BobP

No, epoxies don't cure unless they're mixed. They can crystalize in the bottle if they get too old and have gone through lots of temp changes - but you can warm it up to turn it back to liquid. Personally, I've had Flexcoat yellow more than other brands after a year on the lure, but it was old epoxy that I had used for rod guides.

It's easier and way faster (therefore cheaper) to glue in a dowel and screw a standard screw eye into it than do thru-wire construction, especially if you are producing a variety of bait designs. I've seen commercial balsa baits that didn't go even that far, just gluing the hardware into holes drilled in the balsa. I don't feel there's a better method than thru-wire on balsa baits but as long as a different method results in a durable bait, there's no reason for complaint.

You need to decide what you mean by "quiet". Airbrush compressors are smaller than shop compressors and quieter, but that doesn't mean quiet enough not to wake your wife sleeping in the next room, unless you enclose it in a soundproof cabinet. The quieter "studio" airbrush compressors are more expensive than basic models, with many in the $300 range. I would post a query on airbrush.com or call up Dixie Art and talk to them. They might be the best source of info on a quiet compressor, or how to make a compressor quiet.

I like craw designs in medium/dark brown with bright yellow, orange or red highlights for the spring. In summer, I switch to green craw with less obvious highlights. Sunfish colors are so variable! But I feel many sunfish crankbaits are too brightly colored for the clear water conditions I often fish, so I like more subtle, blended colors on them. Then there are the shad patterns. My fave is silver foil with an olive or black back resembling a threadfin shad or blueback herring. Just a bare touch of gold or yellow can sometimes help. And lastly, neon yellow blue back is optimal for stained water and for deep diving crankbaits. The 2 most popular shad patterns seem to be the Citrus Shad on Fat Free Shads and the Sexy Shad on Strike King baits. I like both but suspect Sexy will fade as bass become wary of seeing it on every bait lineup on the planet.

I was reading a Bass Times article on fish learning that indicates bass can learn to associate particular lures and colors with getting hooked. But there are differences among individual bass in how fast they learn and how long they retain the lesson. So there are "smart" fish and "dumb" fish. Most bass seem to forget negative conditioning after several months but some retain it longer, possibly for life. Fishing experience seems to support this in a way. A new bait comes out that catches bass better than others. After a year or two, the "new bait" loses its advantage. Meanwhile, old classic baits that haven't seen much use lately start to work again because the bass have forgotten to be wary of them. I think regardless of fish learning, good baits will always have some success because predators have to eat and their aggressiveness can overcome learned avoidance behavior, especially if the fish has a territorial versus feeding reaction to it. And there will always be a few slow learners and quick forgetters around around. Matt, I think you make a valid point about realism but I think it may add that extra few percent of fish attraction that's important sometimes. I also think it can be taken to an unproductive extreme. Maybe realism is the wrong term for baits that catch fish. Who knows exactly what "realistic features" a fish perceives? Nobody! We might be better off thinking in terms of "feeding cues". Size, depth, action, colors, color pattern, vibration may all be important or unimportant depending on the circumstance. We have only our own experience to lean on when we guess which cues need to be included in a crankbait. And those cues have to be incorporated in a bait so that it can be fished practically. Not a simple job!

I don't think a 16" naval gun would work unless you attach the bait to the line with a swivel. The rifling in the barrel gives it quite a spin. I don't like a lot of extra hardware on my baits when I fish them, so maybe downsizing a bit to a 120 mm mortar would be more feasible. Besides, it would be much easier to carry in the boat. Just remember you don't want to close the bail before the lure hits the water! I think a "Smokey Joe" paint scheme would be just the thing.

DN is thin enough for the excess to drip off a spoon within a minute. I haven't seen any hanging drips on mine. Yeah, you have to have a container deeper than the lure is long:) If you've been using DN, you probably already know its handling and storage quirks. Dipping makes them more important to observe. Don't let DN drip back into the DN container. If you use DN on an "occasional basis" it will often begin to cure when the container is about half full because too much air stays in the container when it's sealed. I'm trying something that Dean recommended, i.e. Bloxygen to stop that. It's an aerosol can of argon/nitrogen gas you spray into the container just before you seal it again. The gas prevents air from getting to the surface of the DN. So far, so good after a couple of months using the stuff. Bloxygen has a website where you can order. I like dipping becaue it gives even coverage and it's FAST FAST FAST.

Your specific description sounds like maybe you thinned the DN with solvent and it prevented the DN from forming a continuous film as it flashed off the surface. If so, try dipping them in straight DN - it's formulated for that, after all. I've done a few spoons dressed with WTP and acrylic latex like that - dip'em and hang'em - and they turned out fine.

The daily highs here rarely creep below 30 F but hey, that's still darned cold to us! When my toes go numb, it's time to take a break in the house!

A regulator with pressure gauge runs about $20 and the adapters to plumb it all together are a couple of bucks each. A moisture filter is $10-15. Not expensive, and you can reuse the parts if/when you upgrade your compressor later.

I use any airbrush acrylic latex interchangeably, depending on what strikes my fancy for lure colors. Createx is a good basic palette but somewhat limited. I like to add some Smith Wildlife and other brands so I can keep painting without custom mixing a bunch of colors.

