borderbasser

Works like a champ. No release is needed. TJ

I was just curious how a slower drying thinner will help things out with an airbrush? I use acetone with a cheapo single action siphon feed and I have no problems. If anything, it might help keep the clear from drying in the tip, but I would think that you would have to wait a little longer between coats. As far as being able to get a coat that is similar in depth and thickness as epoxy (assuming that is what you meant), I can't even see how you could achieve that with 2 coats of DN, even without any thinner. Don't misunderstand...I'm not trying to question your expertiece on coatings, I'm just trying to understand. Thanks. TJ

Riverman, I pretty much do it like CJ said. If you use more acetone, you can recoat faster, but it will take more coats. I recently coated a bait with only about 25% acetone (more or less) and only coated it with two fairly heavy coats and one light coat to finish off what I had in the jar and it coated the bait well. I waited about 15-20 min. between coats and I rotated by hand for a few minutes just to make sure that there would be no runs. Just a little note about bubbles. For many of you with slick baits like a typical crankbait, bubbles probably won't be that big of an issue if trying to coat the bait with a thicker coat. Where it does seem problematic are baits like my swimbaits that have a lot of carving detail in the head and body. These places tend to catch and pool a little more finish. Of all the baits that I have made where bubbles were an issue, it was in these areas and not the smooth areas. TJ

I have had this problem with brushing it on. The best results I have had thus far is spraying it. Get you one of those cheapo siphon feeds for like ten bucks and thin with about 25%-50% acetone and spray away. It will take several coats to get the desired finish (depending on how much acetone is used), but you will like the finished product and won't have any problems with wrinkleing. What you will have problems with though if you spray too thick or don't alow a little time between coats is bubbles popping up. I think that it is due to the solvents still flashing off under the last coats. TJ

Thanks Red, I'll give it a shot. TJ

Does anyone have any experiece using OOMOO from Smooth-on for pouring lead? I know that the platinum cure RTV is a better choice, but I already have some of the tin cure OOMOO. I am needing to pour some swimbait harnesses and won't be making a lot of them anyway. Will this stuff hold up to the heat of say about 20 harnesses? Thanks guys. TJ

Parrothead, AZEC sounds very familiar to me. That may be exactly what I am using. Next time I'm at Home Depot, I take a look. TJ

The stuff I found at my local Home Depot in the trim board section is very easy to carve. It does have a hard "shell" around it like you describe J.R., but once trimed off on the table saw, It is very ease to work. TJ

I also noticed that you said that you had a crack down the middle of one of the cavities. I have had this happen before as well...especially after pouring several baits. One thing you might try to do to help this, is lay some strips of drywall mesh tape in the wet plaster to help bind things together like rebar in concrete. I have not actually tried this, but I would imagine it would help. Just make shure that it doesn't interfer with the cavites. TJ

Thanks Dave. I thought that was what you were talking about. I have a couple problems with that though. I have tried your method in the past, and it is very difficult at times to get the master back into the mold exactly as it was especially on moderately complex masters. To make things even worse, the bait has fins that are below the centerline of the bait that I would venture to say would be impossible to get back in place. The only option would be to cut that particular fin off before re-inserting the master back into the mold. The other problem is with the vaseline. Although it would work well I think, I have had problems with the POP picking up the brush strokes on the bait from brushing it on. Ofcourse, I guess you might be able to heat it slightly with a heat gun or hair dryer to melt it and smooth it out some. It would just take some experimentation. All and all, I think it is worth trying again. I think what I'm going to try first though is inserting a few wires through the center line of the bait and letting the wire extend out far enough out from the bait that the bait can be suspended over the mold box. Then all it would take is to fill the box up to the top with plaster and then lay the bait in. All should be well as long as the wires are straight and the pop is not so thick that the edges pull in, or not so thin that the pop rises up on the master. Sounds good anyway. And ofcourse if it doesn't work, I can pull the master and sand. Anyway, thanks guys. TJ

Dave, I am not sure I quite understand what your last paragragh means. Are you saying that you remove the master and sand the mold face? If so, how do you replace the master and re-establish the seal between the mold and the master so that the next half of the mold doesn't find it's way in between the first half and the master. Thanks all for the replys. TJ

I make mine for bass fishing. I have made them as thin as 3/4" to as wide as 1 1/4" with most being around 1". TJ

I would reccomend making your joint cuts while your material is still square and in block form. Just don't cut it apart completely. I would also reccomend drilling your pin hole at this point. It is much easier drilling straight holes and making square cuts when the stock is in a square block form. Then, cut your profile and shape your bait as one piece. Once this process is complete, finish cutting the joints all the way through and separate the sections and add your hardware. As far as the finish goes, you almost have to coat each piece individualy and rotate while drying. I will try to find a pic of my setup that will show you how i set them up to rotate. TJ

That is a good idea and it reminds me. One of the hard bait guys next door uses a block of wood and cuts out the profile of the bait in the center of the block. Then, he puts the bait in with the centerline even with the top of the block and then uses putty to seal the gap between the bait and block. I'm sure your method would have to incorporate a small amount of putty as well to seal the gap which really is not a big deal. The fins would probably have to be only in one side of the mold, but that wouldn't be any big deal i don't guess. Thanks for refreshing my memory Delw. TJ