Travis

Matt my comments aren't targeted towards your baits. I enjoy making the baits. Copying isn't fun for me and I was never pleased with the baits. Often when I put the time on the water with the original bait I often found I didn't care for the original one either and find hype and marketing to be the real key for many of these baits. These baits disappear quickly in the market but often are the must have for a short time period. I still believe the angler plays much more importance day in and day out than the bait. I will take good angler with a poor bait over a great bait and poor angler any day. Put a good angler and good bait together and look out... As a scientist I see many bait makers from the smallest DIY garage guy to the biggest companies making nothing but bogus inflated claims without any data to support them. Some are legit and hold water others are nothing more than false claims to try to differentiate a product in a sea of products. Doesn't take too long working with patents and you start to see the commonality in these type of claims. As Pete pointed out rarely does a design not start with incorporating, just a rework, or knowledge of other similar baits as these characteristics are must because the trump card has and will be those pesky scientific laws.

Making baits for many has nothing to do with learning anything. Heck one might make an argument that many of the baits we make could be done by anyone with a pulse. Personally I like figuring things out but usually start with looking at what is out there. Most baits are nothing more than reworks of others so always a good place to start. Most of the time when I get a few of these baits in my hands I find out all too often the bait is really nothing special and comes down to more to do with the guy fishing it than the actual bait.

Rikon comes with a better warranty. Like many tools they may be very similar some reportedly made on the same line in the Taiwan or Chinese assembly plant but reportedly can use much different specks with regards to quality, components, etc.... Craftsman really has taken a hit over the years in quality and standing behind their product but still some good to be had in their line. I am using the Craftsman 14 inch model currently and have been satisfied but would not get another one. Nothing negative yet but in the 6 months I have been using hasn't "won me over". Many reviews from magazines look at nearly "identical" tools but yet come to different end points with regards to overall quality. Several of the wood working sites do a good job at identifying areas to look at. A lot depend on what you want the machine to do. I have a cheap Delta table top I picked up and used for years. No issues with just cutting out basswood crank bodies and have kept it just to mess around with.

Gesso will not waterproof the lure. Many don't waterproof the lure and just depend on the final clear coat. The most readily available clear coats in your area would be Devcon 30 minute (Ace Hardware always has it) and then Envirotex Light (Ace again, Hobby Lobby, or Michaels).

In my opinion no comparison... band saw all the way. I use my scroll saw off and on and poor comparison to a properly set up band saw. I never had an issue with cutting lexan on the scroll saw but end up using tin snips most often. As far as dust a vacuum or shop vac then a box fan with a filter next to the saw will take care of most fines. I have used a similar set up many times when trapped inside my house doing things during winter. If buying either I would really look at buying a quality over saving a buck if not then better off just buying a good solid fret saw or coping saw.

Carving symmetrical is difficult at first but with a little practice one can get pretty darn close, well close enough it isn't going to effect performance. I always start with squared stock and a sharp knife. Sharp is very important and sharp to some isn't sharp. If you like woodworking in general HOCK TOOLS: The Perfect Edge is an very good book about sharpening anything one would want and the science/metallurgy behind it. With a square blank I will then start to pare away the wood and just repeat on each side mimicking blade angle and depth of cut. Controlled pull strokes towards my thumb and it is like carving butter. If one is using any force at all the knife isn't sharp (I use basswood and paulowina some). A few lures and you will be knocking them out in no time.

I am a firm believer in making templates. 1. It will be repeatable Can't get too scientific in trying to make a bait if you are "free handing" it every time. Take the variable out of the equation. 2. Easy to put in paint, sketch up, etc.. and resize and tweak. Heck under 5 minutes and you can have a Rogue template ready to go. Google search will give you 100's of side views and easy to fine color scheme that shows weighting position. Copy paste into paint, resize, mark line/hook ties, weight positions, go ahead and erase the hooks, then copy and paste until you have a sheet of side templates, and save. Grab the calipers and a rouge and good to go. I had templates somewhere and have saved them to a disc somewhere. They aren't exact rogue shape but I think I have caught a fish or two on the design.

I started making lures about 20 years ago when in college. At first it was soft plastics as I couldn't readily find a big worm so we were making Frankenstein worms by melting several zoom magnums or baby hueys together to get some large worms. I made some cranks during that point also and a few top waters but nothing too serious. I ended up getting married and moving to essentially the dark hole of fishing compared to what I had before. I ended up pouring soft plastics and making cranks to attempt to at least be doing something fishing related. Hobby for the most part but have made some money off an on selling stuff. Looked at going a little more serious into it but can't spend the time needed without seriously hampering my goal of retirement.

Yeah I have been using mine for awhile now (8/9) years. Fifty is no problem on mine and could be modified to take more easily but I liked the larger spacing as I don't end up bumping lures when putting them on. I used wood "thread" spools and drilled holes around the diameter for my alligator clip/dowel holders. I have a set screw through each spool to tighten onto the square shaft. I never had one fall off with just friction fit but I end up just gluing them in just in case. If one or two get broken I just replace with new spool. I think my rotisserie is rated for 75 pounds of meat so more lures than I ever want to clear coat at any setting.

I personally would skip most of them and go ahead and get some basswood. Balsa is fine also and will hold hooks no problems, lots of threads over the years with regards to this topic.

Dragon Skin from Smooth On might be the ticket. They have a lot of products but it has been years since I really looked at them.

