BobP

I clip baits onto the turner with alligator clips perpendicular to the axle of the turner (wrap a little blue painter's tape over Lexan lips so the clips don't scratch them). Orientation makes no difference - all points on the lure get rotated through 360 degrees as the bait is turned and that keeps the epoxy in place. I also agree with Ben about brushes. I use a square 1/4" artist's brush and its fine bristles do a good job of getting the epoxy on the bait smoothly. Yeah, it will try to level with whatever brush you use, but why not help it along? I buy cheap artists' brushes, clean them vigorously in lacquer thinner and wipe them on a lint free cotton towel. Don't use paper towels because they shed fibers like crazy. I buy a new set of brushes every few years - less than $10. There's a knack to brushing epoxy. You want to keep the brush wet at all times and don't want to run a dry brush over the lure because it will generate bubbles. I think of it as smoothing the epoxy onto the lure versus brushing it like paint. I can only epoxy 2 bass baits at a time, maximum, before the Devcon gets too hard to brush properly. If I want to epoxy several baits at a time, I mix a FEW drops of denatured alcohol in, which extends the brush time an extra minute or two without compromising Devcon's relatively quick hardening time.

Sounds like the one-way anti-reverse bearing may be contaminated with dirt or otherwise failing to turn "on". May not be a big deal and I would definitely try getting it fixed, or fix it myself, before junking it. The Catalysts are not expensive but not so cheap that I'd consider one a "use it and lose it" reel. It would probably be worth sending back to Quantum for service if the reel is still in good condition. JMHO.

You can spray thinned urethanes, including 2 part catalyzed auto clear coats. Good results but it requires protective equipment like a rated face mask and clothing, positive air supply, or a paint booth with power ventilation and a filter system because they can be quite toxic. You can dip baits in moisture cured polyurethane like Dick Nite (there are other brands) or in one part auto clear coats and hang them to drip/dry. Again, good results and simple but moisture cured coatings need careful storage to keep them from hardening after exposure to ambient air moisture. All said and done, many builders like epoxy because it stores easily, is brushed on, and cures to a very smooth durable topcoat. The downside is epoxy needs to be rotated after application until it hardens to a state where it won't drip or sag. The simplest epoxy is probably Devcon Two Ton because it makes a thick coati in one application and cures to a sag-fee state in about 45 minutes at 70 degrees temp, faster than other epoxies (you can't use quick cure epoxies like "5 minute varieties"). Some paint companies are now coming out with durable water-based clear coats for a less toxic solution (auto painting and the EPA drive development in this area). Some like them, others report unfavorable results so I think a lot of use are in the "wait and see" or experimental mode on them. That's a snapshot of the waterfront.

I think he was dipping them in a one part polyurethane, brand unknown. Had it been a 2 part auto urethane, the "pot life" would only have been a few hours before the whole gallon was unusable. I dip baits in one part Dick Nite moisture cured polyurethane and hang them so the excess drips off the tail. If you dip, you definitely want to hang them for initial drying versus putting them on a lure turner. A turner will prevent excess poly from dripping off the lure and it will pool under the drying film, sloshing back and forth and causing bubbles and paint wrinkling. I really like dipping - 5 seconds - dip it, hang it, done.

G-10 is a thermoset plastic on a substrate, e.g. fiberglass cloth, so it may be feasible but I don't know at what temperature or if it would retain its strength after bending.

That's not a fishing reel - it's an antique hay baler!

I started out with Forhan spiral, moved to Roberts because it seemed to work slicker, and lately to the simple spiral, which is the simplest scheme possible. You read articles on how and why the originators reasoned out their respective schemes and it all seems logical. I still fish rods wrapped in all 3 schemes but the simple spiral works just fine, casts just as far, seems just as sensitive and is a darned sight easier to lay out and build for an amateur bass rod wrapper like me. Is there any difference among the schemes when using micro guides? Dunno!

