BobP

"Lacquer thinner" and "paint thinner" - are generic mixtures of solvents. There is no one formula and the formula can change in the same brand. For instance, I used Kleen Strip lacquer thinner for years. Great for cleaning epoxy brushes and thinning epoxy. My last can didn't smell the same and doesn't work worth a darn. The main ingredient used to be "petroleum distillates". Now the main ingredient is "alcohols" and petroleum distillate is listed next to last in the ingredient list. It also has a different Product Number (QML170) on the side of the can. Lesson: on solvent mixtures, you gotta read the ingredients. Obviously, the increased price of petroleum distillates led Kleen Strip to use them less and alcohols more. The price has almost doubled in a year anyway, so Kleen Strip profitability is probably doing just fine.

I've had the same thing happen with Etex and assume it has a bit of solvent in it to thin the mix and make it easy to pour. It is designed as a pour-on table finish. I don't have the same problem with Devcon 2 Ton but can see where a thin epoxy like Etex would be preferable if you want to dip jig heads. Yeah, an intermediate water based clearcoat should fix the problem.

Looks pretty nice on their website and the prices are very good compared to other brands formulated for airbrushing. Thanks for the referral.

This is what I hear from rodmakers who consulted epoxy companies regarding multiple epoxy coats on rod guides and preparing reel seats for installation: No need to sand between epoxy coats. If you recoat within a day or so, it chemically bonds into a single mass that completely cures in 4-7 days. Using a solvent cleaner between coats may actually hinder the bond. For crankbait lips, it's best to sand the polycarbonate or circuit board lip to give the epoxy more bond area, then just blow off the dust and install it.

Both staminainc.com and jannsnetcraft.com carry a good variety of Eagle Claw hooks but neither has a #299 in their catalog. You might contact them for a special order if you can't find them elsewhere. I've had the best service from Jann's Netcraft.

Great fish story and those Toman are attractive animals! That feeling of affirmation you get when a big fish tries to kill a crankbait you handcrafted is huge, isn't it?

Neat looking body. I also suspect the lip may be too long and you may want to experiment with placing it a bit higher on the nose, and locating the line tie closer to it. I like to experiment but realize there are reasons why most crankbaits have similar lip/line tie placement - it's a reliable design choice. BTW, a Dremel sanding drum is a great tool to reshape lips on the bait.

Yeah, I too suspect you may be using Devcon 5 Minute epoxy instead of Devcon Two Ton? The 5 minute variety cures much too fast and will not level out after application. I've had the same problem when I reached for the wrong syringe

Maybe that will work for a big bait but I haven't found it good for smaller bass baits because it's hard to fit the halves together accurately, plus the vise will leave marks on the bait if much clamp force is applied. I scribe a center line around a bait after cutting the pattern out on a scroll saw. After sanding, I cut the bait in half with a razor blade along that scribed line. Bend the wire frame to fit, lay it in and trace around it with a fine Sharpie. A nail set or awl run along the trace makes a depression to fit the frame. Squeeze the halves and the wire frame together and use the awl on the other half as needed until it fits together neatly. 5 min epoxy and voila. I guess how you do it depends on what tools you have. Others cut a slot along the bottom of the bait to fit in the wire frame. Some drill a hole from nose to tail. I can't do either accurately so opt to split the bait. Plus I feel the split body lets you guarantee 100% glue coverage on the internals, giving the bait a very strong internal "backbone".

Can't see why shot wouldn't work. It's just a matter of accuracy and convenience. I use lead solder. Cut a length off, weigh it on a digital scale and use a soldering iron or a propane torch to drip it into a cavity drilled into the bait. Many guys use finesse weights or custom cast weights so they can integrate the ballast with the belly hanger in a single drilled hole.

On a new bass crankbait series, I test float the bait to see how much ballast will give it the right float attitude and bouyancy. Do it on a waterproofed bait with all hardware/trebles installed, but not yet painted or clearcoated. Hang lead solder on the belly hook. Weigh it or measure its length when you get the right amount. Once you have it, put in the ballast and test the bait on the water to confirm the amount and its position. Write that down and you have a pretty dependable ballast number for subsequent baits of the same series. You have to strike a ballance between too much ballast, killing the action, or too little, making the bait squirrelly and unpredictable. I haven't found any substitute for testing.

I know none of us ever installs a crooked lip If bending the line tie fails and you want to try reshaping the bill, you need to shave material off the side of the lip towards which the line tie points after the failed tuning attempt. Think of it like this: bending the line tie is an attempt to get it in the "hydrodynamic center" of the crankbait. If the crank runs right, that means the left side of the lip is digging harder and pushing the crank to the right. So you need to remove material from the left side so it won't dig as hard. But keep in mind that taking material from any edge also throws the rest of the lip shape out of symmetry which is not a good thing. It's easy to end up with crap. In my limited experience, it's usually best to bite the bullet, cut out the bill and put another one in straight. But reshaping can be a useful learning experience. You really have nothing to lose until you end up with a straight running crank with mediocre action that won't catch fish. Then put in a straight lip.

I use a strip of plastic cut from a credit card to insert epoxy in the bill slot. Work it around so that all surfaces in the slot are coated. Similarly, a piece of stainless wire works for the hook hanger holes. Cut a paper towel into small pieces to wipe away excess epoxy - one swipe per towelette so you don't get stray epoxy where you don't want it.

