BobP

The dots are usually from shooting thick paint at high pressure. Some of it bounces and settles down the side of the lure. Things that can help: lower pressure, thinner paint, and slanting the top of the lure away from you so bouncing paint skips over the back and not down the side.

Many of us are hobbiests with limited access (maybe not a bad thing) to special solvents and little if any knowledge about coatings chemistry. I apprecaite hearing comments from an expert. I've used acetone, virgin lacquer thinner, non-virgin LT and denatured alcohol. DA has worked best. Very thin, it makes a very good waterproofer. In the heat of summer when straight epoxy becomes unbrushable in about 5 mins, a little DA extends the work time but cures about as fast as unthinned epoxy. I haven't noticed any clouding. What shelf at Home Depot do they store the MIBK/Tolulene?

I stick a "false lip" in the lip slot and clamp a hemostat on it. A false lip is just a small piece of lip material the same thickness as the lure's actual lip, with a piece of masking tap over it if required for a firm friction fit in the lip slot. I drill a hole in the end of the false lip and use it to hang the baits on nails above my workspace in the garage. Hemostats (locking forceps) are very handy to hold baits but clamping them on a hook hanger can be a "maybe" proposition. The false lip works much better for me.

Hmm - Micron $200; Calligraphy pen $2. OK, the Micron has other uses but so does the pen. Write home to Mommy, do some unique temporary tatoos before you hit the singles bar, etc. I'm sure Rookie could find even more fun things to do with one!

A couple of more personal, biased, opinions: Judge every reel on its merits but I was burned, quality-wise, on several BassPro baitcasters when I took up fishing again 12 yrs ago. They contract with "who knows?" to make their reels. Maybe it's made by Pfleuger or Daiwa, maybe some by an unbranded Korean factory. They won't say and frankly, I don't care. A baitcaster spools up to 20,000 rpm on a cast. If everyting is not right internally, you are gonna have a bad day on the lake. I have a bunch of Shimano and Ambassadeur baitcasters, a few of which are 40 yrs old. When needed, I have no doubt whatsoever the parts will be available or I can send any of the reels to the factory or any of a hundred reel repair services to get them fixed 'good as new'. Try THAT with a BassPro! The only place you can send them is BassPro, and then pray they can get a part from the Far East. Bearings: Better quality manufacturers put ABEC 3 to ABEC 5 bearings in their reels. You can buy higher quality ABEC 7 bearings for $8-10 from various sources; less than an original replacement bearing from the manufacturer. They last indefinitely with proper care and lubrication. Ceramics - Yes they are marginally faster than ABEC 7's and will cast marginally longer. They also cost twice as much, so IMO are suited more to guys "hot rodding" reels than "Average Joe Fisherman". If you're having problems with a reel, check to see if it has been properly cleaned and lubed before you give it the Evil Eye. Baitcasters need comprehensive yearly service and lubrication of a few key parts more often to work well. I've bought quite a few used reels on Ebay. It's rare to get one that isn't gummed up and filthy, and doesn't need a 100% takedown, lube and reassembly. Guys don't maintain their reels, then whine when they stop working. Maybe it's just part of the modern "Everyting is Disposable" Mind Set. I'm not complaining! I've bought some great reels for not much because of it

I figure a new DD-22 is $3.97? If it's screwed up beyond my ability to make it "perfect" again, I toss it. Life is short!. If the coating won't cure, a second coat of PROPERLY MEASURED AND MIXED epoxy applied over it will almost always make it right again.

Dean, Thanks again! I went to DN to get a dip finish instead of mixing/brushing epoxy, plus DN performs exceptionally well. But I sometimes build larger lures that won't fit my dipping container, so it's nice to have good info on how to brush DN successfully I also recoat the next day, 16-24 hrs later. I've run into problems with shorter periods, where 1 or 2 baits in a batch will mysteriously develop wrinkles or blisters. No way to predict which bait it will be, or when it will happen. So a little patience is a good thing. Mucho Gracias

Dean, Thanks for the tip about Bloxygen, I ordered some today. A few questions about brushing DN: You brush on 3-4 coats; how long do you wait between coats? Why so many coats? Do you brush it on very thin, does it just look better to you, or is there a performance reason? Do you do anything to the bait between coats? Thanks for the info!

