rofish

You may also use a dead minnow attached to some hooks and wires, instead of a jerkbait. They call it "mortmanie" in French, because the inventor is a french guy - Albert Drachkovitch. I have 2 links in French, but the pictures show what this is about: http://www.alliancepeche.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=709&mode=thread http://www.carnavenir.com/articles/mort_manie.htm

Here is a link which was posted some time ago on TU, which you might take into consideration: http://www.howtoairbrush.com/ You know, I don't have an aibrush. But trying to get prepared for the day it will happen!

Vodkaman, I feel so much relief after readind your post! For me, trying to think in inches, pounds, miles, etc. is like having to drive my car on the left side of the road, using my left hand to change gears, or like retrieving a lure with my right hand on the fishing wheel !

Fatfingers, this is just a crazy ideea which crossed my head. Natural light, as you say, is better that artificial light. What if you would consider a mirror system which could bring and amplify the natural light from outside to your paintbooth? Even if you would bring sun light which is already filtered through the clouds? I don't know how much cost this would add. Also, you would not be able to paint (using natural light) in the evenings of winter days. But on the other hand, if this would work, you could label your paintbooth as "Rolls Royce paintbooth". Once again, just an ideea

I wanted to say that in this case I sand the low left and the right high at the interior of the lipslot

I cut the lipslot by hand, while the wood is still square. But somethimes I find that the angle of the lipslot is not perfect. I put a large lip in the lipslot, to see if the angle is correct or not. If it isn't, I correct it. Let's say when I look to the head of the lure, from the front, I see that the lip has a slight angle from left (high) to right (low). In this case, I have to sand the interior of the slot, at the bottom low and at the left high. To do this, I use a small piece of thin steel sheet, on top of which I put sanding paper. You have to feel the place inside the lipslot which you sand. With a little practise, you can come out with good results. Of course, this is not a method for large quantities. But it helps you when you catch fish on a lure you have taken so much care to accomplish

If your idea is a dumb one, then I am a dumb person as well. To cover a lure with melted plastic, you have first to find the right kind of plastic which is suitable for this purpose, and this is a difficult task for someone who is not familiar with the field of plastics, as I am. I have not dropped the ideea yet, I just hope that one day I will have enough knoledge and technical means to achieve that.

For the code system of reciclable plastics look here: http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/docs/plastic_codes.html As to the propionate pellets supplied by Swede, I could not find even the name for it. There 2 different stuffs: Cellulose acetate propionate, and Cellulose propionate. For CAP, look here: http://www.polymerweb.com/_datash/cp.html So, in order to find out which grade or class of propionate is best suited for a crankbait maker, he has first to know which one of the two materials he is looking for. The white plastic cups which dissolve in thinner/acetone are usually, but not necessarily made out of polystyrene, but I think the white cups are the worst choice to look for polystyrene. You could find polystyrene right under your nose, if you would look, for instance, at the transparent lid of a CD jewel case. But there are many other things which are made out of transparent polystyrene, which is a good sealer, but not the best choice for clearcoat. Some say epoxy (mainly Devcon) would be the best choice. I am stubborn enough to think that there are some other plastics which could be better than Devcon as clearcoat, but I have not yet discovered the right one.

It is absolutely normal for a crankbait maker to be an abnormal person. My wife, my colleagues, have already noticed that. For a few months now, I was unable to finish some work I have to do, to win some extra money, because when I go home from my job, I cannot think of anything else but crankbaits. I may have a severe form of this ilness which has not been baptized by doctors yet. So it seems you are at the beginning of your ilness devlopement. Be aware, the worse has not come yet

I forgot to say that the lure is a floating one, and has a ballast weight in the belly, a very small one, of course, due to the size of the bait. The 2 twisted wire ties go parallel inside the body, and have a length which is almost the length of the lure. These wire ties add weight, so in order to have a floating lure, I had to add only a tiny piece of lead in the belly.

Hi! I have made a small crankbait, so small that I could not find a place for a second hook tie. Went to the water, and foud out that the crankbait has a vertical wobble, omething like a horse at full speed. I can tell you it is not a matter of lip shape, because all the lips I have tried had about the same action on the lure, only that the one I have chosen seems to have a more accurate action. I know there are crankbaits with such actionon the market. What I do not know is wether such action triggers or not the feeding action of the fish. Anyone knows something about?

I forgot to say something. Besides the center line, some of the templates which I make on the computer have several horizontal and parallel lines at the bottom of the lip, so when I cut out the template I can choose between several lines, and I choose the one which best suits the width of the lip slot. Practically, you have several lengths of lips on the same template.

Fatfingers, you could improve your trick if you would make your templates on computer. When you design the lip, just draw first a vertical line on the computer, then draw the 2 symetrical halves. Some simple CAD softwares have a tool called "vertical mirror" . You just draw one half, than you "mirror" the other one. So no more need to fold the template and mark the centerline of the lip.

Why don't you just use a CD marker and a stencil? After the lip is finished, the remaining marks of the CD marker can be easily removed with alcohol.

