BobP

Sometimes it's a mystery but I think most wrinkling happens when the DN is too thick on one part of the lure. If it hasn't been dripped off sufficiently after dipping or if it is sprayed on too thickly, it can migrate and collect in one area before its solvent flashes off. Then the solvent has enough time to cause a problem. When I have problems, it's usually with larger baits. More surface area = more DN applied = better chance for it to migrate.

Most successful craft businesses start out part-time and that's a great way to bootstrap it into full time if you 1) still love doing it after it morphs into a business and 2) are learning enough about small business to make it viable, and 3) can produce a product thats better/different than your competition, and can make your customers realize it.

Yes, thin the hobby paint with water until it's the consistency of milk. If you get into painting more, you'll probably want to switch to paints formulated for airbrushes. They are thinner, have more finely ground pigments, and contain flow enhancers so they clog less and shoot more consistently. Cranker, I use a fine tip airbrush (.2 mm) so actually prefer black Createx! Turn down the pressure and use the finest tip you have.

For sealing wood, mix Devcon Two Ton 50/50 with acetone. It will be very thin but will still cure to a shiny coat. The acetone is to make the epoxy soak into the wood. I "deglaze" it with 400 grit before applying paint. You can dip in polyurethane or in propionate disolved in acetone for the same thing. If propionate, it usually takes 3-5 dips to get a good coat so it's not really faster than brushing. Envirotex and Flexcoat (or other rod epoxies) already contain solvents. I don't see any advantage over Devcon in application or price, but the end result is the same. Some guys have started using an off-the-shelf "sanding sealer" which sounds promising but I haven't tried it. The sealer's main purpose is to seal the wood so later water based paint won't raise the grain. That's mostly true on hardwood baits but on balsa, I'm also looking to reinforce the wood itself to make it more durable. 5-8 dips in propionate/acetone do a great job on balsa and leave a very smooth hard surface to paint, so IMO it's worth the effort.

On refinishing old lures - On wood baits, you usually don't want to remove the old finish down to bare wood. Just smooth it with 400 grit paper and remove any gloss so the new paint will adhere. On plastic, you may or may not remove the old finish, depending on whether the bait's surface has any texture you want to preserve.

The least fussy clearcoats are polyurethane and epoxy, IMO. If you want one that levels out very well, covering minor sanding flaws, etc, and leaving a very smooth finish, then epoxy is stuff. The thickest is Devcon Two Ton, sold in a double syringe at Walmart for about $2. Mix it well at 70 degrees, brush it on and rotate the bait for the first 45 mins, then hang it up to cure for 24 hrs. It's one of the most reliable, most used clearcoats among hobby builders and is also used by quite a few custom crankbait makers.

The density of lead is 11.34 gm/cu cm, or 708 lbs/cu ft. For me, lbs/cu ft are just numbers that are easier to remember. The standard nominal weights for the 3 woods I use the most are: Balsa 11.2 lbs/cu ft (.9364 lbs/bd ft) Paulownia 16 lbs/cu ft (1.333 lbs/bd ft) Basswood 23 lbs/cu ft (1.9167 lbs/bd ft) Palmetto Balsa, if your board is 8.4375 lbs/cu ft, you have very light balsa. Mark, I completely agree about relative wood weights. I'll build a diving swimbait from basswood. For a big wakebait, I prefer paulownia since it's much lighter. Both woods are durable so fitting hinges is not an exercise in futility and you can expect them to hold up. FYI, the standard densities of the 3 woods you mentioned are: Douglas Fir - 31.2 lbs/cu ft Yellow Poplar - 26.2 White Pine - 21.8

Stripercrazy, I've tried it both ways. I like the glitter paint because you can dilute it with water and paint it on with a brush, exactly controlling the density and coverage. If you goof, dab some off with a damp brush. Can't do that with glitter mixed in the clearcoat.

Balsa nominal density is 11.2 lbs/cu ft. That's at standard temperature and moisture content, so "your mileage will vary". Nominal water density is 62.4 lbs/cu ft. I don't see the utility in calculating the density of a specific piece of wood since when it is crafted into a crankbait it has steel wire, lip material, undercoating, paint, and clearcoating attached to it. All of these materials increase the effective density of the bait. By how much? Don't know and don't care. What matters is how much ballast it will take to make that composite object do what you want it to. And the EASIEST way I know to get there is to float test the semi-finished bait in water that is the correct temperature. If it rises very slowly, that's good. Stick on a Suspend Dot or two when you go fishing. If you hit a warming trend the bait may suspend perfectly. Sometimes, craft just trumps science in the real world.

