BobP

I haven't tried Garco but have used Famowood MCU. I bet it will work just fine though it may be a little thicker than Dick Nite S81 (not necessarily a bad thing). That's a very good price on a quart of MCU, especially with free shipping.

Hey, nobody ever accused Rookie of ever understating ANYTHING I understand where he's coming from. I'm OK with it and enjoy his posts - I just don't agree with him this one. The other side of the coin is this - You will never make a bait with crap performance into Wonder Boy with pretty paint. Pretty paint is always nice... maybe it can make a great crankbait even better. But it's never sufficient unless you just want something for your mantlepiece. You can sit it on a little Lucite cradle and stroke it occasionally. No problem with that either. But it's not why I build crankbaits. My opinion is that bass do not have the same level of art appreciation as crankbait buyers - or top level crankbait artists. Their tiny little frontal lobes just aren't big enough.

One thing you have to decide is whether you want Warts as a collector or as a fisherman. It's really two entirely different things. I'm no Wart expert but from what I read, it gets pretty complicated because there have been multiple "eras" in Wart history as Storm changed out the plastic molds through the years, then changed the design, then built them in different factories, then were bought out by Rapala. A plastic bait mold only lasts so long and the most sought-after Warts are from the early "original molds". Originals sell at a big premium to collectors and mostly are recognized by the paint pattern stock numbers and the colors of the boxes they were sold in. IMO, it would be foolish to buy and repaint them since that would lessen their value, no matter how wonderful the new paint. Beyond the originals, you enter into pretty murky territory regarding the desirability of later Wart versions. The latest Warts built under Rapala management are advertised as "original design Warts", which I guess means they did their best to copy the old original Wart molds, which are no longer useable. Original Warts were popular because they were a novel design sold at reasonable prices and had a reputation for "hunting". But there's no free lunch. While many of them hunt, they are very difficult to tune and some just can't be tuned. JMHO, I'd bet the latest Warts built under Rapala management have better quality control and are more reliable for fishing than the originals ever were, so those are the ones I'd choose if I were planning to repaint some and take them fishing.

I sand it off with 400 grit paper, then use Dick Nite S81 as a topcoat, dipping the lip too so it makes them clear again. I wouldn't do that with epoxy though - it's too thick. When a friend sent a batch of old warts off to a custom painter, they just painted over the lips. It looked OK but I prefer the clear lips.

Ditto Herman. There's no way to scientifically test all crankbait attributes versus catch rates. Some attributes are probably critical, some marginal, others have no effect. My ranking order runs something like: depth first, followed by action, size, and color pattern. You hit the jackpot if your crankbait has ALL the right attributes on a given day. I try to keep a color pattern suggesting the major bass food groups - shad, sunfish, crawfish - in each of the categories of crankbaits that I fish. Photo-realistic? Sure, why not? It can't hurt. I just don't believe it helps, though.

You need to decide whether to use "hobby paints" or airbrush paints. The bone I posted in the cookbook uses "Goose feather", a hobby paint. If your airbrush will shoot it, no problem, but many TU'ers use .3mm or smaller airbrush tips, which are not suited to that. I switched to all-airbrush paint and a .3mm tip awhile back and that's why I posted a mix with Createx colors - which is what Mark asked for.

