cranker

jaime, I dont know if i could answer that or not because i dont know what kind of cedar you have.there is several different types of cedar available and after doing a little research on the different types i pretty much found out that the western red cedar is suppost to be the best for carving and shaping without it splitting on you.I buy mine at lowes in 1''x2''x8' sticks for around $3.00 a peice.So far i have gotten good results as far as carving and sanding this stuff and it seems to be plenty strong enough for bait making and i can cut around 30 baits out of a stick.I think balsa or basswood is probably better but i wanted to use cedar for some reason.Hope this helps you out.

Thanks guys for the info. and I will try to get the pics. on over the weekend.My bills still havent came in so I cant do any testing on them til next week it looks like but I think I will go ahead and put some weight between the bill slot and the front hook and be ready to see what it does.I made them to look alot like the poes design with a few changes and tweaks to make them perform a little better.I also done alot of spraying the last couple of nights with the VL and just wanted to let everyone who replied to that post know that youre exactly rite on about it being a good brush.I have been amazed at how much easier it is to learn the tricks of painting a good professional looking crank when you have good equipment to work with.There may be some other brushes out there that are better , but for myself it will be hard to pry the VL out of my hands!

Thanks to all the help I've gotten here I just about have a handle on painting with better results.Now my addiction has carried over to handcarving a few cedar baits.So far i have finished carving my first and am just about ready to prepare it for painting,and my question is about weighting.The bait is red cedar and 3'' long with flat sides but a good tapered tail,do i need to test the bait before weighting or is it a given for them to need some amount of belly weight?I have pictures of the bait unpainted and will be posting them but i wanted to go ahead and weight it first if i needed to.This may be a stupid question but if i knew the answer i would'nt ask!I have ordered my bills from netcraft and as soon as i get them in i will be finishing the crank up and posting it for some feedback.And again,thanks guys for all the good advice on maintaining this addiction.

I have been having allot of problems with my devcon topcoat getting scuffed and allowing water to get to my paint when I crank around rocks.I fish rocks allot around here and would like to know if this is a common problem with the devcon or is there anything else I can do to get a stronger coating.

I am using the Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier low profile reels and have been very pleased with them.I do allot of deep cranking and have to use a good crankin reel to be able to throw some of these deep divers all day long without destroying the reel . I do allot of tournament fishing and have landed several pretty large bass with these reels and never had any problems.drag system in them is great and and always seems to work properly without re adjusting them all day.I gave around $80.00 each for the four i have and if i do buy any more it will probably be these same reels.I use 7 foot crankin rods with these reels and love them.Reels are like anything else as far as everyone having different opinions but as for me i like them.I also have some of the shimano and diawa reels but they dont do anything these wont ,their just more expensive.

Thanks guys, and to skeeter , if your cranks are painted with the VL I should be just fine with a little practice because your paint jobs look pretty doggone good to me.The type patterns that I like to paint are very similar to some of yours,I just use a few different color combinations.I used the brush last night and could immediately see a big difference from what i had been using which was one of the double action aztecs.The little VL seemed to perform pretty well and I will be doing allot of practicing and experementing with my viscosity and pressure combinations to dial it in good.

Finally got my new Paasche VL set in today and I am tickled to death.Cant wait to try it out tonight but after reading a few of the bad comments about the VL I have ran across I'm wondering if I have jumped the gun on ordering a new one.To all you VL users , is there anything special I need to know about this brush that will help me out with it or is it truly a good brush.I am trying to achieve narrow spray patterns and be able to blend my colors well without masking and I thought this was the brush of choice at the time.I know everyone has different opinions and I would just like to hear some good ones to make me feel better after hearing all the bad ones.I do have a good compressor to control air pressure and I have a pretty good handle on thinning my paints so I thought I would be just fine with this brush.

I have ordered the deep runner and medium runners from netcraft and by the pics in the catalog you would think they are norman blanks,but their not when you see them in person!I use a white primer on these in order to get good coverage with the colors i am topcoating them with .you have to really clean them up on the seams before you plan to paint them also because they have rough seems where the two sides are put together.The medium runner is close to a Deep Little N but not quite the same but they seem to be alrite for the money.I still prefer repainting the real things with the colors i like to throw.

Thought I would jump in here since it drives me crazy to hang up and lose any crankbait!I have tried just about every type on the market and found something i did and did'nt like with all of them,so I made my own and it works like a charm.Get you a 1oz. egg sinker and put a small nail thru the hole in the sinker and attach a regular heavy size snap swivel to the end if the nail bending the nail to secure the swivel to it.when you hang those plugs up simply open the snap and put your line in and close it up then drop the weight down to the lure and bounce it up and down.usually knocks it rite off but if you need more weight just stick more of them on there.I keep four or five of these in my boat and they work great and you can make them for around .40 cents each.Usually need at least three on your line if the crank is down there deep but they really work well for me.

Thanks again guys,and I am glad to have found out about this site where so many people who share the same interest are willing to help other folks out in getting started.I am still playing with the pressure settings and paint thinning and probably will be alright once I get a little more practice.I have no choice but to be patient and figure it all out because I have fallen in love with painting these cranks.I will keep you posted on how I am doing as I get better and will soon post a photo of some of my work.

Thanks guys,I will try some of these tips and see if that helps me some.Iam thinking seriously about trying the createx paint to see if that helps as well.Just hard to give up on paint that is readily available in many colors and only .44 a bottle!Also I dont know how many of you already know it but I have ran across a web site that pretty much beats the socks off everyone else on paint and airbrush supplys.Check them out and probably save some money! bearair.com I will soon post some pics of my work and let you guys tell me what you think,sometimes the best help you can get from people is just by them giving you their opinions!

Hello, I am just getting started airbrushing my own custom colors on crankbait bodys that I cant buy in the stores.I have gotten started totally from information off this site and it has been very helpful so far.I am doing well on baits with large spray patterns but on smaller patterns such as baits with thin orange bellys or thin black backs I am having allot of trouble with overspray,splatter, or just not getting a good quality result.I am spraying the wal-mart Apple Barn Acrylic paints,thinning them good and paying close attention to my pressure which is adjustable on my compressor.Is my problem allot to do with this cheap paint or is my problem human error.I am using a double action aztec sprayer but have ordered myself a Paasche VL to try to solve some of these problems.I have fallen in love with this airbrushing my own cranks and want to get allot better at it than what i am after two months of trying.