I started my membership in 91 I believe and thought about getting a life membership at times. This year didn't renew and figure at some point will chuck all the magazines.

I think the issue likely isn't the alcohol but the water that gets left behind.

Do you pour a small dab of plastic to use to use as a blotter when pouring. I pour about a 50 cent piece and will use it to catch or dip onto any potential drips, and clean the tip of the cup at times to keep a clean pour spout.

I prefer to just make my own molds if an exact copy is needed. Easy cheap and one of those skills that comes in handy down the road.

All comes down to practice as once you have it down pat there shouldn't be any trimming and should go very quickly. I bought some of those silicone cups and used them for some time but overtime just found them to be a pour substitute to the anchor/pyrex cups. They would pour a thin stream but not that much thinner (if all) to a pyrex and plastic the right consistency. More molds will help sure but trimming is bad news for speed and typically end results. How many are you needing to pour? You can also set up a pour station higher so you don't have to bend as much.

Well while not practical for lures you can thin devcon until water consistency to coat lure molds without issues of it not setting. I would look more towards wrong amounts of the two components as you cause.

I have had horrible service from UPS, USPS, FedEX, DHL.. it happens but it didn't in this case. Are we complaining on what could have happened because he did not receive bad service from the carrier on this transaction. I would like to point out again that the quote is not just for shipping it is for shipping and handling. Handling is an undisclosed amount on their website because they charge in excess of shipping to cover potential rate increases, miscalculation of weight, etc...way for them not to foot the shipping bill and also increase profit. Fairly common practice from lots of small businesses. They could just add x dollars more to the initial price of the hooks and charge exact shipping but like most retailers best to make the price of the good as cheap as possible to hook you. . So in short there is absolutely nothing to refund as handling is whatever in excess of shipping. If it had been shipped via UPS for 6 bucks all would have been good with the 12 dollar shipping/handling charge, right. It really looks like his main complaint should be with himself. Their site is clear on the shipping/handling and processing part he either didn't read, understand, or as he pointed out assumed things. Only need for communication is when something went wrong and nothing really went wrong unless we really try hard to make something out of nothing.

He in no way got ripped off, I can't understand how he or anyone would feel they got ripped off. It clearly states SHIPPING AND HANDLING charges.... Not shipping... He got exactly what he paid for on time and in full just through a different carrier (which may not have been Hooks USA doing at all potentially). You can subdivide the total amount any way you want but it all comes down to the purchaser bought 250 hooks for x dollars and found that to be an acceptable total price for the goods. He got exactly that. Free hooks and 50 shipped= 50 for the hooks and free shipping= 10 for the hooks 30 for shipping and 10 for handling= endless other combinations to equal the same thing. Bottom line he received the total amount of hoos for the amount agreed upon and within the time frame clearly stated on their website. Darn I would be fuming if I got such horrible service. I guess I am too laid back, I know the details of my transactions before sending funds. I email once those details are not met. If I want to know when/where exactly then I pony up the money for tracking, next day delivery, etc... An email response would have been nice but depending on the content may have best been ignored.

I guess I will come off as a jerk but I don't see much of your complaint as valid. Carrier switch is the only one I can see. Shipping didn't cost that is correct but you paid for shipping and handling as described on their site. They also state up to 4 days handling before being shipped. So shipping time is the time the carrier takes + up to 4 days. I guess technically they didn't say business days, but I think most would have understood business days. So 11, skip the weekend, count the monday holiday if you want, and add two more days for 4 and you get 16th. So if they had sent by UPS would you still be upset if it still arrived on time (based on their website description) for the price you paid. I guess as I see it you got the product for the price totaled through their website on time.

If you are going to go through the trouble of making a two piece lure then only makes sense to make an all inclusive through wire system.

Creek chubs were always easy to catch from my experiences. Cast after cast sort of thing, at times just a bare hook would catch them.

We always hit the local creek with ultralight rods the smallest of hooks and tiny bread balls. Just flipped the bait into the creek and quick flick hook set and you would fill a bucket in no time with lively chubs.

I buy the wheels at Ace, they are less than a mile from the house so I end up paying a little more for the convenience. Yes I use it in my drill press and run a vacuum hose in the box surround to pick up the fines.

I typically draw my own using paint. Once I get it the way I like I make a wooden pattern and add it to my box. I identify the pattern and keep a small journal to add thickness, wood species, weight, placement, etc.... when I build the bait until I get one dialed in. I routinely use a few "tools" when copying a bait.. .A bait in hand is usually where I begin and start the process. Destroying one is often needed but worth the effort in my opinion (unless $$$$ bait). I trace the bait and make adjustments to create my wood master template. I try to get everything laid out on the master for easy transfer of the pattern. I take some measurements and get the thickness of the material, depth of lip slot, etc... all worked out. Transfer to my board and cut out a set of blanks to make prototypes with and enter into my journal. At this point I end up taking some more measurements and get some contours worked out and transfer to another template. I will try to make notes and make some variances depending on the baits I have that work better. I will make one slightly smaller in the nose, lip angle slightly different, etc... and add these things to the journal. Often it doesn't make much difference but there are times that it ens up being very valuable information. I end up sealing the baits, weighting, and floating them in a small Tupperware bowl at my bench. I end up doing this to all baits and balance each one. I smash lead shot with a hammer into small wafers to add weight to fine tune after an initial "bulk" weight addition based on previous findings. Glue in my line ties, prep the baits, paint, glue in the bill and clear.