BobP

You're not going to find a more durable, glossy factory-like topcoat than a moisture cured urethane, imo.

When all is said and done, I believe "rules" of crankbait behavior are better thought of as tendecies than actual rules. I have made design alterations dozens of times to find that what I expected did not happen exactly as dictated by a "rule". This isn't to say we shouldn't put thought into the design process. But I think crankbaits work in a very dynamic environment with lots of different forces working in complex ways to produce their performance, and it can be devilishly hard to take one aspect out of the mix, change it, and then expect a specific result. Kudos to those who are willing to go through the scientifically sound process of prototype making/testing (Vodkaman?)but it isn't for the impatient majority or anyone who doesn't value hard headed detail work and long hours at the bench and the testing tank.

I think Pete is onto something regarding how the lip will act on the body of a narrow flat body versus a fatter rounder body. I Think body roll on a narrow flat body is also easier to see and to feel through the rod tip versus the more unimpeded roll you get with a fat body. Personally, I favor fishing flat sided narrow body cranks because their "thump" is usually sharper and more pronounced than fat cranks. And they are not just a "springtime" bait for me - I fish them year round.

Dale, I'm not saying 1/8" CB or any lip material is too thick for a crankbait. It all depends on how a guy wants the lip to perform and how well he integrates a particular lip shape, size, weight, and thickness to a particular crankbait. I opt for thin material because it's what I started with, because it's easier to hand cut and shape, and I like how it performs. Last but not least, it's what I buy "in bulk" so have become used to working with. For hobby builders like me, it's good practice to decide on an array of building materials and stick with it because it limits the ways you can screw up a crankbait design and makes for less uncertainty. It's easier to build good baits when you have learned the little ins and outs of working with a fixed set of materials. Tiny changes to a crankbait have outsized effects on its performance. Making really good crankbait is really hard to do. The more you work with a set array of materials, the less variability you have and the easier it is to get where you want to go, in my experience.

Dale, one thing to note about trolling lures: they undergo extreme wear, especially from hook rash, so a thick durable topcoat is important if your bait is built from wood. I troll striper crankbaits all day sometimes and have found that epoxy topcoat lasts longer than most other options. I love the hardness, slickness, and factory look of MCU but one coat of it will not last as long as a coat of D2T on a trolling lure. Important for wood crankbaits, not so much for plastic.

Circuit board will wear down when fished over rocks a little faster than polycarbonate (aka Lexan) but to me, that's just part of the fishing game. For a lure designed to troll over rocks, maybe that's an issue. Not to me, as I see lures as fishing tools that all eventually wear out. I've heated and bent Lexan but not CB. CB is much stiffer than Lexan for the same thickness and doesn't flex easily at room temps. I use 1/16" Lexan or 1/32" CB on bass cranks. I don't know what material is used when making CB, just that it's described as a "thermoset" material.

Circuit board is especially good on cranks that will be fished through rock cover because it has a sharper action and sharp rebound considered to be more attractive to bass. It is stiffer than the same thickness of polycarbonate and has a different weight. On deep divers, the weight difference can be significant so requires re-ballasting and re-balancing the lure to get similar performance to a lure you've built using polycarbonate. Never any Free Lunch, is there?

I've also used Southwestern with great results. They will also consult if you have an older reel that can be upgraded to more modern parts, or a gear ratio change, etc. however, it's definitely worth giving the service dept of your reel's manufacturer a call first. Often they will send you parts at a better price, sometimes even free (Simano and Abu are prone to do this) - but I can't speak for Daiwa.

If you did everything right, it will cure hard eventually. If it doesn't, you got a bad batch of epoxy. Don't think adding extra hardener will help - it won't. Epoxy hardens by a chemical reaction. If you use too much of either component, it will not harden properly and will remain soft because some of the hardener or resin will never undergo the chemical reaction.

X2 what Terry said.

Brass is traditional because it is soft enough to "wear in" and become smoother as you use it, although it can bteak easier if abused and will eventually wear out faster than harder metals. Modern machining can cut gears that fit more precisely than they used to, so companies can use harder materials that weigh less (a big issue these days). Gear ratios are also a big deal. High ratios put more strain on a gear train than lower ratios do. So they design reels with large main gears nowadays to make that feasible. I don't think they use aluminum gears for cost saving. I think they do it to save weight and because they feel they can engineer a gear train that works well with those specific materials. But just like with brass gears, sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't.

A couple of things. No finish you put on a reel will be as durable as the factory finish that came on it, in my experience. Remember that reel parts fit together with tight tolerances. Your finish has to be thin enough that the parts will fit back together. Lastly, surface prep is everything when painting metal or plastic. I've painted exactly one reel, just for laughs. Used auto solvent based paint, primer and clearcoat from aerosol cans. It chipped and scratched easier and quicker than the original finish. After that little exercise, I decided that a beat up reel's imperfections are honorable combat wounds that don't require plastic surgery. I'm more about function than finish anyway.

Never ordered any parts from him but his reel diagram files are one of the best and most complete sources on tje internet.

There are literally an unlimited number of ways to build crankbaits. There are many ways to build good crankbaits, but not as many. Of the really good crankbaits I have had the good luck to fish, no two built by different craftsmen were built exactly the same way. But they all had a consistent theme of thoughtful design, symmetry, and obvious care in construction.

