LaPala

This extended thread started because of "To seal or Not to seal". You've said it yourself, "(you added)Just a couple: To reduce the number of paint applications to acheive coverage by preventing absorbtion speed up production To reduce cost." I do not see where this is all going. So if it's all benefit together with what i list of why we seal. Why do we need to ponder why old lures were not seal. Regardless of whether they were sealed or not, or if the company survived to this day; Sealing is GOOD. We progress from what we learn in history, not regress. Maybe u should list the reasons why we do not need to seal? PS: The internal combustion engine u use now is not from a model T is it?

Care to name what I left out KC? How many companies were there making lures then and survived till now? No competition doesn't mean they are making a good product. And YES, you are right about assemble lines. Keep the good and improve what u can. Are u still driving around in a Ford Model T?

Sealing is done for a lot of reasons. as protection for the wood beneath from water entry to harden a soft wood as a base for paint to adhere to to smooth out ur lure to prevent air escaping from wood in hot day blistering your paint I think these reasons should be enough to NOT not do sealing. Ford when they were making cars in the old days (Model T) were using solid rubber tires, do we see anyone driving in one of these now? Or should we be using wooden wheels since it's been in used since the 12th century? And yes to cheese:"I still strive to do the best I can with what I have. The sharing of knowledge and experiences here is what drives others to excel." Doing the best with what we have is the epitome of DIY. Why follow something that's already been surpass with superior modern treatment of wood & techniques. But if we have the equipment & material available to major manufactures, I'm sure a lot of us would use that too.

KC, It seem u just wanna argue for argue sake. Cheese points are very valid which you choose to ignore & bring up some other "facts" in tangent. And who is to say other materials is better either? It's up to the fisherman to decide which would suit best the situation. Wood just happen to be the most convenient & workable material for DIY. Are u doing Plastic injection moldings KC? I presume this discussion would be about lures we can make and not some plastic injection molded lures that require a few 100K in just mold alone to get it done.

I am aware of Elmer's as a brand name but always presume they were most famous as those white glues. I just looked into Elmer's website and they offer loads of adhesive product. Guess refering to a brand name will never be accurately interpreted

Finding out which wood is best suited for lures works out fine for manufactures. One time cost (R&D). Doing sealer coat will equal extra material and processes. That will equal extra $$ on material and man hours. This is a constant overhead. So when u're paying 2.99 for a wooden lure, don't complain. Saving 1 cent per lure on a monthly production of 100,000 is how much? U do the math. The bigger ur business is the more u save. Simple economics & would u be involved in a business to not make as much profit as u can? That's why custom lures will always hold a niche.

I feel for you. When I started lure building materials easily obtianed in US are like a treasure hunt for me. Elmer's Glue is PVA glue, usually used for gluing books (Stationary glue) & the yellowish type sold as carpenter's glue for wood. This should help u find them

Oops Vodka, PVA is NOT a sealer. All PVAs (Polyvinyl acetate) glues are not water proof. The yellow PVAs (carpenters glue) have a higher moisture resistance than the white ones (Elmer's or stationary glue), but neither are completely water proof. The purpose of sealing a wood lure is to strengthen the wood and to water proof it so in case of tooth penetration or top coat breach, the wood will not soak in water. Proper sealing usually you want to look at material that is waterproof after curing. These would include epoxy, plastic dip, and quite a few more materials which are not as user friendly or cost effective.

Thanks for the confidence Skeeter, Husky. There are some things on-going on but I'm sorry I cannot talk about the details in a public forum. U guys would understand right?

It's not my job Husky, just a side track continuation of this "addiction". All I can say is it open ur eyes to why production lures are not as perfect as handmade custom lures or why u'd have to pay top dollar for a premium bait. But it does open up a whole new avenue of materials & process which are not available in small scale.

This Korean website (select the "analysis" link on top) will be a better example of how to tackle an info database on lips & bodies. An exhaustive collection of lip shapes & body profile would not serve much purpose. Since factors affecting lure action is a combination of all factors. Lip shape, tow eye position, body profile, weighting.... etc2 Just too many combinations possible to effectively catalog. And most importantly lips are design to meet the needs of the maker going after. You could interchange alot of lips in a bait and still make the lure work. What you choose are the ones to give the desired action and depth. The final judges will still be the fishes.

Frankly there's a lot of categories of lipless baits, glider, vibe, jerk, pencil just to list a few. Being a crank and lipless would mean designs like Worden quikfish, flatfish and a few other which are actually just lip combined with the body or in the case of vibe baits they are the top front part of the lure. Each have their different approach. Unless you're more specific, I think it would be too much info to cover.

Looking at ur earlier lip & this one, u seem to have jutted out the top part of lip beyond ur lure body, that part could be causing unnecessary resistance to the wobble. Tapering from tip to flush with body will help too (slightly more triangular)

Rapala makes a sinking version of SSR too, so suspending mod would mean drilling out some lead from both sides of belly hanger, would be easier mod. Worse that can happen, stuff some led back in ur drilled holes.

Cool pattern on the wood. How does it swim with a denser wood?

alligator clip & sticky tape or a magnet works. Lots of options, I use as hemostat & can clip both together. Devcon don't stick to metal very well, just try it and see how much trouble is it for u to clean after.

Cool to see a fellow over builder. No problem with epoxy on the welded ring, just coat it with Vaseline b4 epoxy. Just make sure Vaseline coated ring do not touch the body of ur lure. Epoxy comes off with a plier squeeze.

Looks like fish will eat it up. Using a plastic sealer there? I personally would prefer a slightly more nose down float (about 5° off from horizontal).

How's this: Look here for the carver (scroll to some where in the middle)

There's a member here by name of Tally, perhaps he'd known what a whacker is, errr, now how do u spell that exactly????

Nikon. They have a longer history of making camera and that alone would sway my choice. Now if you're going after Canon or Nikon, it'll be another Devcon Vs Etex issue

I know winter is cold Tally, but cutting ur woodstove stock in lure shapes is a bit too much. Ya u've got real addiction. BTW, how many hours would that bunch keep ya warm?