Sand off the finish with 400 grit paper, then clearcoat the bait. The clearcoat fills in the small scratches and makes it transparent again. If the bait has sculpted features like scales or gill plates it's harder to do since you have to sand down below all the finish.

What usually happens (I think) is the url does get pasted but in a font color that you can't see on your screen until you post the reply. Happens to me all the time.

I have some mixed colors I use a lot and store them in 1-2 oz bottles with no problem. Just shake it well before use. Don't know the particle size in the tubes of paint but doubt it's as fine as airbrush paint. I assumed the squeeze tubes were oil based pigments.

I don't think paint matters as much as the clearcoat and for that, Dick Nite Lurecoat polyurethane is hard to beat on spoons. I shoot acrylic colors with an airbrush, dip them in the Dick Nite and hang them up to dry. It's a nice thin coating that quickly drips off any excess, so you don't need to rotate the spoons. A second dip 24 hrs later and a week to cure makes it very durable. Brushing epoxy just doesn't produce as neat a spoon, IMO. See the DN banner ad at the top of this page. If you really want to "doll it up", apply Witch Tape holographic scale tape to a spoon and then spray color over it just as you would a foiled crankbait. On the Witch Tape, stick a slightly oversize piece on the spoon and run a straight edge razor blade around the edge of the spoon to make a neat application.

Some guys drill a hole from nose to tail. Some cut a slot in the belly. I don't have the tools or knowledge to do either accurately. Plus, I want a complete epoxy backbone when it's done, so I split the bait. Another tip, while the bait is still "square" (before you shape and sand) I always draw a center line around the bait and mark any initial shaping cuts that I can do with a saw or disk sander. Straight symetrical baits run straight and catch more fish. If you don't mark a center line, etc, you'll never get them exactly straight and you won't be able to shape and sand them symetrically (this assumes you do your shaping and sanding by hand). I use the center line as a guide while splitting the bait too. Use Devcon 5 min epoxy to rejoin the bait and glue in the lip, any screw-in hangers, and the ballast. Use Devcon Two Ton epoxy to seal/waterproof the bait and for the clearcoat. It has excellent leveling, which helps a balsa bait to be smooth when finished. Both Devcons can usually be found in a 2 part syringe package at Walmart for about $2. Kilz is an OK sanding sealer but not a durable waterproofer or reinforcer for balsa. It can also leave the bait with a distinct solvent odor that takes a long time to go away, in my experience. If you split the bait and insert a wire form, you can route it around the lip slot so it won't interfere. For hardwood baits, I just drill the line tie hole above the lip. If you were asking about a bait with the line tie out on the lip surface, do a search on "lip" and see recent posts about that.

As long as noise is not a factor, a tool compressor is just as good (and cheaper) than an airbrush compressor. All you need are a moisture trap, a pressure gauge, a pressure regulator and the hose and fittings. I wouldn't trade that Iwata Eclipse for a cheaper airbrush!

Here's what I do - cut the blank out including the lip slot sand the blank to shape paint the blank with 50/50 epoxy/acetone to reinforce and waterproof epoxy in the hook hangers and belly ballast, patch as required paint the crankbait install the lip clearcoat the bait with epoxy Anything you do to make balsa stonger is a good thing. Splitting the bait in half with a razor blade and installing a thru-wire harness with the hangers and line tie bent from a single piece of wire makes the strongest bait. The wire and the glue used to rejoin the bait acts as a durable "backbone". You can get away with using screws. I prefer hand twisted screws because they have more glue surface than the screws you buy - just an added plus for balsa. I use .040" brass or soft stainless steel wire.

Speaking of hot water, some guys actually boil lipless rattle baits to expand out their sides and give them a different action and more rattle. Plastic baits are usually welded ultrasonically so the joints are as strong as the rest of the bait's body.

One more reason - castability. A balsa bait without ballast would cast about 10 feet. Certainly not something you'd want to try on a baitcaster.

