cadman

I like the sawzall idea. Never thought of that. My sawzall has a big toothy blade that would rip through the lead. Good idea

Yes like a stick of butter. But like small jaw mentioned, use gloves and a pair of channel locks to hold the lead, as it will get very hot.

Don't know how big in diameter the lead is, but if you have a hot pot, melt a little at a time in the hot pot with the rest sticking up. Add as needed as you deplete your lead supply. You can also cut it with a hacksaw and a wood blade, or torch off a chunk with a propane torch.

That will work as well. Lot of good ideas out there. Just have to find what works for you.

My first choice would be a Snootie jig, then Poison Tail and then Grass jig.

Tom, No humidity is the best for fluid beds. Although I don't have any percentages for you, my best fluid bed success with heavy stubborn powder was in winter, when the season is driest.

Painter is correct. It is not like a crankbait that has a consistent wobble.

x2 on what Smalljaw said. Also if you use any fluorescent colors, a white basecoat is a must for the colors to pop and be true.

I mainly deal with three companies for hooks. Like Smalljaw mentioned, Lure Parts On line definitely for Owner hooks. They will work with you on price and shipping. Capt. Hooks and Shorty's Hooks. If you are buying quantities of 1000 hooks at a time, I don't know why anyone would go anywhere else except Shorty's. They usually have everyone's price beat. Also look into Do-It Molds. They give discounts on 10 packs of the same hook, and their shipping price is reasonable. Most of the other places I've dealt with charge way too much for shipping small packages and it takes sometimes 5-6 days to receive from date of order. I never have that problem with LPO. Call order in, package arrives in two days. Can't beat that for service.

If you are using the std. bronze EC 570, then yes there is a match for that hook in an EC which will not rust. You can use the 570BP or the L570BP. On the 570BP, the BP stands for black platinum finish, which is far more rust resistant then the regular bronze hooks. The L570BP, are laser point hooks, which are extremely sharp and rust resistant. Both hooks will work for you well. The Laser points, however are about twice the price than the regular BP series. Good luck.

Yes, EC has stepped up their game in the last two years, and they are giving Mustad a run for their money. The correct number for your Mustad 32786 in a EC is L786BP. The BP stands for black platinum. I can tell you this, myself, Smalljaw and few others have been using these hooks from their inception on the market. They are outstanding hooks, and they match their Mustad counterpart exactly. EC also has other hooks that you can match up to Mustads. Final thing on the EC hooks and that is they are less expensive than Mustads, and EC's are Made in the USA.

Curtis, I have never poured with a Hilts mold, so can't give you any input. However I do have one of there molds, and I will tell you that I do not like the handles. They are very skinny and that makes the mold top heavy. As far as buying Hilts molds. Well, I have tried unsuccessfully to buy molds from them for the last 4 years. Reason why I have not gotten any molds from them, is that everytime I call them they never have the mold I want, and I have to wait for them to do a production run. Well I'm not waiting a year for them to make a production run. I've tried this several times with no luck, so mI gave up. Maybe the mold you are looking for will be in stock, or you might have better luck on e-bay. I believe the company is out of Florida and I do not believe it is the original company.

Wow very sad news. I met Coley only once and that was the time I went to a TU meet at Nathans. One of the nicest guys I ever met. Easy to talk to and willing to share info about building lures. Sincere condolences to his entire family.

PS: Your thread will be either locked or moved. All pics must be posted in the gallery. BTW nice spinners.

Here is a link to an old thread, this should help. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/topic/27732-skirt-tab-storage/?hl=%2Bskirt+%2Btabs

Can't see your image. You may have uploaded it incorrectly.

Guys thanks for all the info, very much appreciated.

Mark, That is a good idea. Thanks for the tip and the link.

Gon2long is correct, you don't want any warning points. BTW only you can see your own warning points, so I or no-one else will no if you were a bad boy. Wow Gon2long, so now I know you were a bad boy.LOL

I don't remember who posted on this topic awhile back, but I know if you use more of one than the other the epoxy will not harden and fully cure. I am buying D2T in the 9 oz bottles, and it looks like I get more hardener than resin. So in a 50/50 mix, can I add more hardener to get the same results, or is it the other way around. I know how to use D2T, so that is not the issue. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know of any sites that have 3d solid model files available to us. I make my own. The only thing my hooks don't have is the barb under the hook point. Mine are true parametric solid models. I have a few done, I would be willing to help as well. See attached file below, is this what you are looking for? Also this solid model can be put on a drawing and I can extrapolate all the dimensions from it.

Coley, You are in my prayers as well. Fight hard and strong, and get well soon.

Inside diameter of the Do-It brand swivel is as follows: Inside caliper jaws measured at (.060) Pin gage that fits in there is (.0605) FYI, there are a lot of generic brands out there. I bought these from Do-It about 4 years ago. Hopefully the quality in the past is the same as they are making currently.

Thanks for the info and update on Coley, Gene.

Yes it will work. It is a bit messy and it does smell. Other than that it should be fine. It also comes in some solid colors. I have had guys on the wire bait forum use it for jigs and it does have good abrasion resistance. The only complaint was that it is only a solid color, so you can't be creative with it.