I've run a H'bird 987 SI unit for 4 years. Mine is right down on my fiberglass bass boat's pad and hasn't been knocked off, tripped, or damaged yet. But to some extent, it depends on how gnarly the water you fish and just plain ole luck, I guess. You MUST put it in a place where there is a clear shot to both the right and left, for the SI to work. Since the SI transducers are more pricey than typical units (around $200 for a new one), the IDEAL installation is to use 2 transducers: The big SI Xducer mounted higher on the transom or motor bracket where it's protected when the boat is on plane but submerged when running slow enough for the SI to work (typically 4-6 mph max); a second non-SI Xducer mounted in the usual spot where it will work when the boat is running at speed (including inside the hull); both Xducers connected to the head unit through a H'bird switch. The extra non-SI transducer and a switch are not expensive. I'll change mine to this scheme if I ever have my big Xducer knocked off or tripped, or if a part breaks, or if I move the installation to a new boat. But mine has been ticking along fine so far, so I've left it alone. You want a transducer mounted to the left or right of the motor shaft, far enough away (they often say minimum 12") that prop turbulence (air ventilation) will not compromise sonar reception. When using a 2 Xducer setup, offset is not critical for the SI Xducer because it will only be used at low speeds where turbulence is a non-event. BTW - when assembling the big Xducer to its bracket, be sure to follow the directions EXACTLY. If you do, it will be quite hard to trip it. If you don't, it will trip too easily.

Congrats on joining the fraternity! More free time, less hassles = more fishing and crankbait making.

I've never "gently popped off a seal" without distorting it beyond re-use. Grease seals are a couple of bucks. I buy several (yeah, the double lipped kind!) so they're on hand for re-packing the bearing yearly. I keep a pre-greased bearing, seal, grease gun and a few tools in the truck when I take the boat more than a few miles from home. One thing you see is guys blowing out the rear grease seals by shooting grease into the hub too fast with a grease gun. Go slow!

I gotta take it all back. I have a very fast internet connection and most sites flash up within one second of my click. Click on TU, or change forum, or click to re-render a forum after commenting on a post, and my wait for the site to respond is as much as ONE FULL MINUTE. Talk about watching paint dry!

My favorites are the cheap Cornel Chinese bristle brushes with the green or purple translucent plastic handles with silver flake. I use the 1/4" flat square ones for topcoating. They came in a set of 4-5 different sizes that cost less than $10 at a craft store. If you clean them thoroughly with lacquer thinner, they last almost indefinitely. I tried cheap natural bristle brushes but they tend to shed hairs into the topcoat. Even with good cleaning, brushes eventually accumulate some epoxy at the base of the bristles, but mine have lasted 5 years so far and I expect to use them for another year or two.

I know muskies are strong and we all want to err on the side of making our lures stronger - but I think thru-wiring a basswood bait for anything less than a Great White is overkill.

I don't have a formula either. Start with 2 oz of white. Add a few drops of brown, a few drops of yellow, and maybe just a touch of gray if you want "really old bone". Guys think of different hues when talking about "bone" but mixing those colors will get you there. Early on, I was an archaeologist. Saw lots of really really old bone. No relationship to crankbaits but it gave me an attitude about what real "bone" looks like.

Joe, my experience is that making big repairs in balsa is tough to get right. The problem is the balsa is much softer than the finish. If you are fixing wood, it's hard to sand it when the finish around it is hard. But it's also hard to strip all the finish off a balsa bait without tearing up the soft wood too, so I avoid that at all cost. My rule is that I never want to sand a balsa lure's finish down to the raw wood. That pretty much limits me to "spot repair" of chipped or cracked finish. I fill any voids with Elmer's water based wood filler, sand it smooth, prime the wood filled areas with lacquer, propionate or super glue, then repaint and re-topcoat the whole bait. If it's anything worse than that, I usually consider the bait "kaput".

That's an interesting bait concept. I haven't had much luck moving the line tie closer to the body on deep divers - it tends to tighten the action so much that the bait loses its thump and wiggle, and it will lose all wiggle and become uncontrollable if taken too far. It's hard to predict what mods will work on such a unique bait shape, but my instinct would be to work toward more fore/aft balance with a heavier body and a lighter lip. If you want a slow floating deep diver, I'd try a larger body and/or a lip made from a lighter material like 1/32" thick circuit board. Something along the lines of the old Hellbender crankbait.