Palmetto Balsa, Thanks for your ideeas. Anyway, the damp lure is not my case. The solution I made is crystal clear and remains so after at least 100 dippings. But believe me, I could clearly see that white thing, not to the whole surface which was dipped, but only a portion of it. Only you have to try different angles to the natural light to see it, if it appears. And it had the look of trapped air. That's why I thought I could easily solve the problem by using a paintbrush after dipping, then dip again. As I said, I didn't tried it yet, because the white haze is not something I should care about (I do not sell my crankbaits, so I'll have to ask the fish first, if they like it or not )

For some months now, I've been doing some resarch of my own in the field of plastics, trying to come up with a new plastidip solution which, hopefully, will be at least as good as epoxy or propionate pellets. Work is hard, mainly because I knew nothing about plastics when I started this, and getting information which could be turned into a practical solution is a difficult thing for someone who has to learn the abc of plastics first. Anyway, up to now, I have some ideeas which could apply to the propionate pellets plastidip. 1) The white haze appear to my crankbaits as well, only that it seems it builds up whith each layer, not only on top of the last layer, as Palmetto Balsa says. I tried the buffing wheel as he suggests, but the white haze won't disappear. And I expected it wouldn't. When I dipped the bait in the jarr, I noticed there is a white haze in some portions of the bait. If you turn the jarr and the crankbait while partially submerged, so as to have different angles to the natural light, you'll be able to see this. I think the white haze is either air or a thin film of wather. And I came up with the ideea that the haze could be easily removed if after dipping you brush the crankbait then dipp again. But I didn't try it, because I do not bother much about the haze. Anyway, the haze cannot be something which stays on top of the last layer, but it is something which is kept prisoner between layers. If you use the buffering wheel to get rid of it, you have to do it whith each layer which got a white haze as prisoner. 2) I made 2 plastic solutions, one with acetone, and one with thinner. The acetone nedeed 1 day to dissolve the plastic, and the thinner needed 6 days. I dipped acrylic painted crankbaits in both, to see the difference. The one with acetone made the paint run immediately, the other not. But even the second one would make the pait run, if you keep the lure longer in the jarr, or if you hit the lure to the wall of the jarr. So this is a matter which each one should try, to see for himself if it works or not.

It is very curious that a few days ago I had the same ideea as Fatfingers, that is to show anglercory my first crankbaits, so that he could see for himself if he is on the right path or not. I couldn

May I ask what tools you used for the carving? I am interested to find out what tools are easier to work with, manual, Dremel, and which kind of tools or bits.

Not only the carving is superb, but the blending of the colors is awesome. And the eyes are as good as real. I copied the pictures in my computer, with the hope that in a few years I'll be able to make a crankbait almost as magnificent as yours!

It just crossed my mind you wrote my name in bolds so you would not mean "I'm only human raw fish"

Lexan is something I cannot find on the market in Romania. So I looked for alternatives. I came across a PETG material, imported from England. Their site tells me it's a wonder material. But is this so? Has anyone tried it yet? I would surely like to have some impressions from some crankbait makers's point of view. The smallest ouantity I can buy is 2050 x 1250 mm. Enough for some decades. The price is not very popular. So what do you say? http://www.bayplastics.co.uk/Product%20Materials/prod-barlo-spectre.htm

There is a question which constantly knocks my head: how can LaPala be right all the time? I regard him as the God of crankbait makers, but even Gods have some limits ...

Lucky you!

Thanks, guys. Fatfingers, To seal the wood inside the lip slot I use a plastidip solution. Take, for instance, a CD blank, which dissolves in thinner or acetone, or propionate pellets, or whatever. Almost any plastic material which dissolves in thinner/acetone will do. I put 2 layers inside the lipslot. (of course, the second one is put after the first one dried) As to the lip stencils, I use a very simple CAD programme, which I downloaded for free from the internet. After I design a lipshape, I change the size of it by steps of 5%, saving each one. So I have lots of lip shapes and sizes on my computer, and I print them whenever I want. But I couldn't open such files using other programmes. To make the lip stencils, I glue the printed lip to metal sheet, cut it roughly with scissors for metal, then using files and sanding tools I do the rest. It's not easy to have a perfectly cut metal stencil, but once you have it you can trace on the lip material tons of lips. To do this, I use a CD marker. scoop10, You are perfectly right in what you are saying. If you notice, I have some other lip stencils which are about the same shape. (let's call it half-moon shape). They all determine an "S" shape line for the crankbait when retrieved. Nathan, Thanks for the ideea. But you have to know that the name elmers rubber cement means nothing to me, since I cannot find such things here. Which is more, I do not speak English well, so I do not know what rubber cement is. The same goes for things like Devcon, E-tex, Lexan, etc. It,s all chinese to me So I have to be inventive. They say need is the best inventor. Little by little, I try to cope with the marvel crankbaits I can see on TU, which is the best site for crankbait fools I have ever heard of!

I like to clearcoat my crankbaits, unclog (or cut again the lipslot where it was already beginning with the "square" phase), seal the wood inside the lipslot, using a fine paint brush (I had nasty surprises when I didn't seal the wood inside the lipslot), and then, having 2-3 dozen of lips with me, go to the water and try different shapes and sizes of lips, to see the difference in action they can offer. I just press the lip in the lipslot, and if it is loose, I add under the lip a small piece of plastic material cut from a soft drink bottle, so that the lip stays in place during testing. I noticed that in most of the cases, the "classical" lips, wether trapezoidal, round or other, give the lure about the same action, provided they have about the same surface and same length. One of the cranks had a very "nervous" wobble (quite large and quick movement left-right), which I wanted to change, but all the classical lips gave the crank the same action. So I tried a new shape of lip, which changed the action dramatically. Now the crank travels in an "S" line, and at the same time, it has a tight wobble. Don't ask me how I did that, because I do not know. You can see here the crankbait, together with some of my lip stencils, which I made out of ordinary metal sheet. I am sure I am not the first one to think of a different shape of lip. http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k5/rofish_2006/rofish_2006-2/