Well, all that's needed is any kind of compressor, an airbrush and some airbrush paint. It's a "Learn While Doing" thing. There have been hundreds of threads about choosing an airbrush, compressors, and paint pros/cons here on TU. Use the search feature at the top of the page to access them.

Dean, Bloxygen sounds like a great idea. I vaguely remember that wine afficionados sometimes inject an inert gas (nitrogen) into partial bottles to keep wine from oxidizing. I think any dry gas including CO2 would do the job. Pressurized CO2 - from a can of Propel airbrush propellant for instance - is also moisture free and would probably work too.

Yep, the drips have lots of surface area and pick up moisture as they fall through the air back into the container. Getting the idea yet that DN is touchy about storage? Oh yeah! You REALLY NEED to decant it from the can into something with a constricted throat and a good screw-on lid. You can't keep a can lid air tight, tamping it down repeatedly to reseal it. Dick Nite uses wine bottles. I use 16 oz salsa jars with the fluted necks so I can dip in them. And I wrap aluminum foil around the lid before storing it. About waste - most hobby builders buy Devcon 2 Ton in 25 ML double syringes for $2 ea. A quart's worth of syringes costs more than $75. A quart of DN is alot cheaper. I doubt the drips from dipping waste any more DN than is wasted in mixing sufficient epoxy for several baits. I always have epoxy left over in the pot when I brush it on - the last thing you want is to run out of epoxy before you get that last bait coated!

If you use ETEX or another clearcoat that contains solvent, you can't use solvent based pens to sign or draw details on your bait - that includes Sharpies, etc. The easiest solution for me was to buy a fine poiint calligraphy pen (less than $5 at Michaels, etc) and use Createx black to sign the lure. A calligraphy pen is basically a plastic stick with an old style fountain pen nib attached to the end. This works out well because black is the last color I use for kill spots, etc on lures - so I just dip the pen in the airbrush cup and sign it. And black Createx flows through the pen tip better than any other color due to its small pigment particle size. It makes finer lines than any Sharpie. My signatures still look like crap but at least the lines are fine and never smeared

On bass baits, I usually dip once. I've sanded cured DN and epoxy from lures and found the DN soaked into the paint and created a very tough surface that's harder to remove than epoxy. So I figure multiple dipped coats are gilding the lily unless you are looking for a thick coating for esthetic reasons or are dealing with toothy fish. That's JMHO, of course. Another reason to dip once - the more DN you apply, the more chance something will go wrong. When dipping, it's important to let the excess DN drip off the tail of the lure before you put it on a lure turner to dry (and NEVER drip back into the DN container!). The surface of the DN skins over very quickly and and liquid DN underneath the skin can run back and forth on the lure, causing wrinkles and bubbles. Also, when I use multiple coats of DN, I wait 24 hrs between dips. I don't know the actual minimum time between dips, but 24 hrs has worked OK for me. All said, it may well be better to brush on the DN if you don't use a lure turner. That way you can brush it on very thin and avoid some of the aforementioned problems. BTW, DN looks and acts like a standard polyurethane when its solvent has flashed off (usually within an hour). But it takes days before the moisture cure takes hold and the DN becomes really tough. So patience is a virtue. Several days minimum, better a week to cure is my rule of thumb.

If you catch one of Dick Nite's ads here on the site, it leads you to a page were he discounts clearcoat to TU members. I dip lures in Dick Nite and like it - nice tough thin clearcoat. But moistured cured polyurethanes do have stringent handling requirements to keep the stuff from curing in the can. I advise reading up about DN before you crack that lid!

