dramone

i guess TU member Jio Tackleunderground - View Profile: Jio from www.obblers.com could help you

can you sand the resin? yes do screw eyes hold? good do you have to add ballast? depends on your desired lure how does it hold up compared to wood and a couple coats of D2T? good the more help the better Ive got too much time invested to scrwe things up try the search feature on this website i guess every lure builder invest a lot of time in each lure!

bigbass i'm just writing things down and its late, so pls dont blame me for my ortography... if i'm right, you want to copy your master swimbait...? what do you use to make a mold? www.smooth-on.com or www.tapplastics.com have a nice video section. i would start with rtv silicone, cause its easy to handle and demold. if the sections of your swimbait have a V-shape, rtv is the stuff to go. (cause of the flex) the mold will last a long way if care is taken. flex urethan can also be used, but i would go for rtv-silikone for a couple of reasons. (later on, you can switch to epoxy or fibreglas molds) how easy is this stuff to work with? peace of cake if you follow the instructions! can you sand or machine it? rtv-silikone...NO what would someone charge me to make a 2 piece mold of my swimbait? your mold well be ready to pour in 24h things to take care of: - take your time to make the mold!! it safes you a lot of time on the finished casting - use releaseagent if silicone is applied over silicone, or the 2 halves will be glued together! (rtv-silicone is self releasing, so no releasagent on your prototype is needed, but the demolding is easyer and the mold will last longer) - air vents (where and why) - do you need a 2 peace mold? (i dont do 2 peace rtv molds enymore, i only make block molds, and cut them. no partingline etc. can be seen after, but it still need vents etc...) casting material: to start i would strongly recommend polyurtehan casting resin. you can "fill" it with i.e. microbaloons etc. to make your bait floating or "suspending"...i dont do foam anymore. goog luck

i print them myself with a standard ink jet. i'm happy with the results.

i use waterslide decals from time to time on request. i apply the decals after the first coat of epoxy (or the second coat of 2k urethan out of the airbrush.) this gives me the opportunity to move the decal on the bait a bit and put it to the right place. i seal with D2T directly on the decal. sorry i know the text is cheesy :-(

dear Mark no worries some one postet the link some years ago here at TU (but i bookmarked it)

pic's for photofinish hi-resolution DLS: Digital Library System

how to "stretch" rtv with caulk for molds. (reuse of old molds also) i made a short tutorial a while ago for a german site, based on Husky's hints (yes, i put his name on top of the tut, because it was not my idea and to give him the credit). ok, it's written in german, but the pic's will speak for their own . send me a pm if interestet. EDIT: oops...i'm not a club member, so no pm...sorry

sorry guys...havent been around a while. 1. rtv-silikone will cure faster when water ist added (durability and strenght of the mold decreasing). i use some drops of water for long curing rtv as an shortcut. if you use the "bombs away method" shown at 4:08so, no airpockets in the mold, even when water is added. the rtv will lose its viscosity "linear" to the amount of water added. 2. measure the amount of rtv needed with rice instead of water (lure allready in place). the volume of rice is pretty much the same as rtv. (volume vs weight). thx Husky for all the hints

thx Dave that is exactly the answer i was looking for!! (shame on me that i did not made the brainwork by my self ) i now assume that the extra ballast due to the epoxy is neglectable for most of the lures

thank you all for your help! so far, i'm writing things down, to know what to use for each lure (habit, weight/where etc.) i also estimate the amount of epoxy (experience, trial and error) i'm going to use, and subtract it from the lead. (pretty difficult when foiling with "deep" scales" ) i'm thinking about vodkamans approach (thx Dave ), maybe i'll give it a try.

Let

thx for all your answers and help! i guess i will switch over to IR-bulp ("breeder bulp") as an heat sourche... max. temp should not be over 50C?

thx LaPala i use several epoxy, all 2 part (cold curing) i.e. D2T the other epoxy can be tempered after curing to make it even "stronger". when using a hairdryer it seems to me, that the epoxy is curing much faster! the uv-bulp should be used as heatsource. if been told, that as rule-of-thumb with 10C plus (above 25C) the curing time shortens up to 50%.

i'm thinking about a top mounted UV-bulp above my drying wheel to speed up the drying process of the epoxy coat. i use a hairdryer for a few seconds to get rid of airbubbles on the bait. (not to long as craters will occure). the advantage of a uv-heatsource should be, that the drying process is from "inside out" and not vice versa, as it would be with i.e. hairdryer. - what "force" should the bulp be (amount of Watt) - how close should it be to the baits - how many uv-bulps are needed per foot (vertical drying wheel) - should i wear sunglasses to protect my eyes? thanks for your help!!

dear skeeter, KcDano and BobP thanks a lot for your help! i also use d2t as clearcoat on my baits, but the coat might be to thick for for my actual "project bait" (4.3 inch 7 segments, 2mm space between each)... i spoke with a car-painter today. he will give me a sample of 2k PU clear for free to test. if you are interested i'm glad to share the experiences with that clear! (available in the U$)

i'm not sure if this helps... i also use foam for big/heavy pike lures (thx for teaching me Husky ). the polyurethan foam i'm using is hard and buoyant, so if i want to make the bait heavy (i.e. sinking) i just put some lead in it. the expansion rate of the foam is 1:17 (1 liter will be enough for a lot of lures). the exact mixing ratio of the components (a+ is crucial. the "resin" is very liquid so i have never experianced any problems with airbubbles. pot life is very short! 90 seconds and the reaction begins to start. demolding after 270 seconds. i made the "casting channel" a bit larger to gain some time while casting due to the short pot life. the surface of the bait comes out of the mold very smooth. i never managed to get a good result with putty molds (even with mold release), so i'm using rtv-silikone.

first of all: thank you very much for the replys Alpha-Cryl is no longer sold in switzerland as well as in the european union. but i'll check that. so, for an urethane clearcoat i would need an activator and hardner. is it a 3 component system? @skeeter since Alpha-Cryl is no longer sold, what do you use as substitude? i found several urethan clearcoats used for "yachting". they are based on Acryl-Polyurethan(DD) 2components or Urethan-Alkydresin. i guess i have to ask a car-painter for a sample to try them first.

i read in several threads that some of you use urethan "lacquer" for the final coat on their baits. what is it exactly? (product name). how durable is it? thanks for the help

thats how i'm holding the lures the "stick" is some plastic...a "thread" in a metal stick would be even better i think...