John, "Not for use outside" means it's not recommended for coating your garden bench - but that doesn't necessarily speak to whether it is suitable for a crankbait which lives in a very different environment: short repeated immersions in water, not for days but for a few hours. Much less UV exposure and expansion/contraction compared to wood surfaces that live outdoors. More impacts against hard objects or teeth. I'm not implying all of us should switch to interior grade coatings!, just that coatings are not formulated and marketed with the wood crankbait builder in mind and you have to interpolate their claims and marketing to your distinct requirements. No one topcoat can ever satisfy the needs of all builders (and rarely all the desires of one builder!) - you have to choose according to the qualities important to you and what you consider "good enough" for your crankbaits.

http://www.systemthree.com/store/pc/SB-112-c12.htm System 3, an epoxy manufacturer, has a really good 33 page guide on the use of epoxies. A lot of it doesn't concern crankbaits, but it has comprehensive info on epoxy chemistry, application techniques, curing, mixing, etc that answers many of the questions asked here on TU. Definitely worth a read. Go to the URL, look in the second column from the left and click on "The Epoxy Book" to open a pdf file containing the booklet.

Not sure exactly what you're looking for but there are not many online sources for wood crankbait bodies. I'd check jannsnetcraft.com, lurepartsonline.com, and lurehardware.com. IMO, Mimic flat siders seem to be similar to Flatshad crankbaits and not Rapala Shad Raps in design. If you find a source, you'll still have to drill and install ballast and hook hangers, and probably cut the lip slot too. Since flat sided bodies are the easiest to cut and shape, most of us "roll our own" from scratch.

It looks like DN will no longer be available in a solvent based moisture cured polyurethane formulation. See the post below re "Where's Dick Nite?". I expect he will come up with something nice, even something better, as a substitute but there may be a delay. I trust DN because Dick uses his topcoat on his own line of spoons, which is his main business.

I agree with Pirkfan about Fireline on spinning reels. It casts really well and is easy to manage. I don't recommend the translucent white Fireline however. When I tried it, the fibers separated, which has never been a problem with the original black Fireline.

I had one of the Quantum Catalyst spinning reels and it gave good service. Nice smooth reel and I like the titanium bail and magnetic bail system (no bail spring to break!).

Sorry, I searched and came up with squat. Work bench organization depends on the amount of power equipment you use and that usually depends on how fast you need to make them. I've seen pics of shops with multiple saws, multiple drill presses with custom jigs lined up. Professional paint spray booths with power air filtration, etc. In other words, a small scale assembly line designed to produce a uniform batch of crankbaits quickly without changing setups. Then there's the hobby builders like me I have an 8 ft. carpenter's bench in the garage half filled with fishing and garage junk. I pull my saw off a shelf and sit it on the bench to cut out blanks, grab a hand held polisher/sander and step outside to sand blanks to width, sit in a lawn chair with a Dremel rotary tool to drill holes or round over and shape blanks, plug my airbrush into the compressor sitting under the bench, and paint. My work area looks just like Joe Blow's garage workbench - and it is. But it's fine to build 100-150 crankbait a year in small batches of 3-6. No hurry, it's a fun hobby.

Well, epoxy will add a little weight to a bait, no question. But epoxy has a specific gravity only slightly more than water so the effect is not much. I've repainted suspending LC Staysees and topcoated them with epoxy with no effect on the action, but I guess it depends on how finicky you are about suspending. Some guys get downright peculiar about tweaking suspending baits according to water temp, etc, and if you are one of them, a coat of epoxy could make it harder to do in warmer water. If you repaint many plastic baits, I recommend using a moisture cured polyurethane for topcoating versus epoxy because it provides a topcoat very similar to a factory one - very thin, shiny and tough. I can't comment on using Etex specifically.

Sorry I wasn't clear. I use a Dremel with a small diameter drill bit chucked in it to remove epoxy from the hook hangers and line tie, after the epoxy has cured hard. Player's choice - some guys like Andy want to clean out the eyes before the epoxy cures. I don't like to mess with a bait that has wet epoxy on it, so do it after the epoxy cures. The Dremel lets me remove ALL the epoxy from the hook hanger so there won't be any flaking off the hanger later during use, after the split ring and hook is mounted.

Dawg, I remember there was a similar post awhile back and it received responses including pics of work benches. Try the Search feature to find it.

I remove the tape after painting the bait, before I apply epoxy. You can't remove tape if it has cured epoxy on it! I don't worry about epoxy in the eyes - I use a Dremel with a small millimeter drill bit to zip out the epoxy after it cures. Doesn't matter in repainting plastic baits but I like to epoxy over the eyes on wood baits to make sure everything is gets waterproofed. And on wood or plastic, it's one less thing to worry about while you're epoxying the bait.