The thing that makes me suspicious of "PUD" is that it's water based. Members have tried water based urethanes (me included) and found they turn milky, soften, and delaminate when immersed in water for long periods. Water based finishes generally do that. If "PUD" has an additive that prevents re-absorption of water after drying, maybe that isn't a problem. But i'd want to see actual testing before I'd believe it, and I didn't see any info indicating it being waterproof in the description cited. If the company offers a test amount, I recommend you try it over paint before you use it on lures. Just say'in.

I use either G10 circuit board or polycarbonate (aka Lexan) for lips. They work equally well. Make a template of the lip you want to use, trace it on the sheet of lip matetial and cut it out with either a pair of metal snips or a band or scroll saw. Use A dremel with a sanding cylinder to take the shape down to the exact line of the lip after cutting it out. I like Wiss M3 straight cut compound snips, less than $15 at Home Depot but I only use 1/32" G10 or 1/16" Lexan, both of which are pretty thin but fone for bass baits. With a little practice, you can do a batch of 6-8 lips in less than half an hour.

I agree with Travis. While a few guys have tried chrome paint, the good stuff is very expensive and has to be used with a particular topcoat that may not be dirable enough for a crankbait. I use aluminum foil tape, as thin as I can find. It is easy to texture like fish scales, is durable, and looks realistic. You can also try gluing mylar foil to the bait if you want a REALLY reflectine surface but it's a pretty fussy process to glue foil on a bait without making a big mess. I stick with tape.

Dale, brushing epoxy is a skill you just have to learn by doing it. I install lips with epoxy after paint and before top-coating. Fill the slot with epoxy and push in the lip. Don't put any on the lip before inserting it or it will be pushed out onto the lip as you insert it. When cured, I topcoat with epoxy and I make sure to run the brush along the lip-body margin to further seal the lip slot. Do it neatly and there's no problem.

If you do any hand shaping on wood crankbaits, there's zero chance of getting any two exactly the same. There will always be some variability among wood crankbaits, even those done in a large factory like Rapala. If you design a bait that is 'middle of the road' in performance, the small differences among cranks in that series will affect the performance much less than if you design a bait that is "cutting edge" in performance. So you pay your money (and effort) and take your chances. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to shoot for the stars when designing a crankbait. There's nothing better than a crankbait that performs past expectations and catches fish like crazy. But you have to accept a greater failure rate among your crankbaits if you go that route. Like they say, "there's no free lunch".

I think it's a polyurethane finish. Fairly durable but not in the same class as an epoxy, moisture cured urethane, or a UV cured polyester. Is it good enough for a crankbait? Not to me, but every builder has to judge these things for himself.

When you are using epoxy as a sealer you need to be careful not to heat the bait after application because air can be forced out of the grain areas of the raw wood. If the wood is heated before the epoxy goes on, some will be sucked into the grain areas as the wood cools. Either can cause fish eyes., It isn't as much of a problem later when you topcoat because, assuming you used epoxy or a tough sealer, the air in the bait cannot escape unless you heat it so much that you soften the sealer/undercoating. Personally, I gave up heating sealers or topcoats a long time ago. Just too easy to screw it up.

It looks to me that the craters may be where the epoxy was sucked into the bait while curing, or maybe it just penetrated into the surface differenttially because of woodbgrain effects. If you lightly sand it and apply another coat of epoxy it will probably disappear. I apply the epoxy pretty thickly and cure it at room temps (no heating, etc) and this rarely happens.

Everyone who builds baits has to work out a routine of steps that works for him. Some can be layed out in advance but some details come only from experience because everyone builds baits just a little differently from anyone else. You'll learn a routine for yourself as you go along. It's all part of the fun!

To me, it depends on what you are using to clearcoat your baits after painting. I like to use moisture cured urethane to coat plastic baits because it is very durable and gives you a nice "factory-fresh" finish. You can put it on a plastic lip and it will fill in all the scratches and make it clear as glass. I find using epoxy on plastic lips is more problematical. It tends to look wavy and it WILL eventually yellow and make the lip pretty sorry looking, IMO. You can't fix that once it's on there and cured hard. If your lip is polycarbonate (Lexan), MCU will not adhere properly and it will soon begin to peel off. But few if any plastic baits are made from Lexan, so it's not an issue for plastic crankbaits.

I think a lot of the difficulties guys are having with stencils is that they use material that is too stiff and hard to cut. Milk bottles, clear plastic, etc. I hit upon FRISKET material that artists use for making stencils and it makes life a lot easier. It's a fairly soft plastic sheeting with a peel-off paper backing. You can buy it with varying degrees of tack for the adhesive that holds on the paper backing. Many art supply sites and stores carry it and it comes in a roll about a foot wide for around $10. I've used one roll for the past 10 years, so it makes a lot of bass lure stencils. When I began using it, I peeled off the backing and stuck the stencil onto the lure. That can be a problem since the stencil adhesive can lift fresh acrylic paint if you aren't lucky. Then I hit on a better solution. Just cut the stencil and use it with the paper backing still attached. Hold it against the lure with a finger while you paint. It's soft enough to bend to conform to the shape of the lure. This solves the lifting problem and also makes the stencil reversible, which is nice since you always want the opposite side of the lure to look the same. And as an added benefit, the stencil becomes re-usable. Over the years, I've saved the stencils I cut and now have a "library" of them to pick from. The frisket is easy to cut accurately with an Xacto knife.