I never had any luck wrapping WTP tape around edges. It's too stiff. I stick it on the spoon and run a razor blade around the edges to neatly trim it off (easy to do!). Stick on the WTP first, then paint over it to shade in the back, belly and add add any details like the eyes, kill spots and gill slits. Finish by dipping the spoon in a tough polyurethane. Dick Nite Lurecoat is ideal - it's formulated specifically for spoons.

Do a search on "mold" and related terms and you'll turn up a number of threads on the subject. Also check the Forum/Knowledge Base/Member Submitted Tutorials for several good tutorials on the subject. Enjoy.

Hmm, my Createx Neon Yellow is nice bright yellow, not like Createx chartreuse which has a greenish tint (and IMO is ugly ugly ugly). I asume you're first shooting a white color basecoat on the whole lure. I shoot the whole lure Neon Yellow and then fade on the other colors. For a brown back, you need to roll the lure away from you so paint is hitting the lure at an oblique angle and won't bounce off the shoulders and down onto the yellow sides. If it does, fix it by shooting base coat white over the affected area and recover it with yellow (most colors will show right through Neon Yellow). Shading a color is a matter of airbrush control and it takes a little time to get familiar with how to do it with a particular airbrush. For me, it's easier to do at lower pressure, say 20 psi. If your brown won't flow at that pressure, you need to thin it more. I shade both shoulders of the bait and then do the back. You may also try using some scale netting to get the effect on the shoulders of the bait. If you make a goof while painting, you can wash off all the paint under tap water and start over, or you can cover the goof with base white and reshoot a color.

I have a tankless Badger airbrush compressor with auto on/off. It works fine with a standard pressure regulator and cuts on/off at any setting. How it all works in concert? Search me! Maybe the answer depends on the specific pressure switch your regulator uses, but I'd buy a regulator from a local home center and try it. If it doesn't work, just return it.

How much is your time worth to crankbait buyers? Nada, zilch, zero. Buyers compare your product to your competition, including factories that crank out thousands per day. If you build a bait that looks great and fishes great, and sell all you make at a competitive price higher than your cost in time & material, you're in business. Otherwise, you're not. What's the first thing to get discounted? Compensation for your time, of course! It's definitely not a get rich fast deal!

My Bandit 200's all have #6 Triple Grips - but I bought them several years ago before Bandit moved manufacture to Mexico. Regardless, the correct size is #6. Short shank or not, I don't know.

Benton, I started out using Flexcoat on cranks because I also built a few rods. After a year, the Flexcoat would yellow considerably. Maybe my Flexcoat was just old, but I switched to Devcon and think the results are better and last longer. JMHO

Dick Nite on the TU discount page is $36.37 per QUART. Shipping brings it to around $50 per QUART. Just fyi.

A few answers about DN. No, you cannot dip lures, recover the drips and throw it back in the can. You cannot dip and hold the lure over the can to drip off either. Drip it onto some newspaper. Don't sweat the wastage. DN has a thin consistency and goes a long way coating lures. I finally got a can of Bloxygen from woodworkersshop.com (I think!) It took 2 months because shipments from Bloxygen are spotty. You can order it direct at Bloxygen.com too and that's what I'll do next time. Even large users like Dick Nite says he decants the cans into smaller containers to store it - he uses wine bottles. Don't plan on the DN lasting to the last drop if you store it in the can. When the level drops and there's enough air in there it WILL begin to cure and the rest will be lost. You can spray Bloxygen (nitrogen & Argon gas) into the container to keep it dry and liquid. If you brush DN, you can clean the brush in acetone and reuse it forever. I like an artist's brush since it brushes a more uniform coat. Lastly, if you want to just try some to see how it works for you, click on the Dick Nite banner ad when you see it at the top of this page. It will take to a special area on the Dick Nite site where you can order at a discount or even get a sample free for the cost of shipping.

Rclark - No bucket soaking lures in epoxy. You'd end up with a big bucket shaped hunk of epoxy with your lures permanently preserved inside it like a flies caught in amber:lol: A bucket of epoxy would cost a fortune - once you mix epoxy, it's gonna cure hard. So you want to be mixing batches that are just enough to do the job at hand. The only reason you add solvent to epoxy is mechanical: to get it thin enough to brush on a lure easily (topcoat) or to get it thin enough to soak into bare wood (undercoat). For undercoating, you want to mix the Devcon Two Ton epoxy, then mix in an equal volume of denatured alcohol, then brush it on. If you don't have a lure turner, you can brush it on, leave it for a couple of minutes to soak in, then wipe it off with a cloth and hang it to cure. Or if the epoxy solution is very thin, just hang the lure to cure and let the epoxy drip off the tail. Sand lightly afterward to remove the gloss and get a smooth surface for painting. Undercoating is different from using epoxy as the lure topcoat, though you may use the same epoxy for both jobs. In undercoating, you're trying to give the bare wood some waterproofing in case the topcoat fails in the future and you're also preventing the grain of the wood from swelling when you paint the wood with water based acrylic paint. When you topcoat with Devcon Two Ton epoxy, you mix it up but only add a very few drops of solvent (the less the better; none if possible). Then you brush it on and turn the lure for 30-45 mins while it cures so the Devcon will not sag. Envirotex Lite contains solvent and is already very thin, so you don't need to add solvent. But it cures slower so you need to turn it longer, and you usually need to do multiple coats. Hope this helps.

rclark - It's glue. Buy a 30 ml double syringe at Walmart for $2. Get the Two Ton, not the 5 minute variety. Other 30 minute epoxy brands might also work but this one is popular for undercoating and topcoating.