Don't know if there are any complete kits around for sale, but you can buy all the components you need at Janns Netcraft or staminainc.com.

When all else fails, take a look a various commercial crankbaits to see their lip configuration vis-a-vis the body size, crankbait weight, where the bait balances fore/aft, lip angle, where the line tie is situated (a big factor), etc. Everything affects everything else so it's as much art form as science. BTW, I've never built a successful 10' diver that didn't have the line tie out on the surface of the lip. A Rapala DT-10 is a good bait to examine because of its stable performance.

I think 99% of crankbait painters use acrylic latex or lacquer. If you're trying the vinyl, thin it until it shoots through whichever airbrush you're using without clogging. Other paints are typically thinned to the consistency of milk or even thinner. And PLEASE use a facemask rated for harmful solvents. The aerosol nature of airbrushing guarantees you'll be breathing whatever is in that paint.

Basscat, you make have better luck if you post your question in the wire baits forum. Not many crankbait makers use vinyl lure paint.

Square bill? - No. Look at the commercial deep divers DD-22, DT-16, DT-20, etc and they're all rounded. The only attribute I keep hearing about square bills is that they bounce off of / come through cover better than other shapes. Not sure I believe that either since some of the best I've used in heavy cover also have rounded lips !

"Best" depends mainly on 2 things; the density of the wood, which determines its bouyancy, and its hardness, which determines some build parameters. Guys use all kinds of wood as long as its density is less than water (62.4 lbs/cu ft). Here are some "standard densities" of popular woods measured in lbs per cu ft. The density of a particular piece can vary quite a bit, but this gives you a general idea: Balsa 11.2 Paulownia 16.0 White Cedar 21.0 White Pine 21.8 Basswood 23 I build bass baits and mostly use balsa, paulownia and basswood. Others like cedar. If you want balsa, you'll do better with "hard balsa", which can be special ordered from a supplier up to 16 lb/cu ft density. Standard soft hobby balsa is intended mainly for model builders and you need "heroic" measures to reinforce it sufficiently for bait building. Paulownia is fairly hard and bouyant. It holds hardware well but often has significant grain structure. In the true hardwood category, I like basswood due to its almost invisible grain and ease of shaping. As to "where to get it" - I order online but sources change all the time as business get bought, go broke, etc. Do a Google search for suppliers. Maybe some other TU'ers will chime in on current sources. You can buy white cedar and white pine at local home centers or lumber yards. Whichever wood, I recommend sticking with it for awhile so you can refine your design and techniques to produce better crankbaits with that particular wood. It takes time and some baits to get a handle on how much to ballast, how to get the best finsih, etc, for each wood.

Depends on the clear you select. I brush on Devcon Two Ton epoxy or dip lures in Dick Nite Fishermun's Lure Coat moisture cured polyurethane. IMO, the Devcon is closest to being a "sure thing". Measure it accurately, mix it well, and brush it on. Use a lure turner or switch ends of the hanging bait ever few minutes for the first 40 mins of cure time. You can handle it in 5-6 hrs and fish it in 24 hrs. Buy Devcon 2 Ton at Walmart in a 25 ML double syringe. Do a search here on clearcoats, their advantages/disadvantages, and how to use them. It's probably more than you can read in a week.

Hey, if it works, it works and that's what counts. Pin hinges are just too hard for me and I can't get them to work as freely as the double screw eye type. To those who can...

My vote is hand twisted interlocked screw eyes. They are very strong, simple to make and easy to install. They can be customized as to wire diameter, size of eyes, length of the screw. Mount them into dimpled holes to control the gap between the segments. There is virtually no chance of water infiltration after you epoxy them into the bait. I use 2 per segment and I like to back cut the segments slightly so the gap is not noticable to a fish following from below/behind. OK, I admit a V-notched joint with a pin has some esthetic appeal. It's the obvious joint for mass produced plastic lures but not so easy to make in wood. I never have any problem with hinge binding or water infiltration, and IMO dependability has its own esthetic JMHO