Thanks for the ideas. I get a pretty consistent product "freehanding" with a Dremel but was looking for something short of a computerized CNC machine to get more exact, more consistent crankbait bodies. Rounding over the edges and sanding them to make the bait symetrical is a boring chore to me. Not being a power tool guru, I thought the closest thing might be a router table - but you guys are giving me second thoughts. I'd like to keep the fingers I have now The minirouter suggested by MaddoxBay is interesting but maybe has one drawback - Dremel router bits don't come with ball bearings and I'm not sure it will work well enough without one. But maybe I'll try it.

I build small (2 1/4") bass baits from basswood and balsa. Now, I cut the primary shape out on a scroll saw and use a hand held Dremel sanding disk to round over the edges. I'm looking for a way of rounding over that is more uniform. Would a router table with a rounding over bit and ball bearing work well for this? Or would I be asking for lacerated fingers on such small baits? If a router isn't the solution what is?

Drilling lips - one thing that works well is a Dremel tool. Take a short piece of the same wire that you're using for the line tie and use it as a drill bit in the Dremel. Run at 15000 or 3000 rpm, the wire will neatly drill/melt through the lip and you'll have the exact diameter you need. I do this with both stainless and .040" brass wire.

"Copies"? How many variations on the wooden minnow shape exist? While the theoretical answer is infinite, the practical answer is "not so many". JMHO, but a crankbait is the sum of its parts, its design and the specific processes used to build it. You can copy a D-bait body, use the same bill shape/size/angle, build it to the same lure weight and STILL end up with a crankbait that is significantly different in performance from a D-bait. That's good for Gary Dees. Personally I see very few "original designs". I see cranks that may have a few design element changes but are derived from an existing successful design. Bait design is almost always incremental.

I make and fish 3 basic paint schemes - shad, crawfish and chartreuse. JMHO, specific color can be important but most of the time, on most bodies of water it ranks after dive depth, size and action (for LM bass). Even when boiled down to 3 color schemes, you're talking 36 crankbait variations, and that's not counting lipless cranks and jerkbaits. So I don't carry multiple baits in the same design with subtle color variations. There are more than enough variables to confuse me already Yeah, give me choices but keep it within reason. The wrong color kept wet will almost always beat the guy trying 20 different baits.

Reading between the lines of your post, no, none of the components of your crankbait are contributing to hooks rusting. I've never had a similar problem with baits built exactly the same, so I suspect it's how they are stored. I would note that I've had the least rust problems with Gamakatsu hooks and they come sticky sharp right out of the box, unlike some others I've tried. Yep, they're more expensive...but well worth it, IMO.

Like Coley and alot of other guys, I use water based acrylic latex - sometimes Createx (a bit costlier) but more often whatever brand/shades strike my fancy at the local hobby shop or Walmart. It airbrushes fine if you thin it with water or Windex and cleanup is a snap. One thing with latex - prime the wood to make it waterproof before you airbrush or the water in the latex will raise the grain. I most often use Devcon 2T epoxy but others use urethane varnish, etc. Epoxy is nice for balsa since it makes it alot tougher. Anything will do for basswood but I use epoxy there too becuase I wear a belt AND suspenders. I think alot of the problems you have been experiencing will go away with latex and it does a nice job. Although it is waterproof when dry, you want to go over it with a clearcoat to make the finish durable and shiny. Most of us brush on a 2 part epoxy for this purpose. I usually use Devcon Two Ton (comes in a 2 part syringe at Walmart) , others use Etex, etc.

If you're talking polycarbonate (Lexan), you can clean epoxy off with naphta if you get it before it cures. Other solvents like acetone or lacquer thinner will cloud it but naphta doesn't. Naphta is the main ingredient of lighter fluid but I've only used the stuff sold at home centers.

I understand where Skeeter's coming from and I think he's spot on regarding "classic" deep cover cranks. But I've caught too many bass over the top of deep weed beds with a Shadrap RS to disparage suspending crankbaits. And what would we do without suspending jerkbaits? Countdown Rapalas? Sinking lipless cranks? I feel shallow cranks are a whole 'nother thing that require distinct design criteria. For shallow cover, I'm looking for 2 tools: one for combing wood cover and one to ricochet through shallow rocks. In either case, float attitude, dive angle, body shape, rise rate, and bill size/shape/angle/material are all critical. There's hardly a design option that isn't "best" for some fishing circumstance. Some have narrow application, some wider (like Skeeter's deep cranks). If you're "producing" cranks there are obvious benefits to wide application cranks. If you doing one-off customs, it's quite a different environment.

Take a look at the websites for the Flatshad and the D-bait, both of which are flat sided bass crankbaits that are very popular among tournament anglers. The Flatshad has a medium small circuitboard bill that gives it a tight wiggle and good rebound off of cover. The D-bait has a rounded Lexan bill that protects the front treble and allows the crank to swim through cover very well. The PT Flatshad is 3/8" wide, weighs in at about .30 oz and has a fan shaped bill set at 20 deg, with 18mm exposed length and max width of 19mm. I don't have data on the D-bait but have tried that bill desin on some cranks. It had more thump and a wider wiggle than the Flatshad. Buying specimens of each to see how they perform (and why) is a good idea before you settle on your own design. I've done variants of both and was very happy with the performance compared to shallow crankbaits sold by larger manufacturers.

The best thing to do is look at the "How To" section, Tutorials. They have a wealth of information that will walk you through the process.

I use a cylindrical High Speed Cutter bit on a Dremel. They come in several diameters. Stick the end of the bit on the bait and it will slowly drill a perfect hole without tearouts. I use the same bit to drill ballast holes. The bits are designed for side cutting but have some cutting edge on the top, too. When it won't cut through hard wood, step up the speed and it will burn/abrade a hole as fast as a drill bit - again without tearouts.