and diamond card potentially 3. Drill holes while blank is square or make jig to securely and consistently hold the blank 4. No need for reverse, standing on one foot, or holding your tongue a special way.

Should be able to use the "hot plastic" method............. silk screen shirts/plastisol ink.....

Fishing a bait nobody else has means you catch more fish?

I fish a lot of my own baits (cranks, top waters, and soft plastics) but have no issues using commercial. I used to pour a lot of soft plastics but couldn't even begin to fish what I have stored bought over the years. I typically found stuff on sale or clearance and bought a lot of it. Makes it hard to make things when you can buy for so cheap and use your time to fish or do other activities. I don't mind pouring baits but there are many things I would rather do. As Bob mentioned it gets where hey I could make this but the price of the product is cheap and frankly doesn't get much better that the commercial offering in some instances. For some things their isn't much satisfaction for me as no real sense of accomplishment in making the bait. That really is a big factor for me, does making (insert whatever) present itself as a challenge, a puzzle, and or do I find it enjoyable to do. I always enjoyed making a master and the molding process much more than the final product making when it comes to soft plastics. I always like hand pouring more so than injecting but don't find myself getting the molds out very often anymore. Every once and awhile I may knock something out if I am in one of those moods but I think it has been well over a year the last time I messed with any soft plastic. Most of soft plastics can be done by anybody with a heartbeat with the products now readily available to the hobbyist. I used to sell but so much of it was becoming I need 100 senkos in watermellon, blah, blah, it was just boring to do and fortunately not in a situation where the money was needed as purely got spent on buying other molds or product.

I turned the profile on disc and lined with sand paper, then chucked on drill press. Sands profiles quickly in balsa. Hazmail did one also and had a thread some time ago on the subject.

I personally don't worry. To be honest much of what you see on the site is knock off of the big boys. Many don't create anything "new" as they are more about just wanting to make baits. I see guys at times take a lot of credit for "new" that translates to they just haven't been around all that long or they have the attitude they haven't seen it so it is new. I chuckle at times talking with these guys as they wear blinders. Then you have a portion that make all sorts of new stuff but more about recreating the wheel. There ideas on concepts that are valid but often price prohibitive at the time or just not feasible for production as very little need or very niche market. I have seen some truly unique ideas, concepts, and baits (typically email, PM, or private chats) over the years that definitely are very marketable. However I think the general lure builder gives way to little credit to the big guys when it comes to innovation, design, and overall ability. We tend to think we can whittle something in our porch or poor something in the garage and make that secret lure. Understandable as the concept is deeply woven into fishing lore.

I would buy a cyclone to be honest as easiest solution to get a product that definitely works. So many that make them end up making several or modify it often to get it to work best as they can be effected by little changes builders often skim over as good enough. I have yet to see a small set up but am in the process of trying to build one (future home...likely trash can). My shop is small so I use a Rockler Dust Right and have been very surprised with how well it works. Its foot print isn't the smallest but much smaller than typical Theil builds/top hats. I would personally most likely get the Dust Deputy if buying another or maybe the Clear Vue if needing to stay small foot print. Can also mount the vacuum sorce/blower on the wall with an appropriate small micron bag in tandem with the cyclone. Lots of threads on the subject on several wood working sites as a very popular topic. Hundreds of builds of Theil set ups and dos and don'ts. Good review and about the smallest set ups going. http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/cyclone-separator-shootout/ Clear vue update. http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/clear-vue-mini-cv-06-update/

I have used paint a lot but usually just trace a crank then grab some templates, eraser and pencil and go to work. Just scan it when I am done.

In my opinion most of that stuff has been lost with the modern day lure maker. Search the old posts. Some of it is pouring/injecting and then a little artistry with the airbrush (swimbaits for example) before the final clear plastic dip.

Likely compressing the bait during the first pass. Balsa is so soft doesn't take much pressure to distort it. Super glue the path of the bearing and see if that helps. The grain being raised is multiple issues likely. Dull bits, cutter speed, feed rate, etc.. and end grain.

When making cranks I glue in the ballast and hook hangers and the line tie if applicable. I then will seal the bait. Once dry I then paint. After painting then I glue in the lip/line tie and eyes. I use devcon 5 minute for this application typically. Once that is done I clear coat the bait. After it cures I clean up the hook eyes and all good to go. Some will glue the lip and mask it off with tape (painters what I used in the past) then paint. I just don't like the look and find it more effort that way but perfectly satisfactory method also.

I had a lot of those "chicken foot" worms at one time. I was given a paper sack full of them about 20 years ago, sort of wished I still had them. The stuff I had was made by Harville.

The easiest sealer in my opinion is dewaxed shellac. No issues at all with any paint or top coat using it. Can dip or brush on and it dries rapidly and cleans up with alcohol easily. Neither of the shellacs are going to fill or cover any imperfections, purely just to seal prior to painting. I have used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer to dip baits to cover inperfections but would rather sand than try covering up something. http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/zinsser/interior-wood-finishes/sealcoat-universal-sanding-sealer I haven't had issues with the spray on stuff either but it isn't dewaxed. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-12-oz-Clear-Shellac-Spray-408/100176744 Now I use this on anything but balsa. If using balsa I will use superglue or devcon epoxy. I have used solo cups/thinner method and propionate also and they both do a better job at covering imperfections however can have issues with solvents at times. I never had any problems but know some did. As far as airbrush I have been using Iwata Eclipse HP SBS for some time with no complaints. I mainly use shellac as sealer, water based paints (Createx), and seal with Devcon. Everyone has their own poison and really wouldn't read too much into any of it as usually comes down to the user and not the product. I have never had any issues with that combination as far as compatibility.

Just because it has been done no need not to try and repeat. They used injection molding to do it but no reason why you can't tinker with other ways.

Thought a little more it it did come in fry and crawdad also and were call Caterpillar Worm, Grub, etc.... They were heavily salted the way I recall, like someone added a dry tsp of salt to each bag (remembered every time I would take a dip from the can that darn salt).

Bass Pro Shops made the worm you are wanting JRammit about 20 years ago or so. They made grubs and worms and I think french fries but could be I just ripped the tails off as they were little sickle tails that weren't very sturdy. I probably fished a thousand or so of them one year when I actually fished a lot. I didn't buy any more after that and they were discontinued not many years later. They worked fine but no better than a traditional worm in my view point. In fact liked them less as they tended to get hung up on branches, lotus stems, etc...

This is one of my favorite. Post 27 http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/14936-best-way-to-create-mold-from-a-real-fish/page-2

My non scientific response (from a scientist) no need to bake a mold in the first place. If time of of critical essence I just seal the mold and pour. Don't seal the back as it is going to sweat. Once done leave out on a rack to finish drying.

Poe's cranks have always been some of the worst finished baits (dimples, uneven spots, etc...) once you get under that paint job. They have a very thick cover coat under the paint job to cover up all the imperfections.

Poe's Crankbaits.....