Moon, I use a pair of Wiss straight cut metal snips from Home Depot to cut to about 1/16" outside the lip outline, then go to the exact line with a Dremel tool chucked with a fine grit sanding drum. Same thing for Lexan lips. It's pretty fast and accurate. Mark - sure you can paint them but I just prefer them plain.

Yes, a friend ordered G-10 and got several sheets of yellow plus a sheet of white. I just don't like the yellow color, it doesn't seem to match any lure paint job I've ever done. If they changed over to white, that would be nice! The problem I see with G7 is the cost: $14.77 versus $5.38 for a sq ft of G-10. The G-11 for $6.86 sq ft is an attractive light green color. I still get white from asp-rocketry.com (an amateur rocket site). Wherever you get it, check the color before you buy - suppliers and colors may change.

I sand the original paint with 400 grit to promote adhesion then shoot a color basecoat of acrylic white. Most airbrush paint suppliers sell a highly pigmented white called names like "Superhide White" or "Cover White". Even Apple Barrel flat white hobby paint works OK, shooting it through a large tip airbrush. I flash dry acrylics with a hair dryer. Some guys use a white aerosol paint like Fusion, which chemically bonds itself to plastic after curing. JMHO, if you can get the paint on, the clearcoat will keep it on there 99% of the time. It's about the same process with plastic or wood - but on wood, never sand down past the basecoat into raw wood.

No such thing as clear circuit board G-10 to my knowledge. It's made from a substrate fabric (often fiberglass) coated with a thermoset resin. I like the the white board from asp-rocketry.com. Mcmasters.com sells a yellow G10 and a greenish G-11 board. These are the only places I know that sell G-10 in small sizes like 12x12". Otherwise you only see full 4'x8' boards for sale. I'd check mcmasters first since they sometimes change the color of their board, and ther prices are very good. It's listed in their online store as Garolite.

Very neat! But don't you get epoxy all over your pocket when you insert the dryer with lures attached? BTW, for guys seeking a good cheap 4 rpm AC gear motor, I can recommend a Macro Yang AC1011. Used one for several years now with no failures and it cost me around $6. They have a surprising amount of torque for a small gear motor. I wouldn't try running a bicycle wheel dryer with one but they do nicely turning a small 10" axle with 6 lure clips on it. I've seen them on Ebay as well as on the American Science & Surplus website.

Yep, a good place to start in positioning the line tie is about 40-45% of the distance from the nose of the bait to the end of the lip (measured with the lip inserted in the slot). I drill a single hole in the lip where you want the line tie and cut a small slot at the center rear of the lip. Using a pair of wire bending pliers (round ends, buy it at Michaels or another craft shop in the jewelry making section), make a long twisted hook hanger from brass or soft stainless wire (.040" wire is usually good). I twist the line tie over a nail held in a vice and then hold it with some vise grips and twist it into a screw shape. Next, bend it 90 deg at the eye, insert it into the lip and loop the end of the twisted wire up over the back of the lip, fitting it into the little slot you cut earlier and crimping it down. Snip excess off with a Dremel cutter or wire cutters. You'll need to drill small vertical slots at the top and bottom of the lip slot so the lip and wire can be inserted. The hole drilled in the lip should just let the twisted wire fit through it tightly, and the 90 bend needs to be done so the wire on the bottom of the lip lies flat against the Lexan. You want everything straight and tight. If it's your first time, it may take a few attempts but it's worth the trouble to get it perfect. Some guys prefer to drill two holes in the Lexan lip and run the two separate wires (not twisted) back to the base of the lip. That's fine too, but be sure the wire fits tightly into the holes. A lose line tie is impossible to tune. If all else fails, a neat bead of Devcon Two Ton epoxy along the underside of the lip where the wire runs will keep it buttoned down.

Moisture cured poly like Dick Nite is nice stuff but has to be handled right so it doesn't begin to cure in the can. Do a search for more detailed info on storage and handling. You can use a soft brush to apply it or you can dip your bait. It's quite thin, almost watery. I put the lure on a lure rotator for about an hour until the solvent flashes off, then hang it for about 24 hrs before handling or recoating. It will continue to cure for several days, maybe as long as a week. Don't let poly drip back into the container from the brush or dipped lure. The drops gather moisture while out of the can and will begin the cure process when dripped back in.