As far as average buoyancy goes, my chart says poplar is 26 lbs/cu ft, basswood is 23 lbs/cu ft, and white cedar is 20 lbs/cu ft. I haven't built lures from poplar but basswood is a dream to cut, sand and finish. The cedar I tried from HD tended to show its grain more than basswood when hand sanded. I think all of them are close enough in density that a specific sample of one might be heavier or lighter than another. But if you are looking for increased buoyancy, cedar would be the best bet.

When you look at the density of different wood species, you have to remember the value in a chart is a "nominal" density, averaging density over a number of samples - all of which differ to some extent. So while a density table is generally useful in choosing the right kind of wood, only a test of that specific piece of wood will get you where you want to go. JMHO, If you're not into ancient Greek science, the best way to get your ballast right is to FLOAT TEST the bait, adding and subtracting ballast until you get it right, then installing that amount of ballast in the bait.

Ronny, I mix up enough D2T for 2 or 3 baits, then add DA a few drops at a time until I get the viscosity I want. You don't want it too thin. I'm not looking for a thinner epoxy coating but to extend the "brush time" from a few minutes to 5-6 minutes. There's really no "formula" - it depends on the ambient temperature. I use the same system for undercoating wood baits, but in that case I use more DA, as much as 25-30%. At higher thinning rates than that, the epoxy will still harden and waterproof but will not always form a thick enough film to hide wood grain. And the DA itself will raise the grain slightly. So if you thin too much, you'll need to sand the rough grain areas and recoat if the sanding gets below the hardened epoxy surface anywhere on the bait. For a one pass undercoating, It's better to thin the epoxy less and get a thicker film that will level out to a smooth surface, hiding any raised grain in a single application.

If it's the same as on an Iwata, the rear nut is a needle stop, limiting how far back you can pull the trigger, and how much paint can be released. This may be a help if you are shooting details at low pressure.

I use a white basecoat for most color schemes, but it's a color basecoat like RayburnGuy states, not a primer or sealer. I want the white to be as opaque as possible, so don't thin the paint before spraying. Rather than use Createx white, I like one of several "cover white" paints which contain a maximum amount of pigment to cover faster. They are specifically made for color basecoating. My favorite is Polytranspar Superhide White; shoots well, covers fast, dries fast to a harder than normal film coating.

Regardless of what's underneath (primer - no primer, whatever paint, plastic or wood) - my opinion is your finish will stay on there as long as a waterproof epoxy topcoat is intact and cured. Once water gets through the epoxy and into the acrylic paint underneath, it expands and delaminates the finish. That's what this looks like to me. I've never used a solvent based primer on plastic lures and have never had one delaminate (I use D2T). I'm not saying you couldn't or shouldn't. Heck, it might even be superior. But I have never had a problem without them and I hate the lingering stink of the solvent based primers I've tried. Glenn, look at the bright side - at least the lures will be easy to strip and repaint now!

He also sells baits through his website at: http://bustinbassbaits.com/index.html I got several of his KO's advertised as "high quality Japanese", which are a little higher priced, and was happy with them. It's easy to find Chinese KO's that have poor quality control and just don't work as well as originals because they just copy the externals but not the internals. So I have a very jaundiced view of KO's in general but was pleasantly surprised with the ones from BB. As to the price, I'd rather pay $3-4 for a KO that actually works like an original $15 bait than pay 50 cents for one that won't. Life is to short to fish losers!

Hehhna, the shanks on my hand twisted screw eyes are 2-3mm thick and the wire is 190lb test .029" diameter ss leader wire. These are not commercial screw eyes. Since my screw eyes don't have actual threads on them, I drill holes that are slightly larger than the thickness of the their shank and epoxy holds them in. But lots of guys used commercial tapered chrome plated brass or ss screw eyes and they also work fine. They get screwed into pilot holes that are smaller than the shank diameter so the threads have something to grip. Many guys butter them with super glue or epoxy before screwing them in for added security. Many musky bait builders use the commercial screw eyes and they perform just fine, so I wouldn't worry on that count. I just prefer the hand twisted variety on my bass baits.