Travis

I was thinking more about a pictorial encyclopedia of things. A good picture of cold cracks, what a split vein should look like, a crank bait with all the parts labeled, etc... No post or comments from anyone just one sticky thread with high quality informative pictures labeled or small description of what is being shown. Proper grain direction for cutting cranks, tricks of the trade etc.... A lot of the stuff can be found but lets be honest few spend the time to really search threads for any information. It all being one place could be useful if managed/edited properly. Very likely best be done by a small group to truly select good quality information.

It could be beneficial but would need some serious moderation to keep it relevant. No posts/replies should be allowed. Just a photo with a brief description of what it to show. Probably be best if a small group received photos and selected the best representations. You will have guys posting tons of bad photos that really don't aid in regards to reference photos.

POP will pick up details of most baits just fine. The user ends up being the key to getting the satisfactory results.

I ended up having to essentially top coat the areas where the nylon or whatever material I was using prior. If not the top coat get onto the material and you flex goes away or wears the material quickly as you have rigid/limited give zone going directly to flexible material. Works better if the flex material is a stiffer flexing material but then the action starts to get killed.

I toyed around with various materials for a little while. I even made a small loom and wove some of the braided lines to make a "cloth" strip to use. Came down to just too much effort for no better results. Some cables gave good results but construction methods become more important and one has to add elements to reduce wear on the bait. I had to run small diameter pipe and flare the ends for pass trough for the cable or piano wire I was using.

Oh I see, sorry. I mold all in one piece. As long as the harness/weight system is held in position by the mold much easier than messing with a glue up procedure.

I always mold one half at a time. After the first half is molded then place the master into that half use a release agent and pour the second half.

Has to do with plastic temperature and contraction upon cooling. Take a Forster bit and drill out the top of each spru to create a reservoir of plastic. It adds volume of plastic to be drawn into the bait as it cools, increases thermal mass relative to the spru run due to the added plastic and reduced thin spru run. Here is one from about eight years with the modification. I don't think it was about a few weeks after my first mold I started doing this and never had any issues. That bait would dent readily in the first 1/2 inch of the head with out the spru.

I agree with Nova the first thing I noticed is the two cups and going to be tricky to get them to perform correctly if plastic not hard or might have to go thicker. Ribs on a top water aren't something I look for either as they always seem to pick up "trash".

I honestly would not even think about the reel and move on. Bass anglers are the most superstitious group willing to try anything to give them a one up or unique item. We throw a lot of money around on gimmicks and crazy things. It should be telling that you can find such little information on something I remember from years ago. I used one for a few casts and can say I have bought dozens of bait casters since and not a one was one of them. Too many other reels (perhaps not the same price class) perform better in my opinion but a few casts doesn't exactly meet any real definition of use.

As pointed out definitely one of the things that makes making lures a hard business to actually succeed at. Everyone and their mother can sell the stuff for far cheaper than some one trying to make a legit run at it. Some guys are retired and are making stuff to take up time. They put no value on their time as they are having fun doing it so material costs about all that they have to cover. Other guys are just supplementing a government check so once again just needing some money to get a case of Naty and some TV dinners. To add to the frustration many anglers are clueless about quality tackle and can keep guys above at float for ever as cheap equates to good lures for many "anglers".

Wasn't too long ago and this was the hot thing to do.

I bought mine at a head shop for cheap and was very precise based on the balance weight sets at work.

Looks to be a four spur chuck drive center. ~ 20-40 bucks

Several of the craft glitters work very well if you can find the right ones. Stampendous are the ones I typically have used in the past for very fine glitters. I had ordered some from them at one point but it isn't very cost effective. I used a lot of coupons and clearance buys to make it affordable.

It would seam that it is something one with a little bit of skill could build will relative ease. As mentioned the return for the cutter would be something to tweak based on how the video appears the copier moves. Still not for sure I wouldn't try using a small palm router as the cutter with a Saburr Tooth set up. One of those things I always want to make for kicks but don't think I would use too often. As far as masters if you can't carve one a drill press and crank is all you need. I would use a "set" screw set up to lock the master in place on the shaft.

I believe it is usually caused by end grain being severed.

You need to identify the cause of the bubbles. The two common sources are as everyone above has pointed out mixing in air (most common) but a second source can be the lure itself. Make sure your baits are sealed well. Any "pinholes" in the undercoat and resulting paint layers can add a lot of aggravation down the road. Even more so when you go to warm baits with a lamp or other heat source to remove bubbles from mixing as the trapped air in the "pinhole" expands and pushes up into the epoxy.

See at times hand pours sure sound quicker.

There are several examples of rotary tumblers used to "finish" wood pieces. Many are DIY guys and the results are hit and miss. One issue is the process of sanding. This is shearing action where most of these tumblers are built or use media in a fashion that creates impact an little to no shear. Usually it is more about knocking rough edges off the bait. Such as kids building blocks.

I am sure you will have some takers.

Are they made of the same material? Smooth on has various products that likely would work.

I have done triple poured senkos. I pour the one side first (laminate) then do the final pour. You have to get the timing down right or get cold cracks at one extreme or running/pooling in the other.

I am with Bob on this one but easiest way to find out is make a test "tail" and then use your normal process. Take the tail and hit it with water and rub your finger across the bristles and see if the paint flakes off as the bristles flex. From my experience you are going to loose the paint. Depending on the brush fibers you use they may be died from the paint and retain faint color.

Should be a lot of information on 2 part expanding polyurethane foam ( foamies).