I use frisket, which is a thin plastic film with adhesive and a peel-off paper backing. It's designed for airbrushing. It cuts easily with an Xacto knife, which is a big consideration when you want detail. It's meant to peel off the paper backing and stick the film onto the surface to be painted. I leave the backing on so I can use the stencil for both sides of the bait, plus keep it for other crankbaits later. If you want to peel and stick the frisket, be sure to buy some with very light tack or you'll find that it pulls paint off the bait. You can get frisket at arts and crafts shops or online suppliers. A 12" wide roll lasts years when you're using it on crankbaits and saving the stencils. I have quite a library of stencils so rarely need to cut a new one.

Glenn, you can trial balance a lure before ballasting it by hanging the rear hook(s), temporarily inserting the lip and then finding where the lure balances fore and aft. If you put the ballast at the fore/aft balance point, the lure will swim with an "X-ing" action, that is, it will swim with a horizontal attitude and will rotate its wobble around the ballast as a center point. Lots of commercial minnow baits swim that way. You may or may not want that kind of action but it's a starting point. Ballast in front of that point will usually make the lure run with more "thump" because you have biased the weight forward and it will swim in a more nose down attitude, which is functionally the same as increasing the angle of the lip. I don't ballast behind the balance point because in my experience, it mutes the action of the lure (bass baits) and I'm usually looking to increase thump, not reduce it. I don't think you can make a killer bait without the right ballasting (both amount and placement). To me, lip design, ballast, and line tie placement are the 3 critical factors that determine how a bait will perform. You may get away with fudging other factors like body shape but not these. If you're building musky lures, check out http://www.lurebuilding.nl/indexeng.html which has quite a few diagrams including ballast and lip design for an array of classic musky/pike lure types. The gliders often have multiple ballasts but the crankbaits/twitch baits usually have either a single ballast or no ballast.

My opinion is "yes" There is no detail about a crankbait that doesn't affect its swim performance - except the paint! The angle, shape, width, length and placement of the lip are obvious factors as is the placement of the line tie. But all of that has to be sized and shaped to complement the bait's body size, shape, and weight. Placement and size of the trebles is important because they are part of the ballast system. The buoyancy of the body material affects the distribution of other component weights and the overall balance of the bait. Bottom line, there are so many variables that it's a miracle any of us builds something that can swim and catch fish! Fortunately, some of the build elements will operate OK if not perfectly within a range of values and anyway, we are usually trying to build a bait that looks like an injured prey species. Maybe if you get everything exactly right, it would swim like a true baitfish and would never be noticed by the bass.

I'm not sure you'll find another epoxy glue like D2T (no one here on TU has reported if they have) but there are several "table top" or "decoupage" epoxies that are also popular, including Envirotex Lite and Nu Lustre. Table top epoxies come modified with a solvent to make them flow better and form a thinner coating than D2T, so need multiple coats and longer rotation times to avoid sags. Craft shops and home centers often carry some sort of table top epoxy. You can find 9 oz bottle sets of D2T on the internet. I order from the Old Texas Woodworkers Shop (http://www.texaswoodcarvers.com/)

Hey Rookie, I see Glisten PC is a 2 part clear. I believe you about the performance but am wondering if it is like auto clears that have a pot life of only a few hours after mixing and are also toxic, requiring vapor protection against isocyanates in the product?

I can't speak to the Eclipse but have a Revolution BR that I like very much. It comes with a .3mm tip which is fine for basecoating and general crankbait painting. It will shoot most flakes and all pearl paints that I've tried. Very cost effective brush with all the quality that Iwata is famous for.

From what I see on TV coverage of the Bassmasters tourneys on Kentucky Lake and other river-oriented power reservoirs, it can be dead on the main lake ledges until they start pulling water and causing a current. Maybe eking out a few smaller fish with jigs or worms but mostly sitting there, protecting a spot, waiting for current to start. It is what it is. Ledge fishermen live and die by generation schedules, which are often scarce on weekends. If you have a great spot(s) and are confident you'll load the boat when the current comes, it can be worth the wait. Definitely worth finding out when the power company plans to pull water! I also see a few guys eschew the ledges and go fish backwater sloughs, which can be a winning strategy when the bass aren't really biting that well on the main lake anyway. The problem is, when do you stop doing one and go with the other plan? You have to have confidence at making a correct adjustment at the right time.