doomdart

I have had some luck even with LM with flourescent type colors. I know most say they work better with smallies. Can't dispute that, but sometimes the LM seem to key on flourescent. I can't figure out why they'll chase some days and not others. Might have nothing to do with the color, but some other factor. Anyway, good job kb, I thought some of those bait body shapes you displayed looked great.

You can also mix powder paints in any small container such as 35 mm film canister or baby food jar. Put the colors together and shake & bake. If you don't like what you get, adjust by adding small amounts of the necessary color until you get the shade you want.

kb, did I not tell you that they would look better underwater?

If it is a metal bead chain, it will probably rust rather quickly. If it is plastic, it might not hold up to abuse. I suppose you could fashion a wire twist using stainless wire to tie the blade to the chain. Or perhaps if you have a soldering iron you could put the last bead in the hole on the blade and solder it in place. I'm thinking you might be better off trying a heavy superline instead of the bead chain, but hey give it a try.

Sounds good except you won't have the adhesive already on there. I guess superglue or Devcon won't fail you. Or if you recess drill the eyes you could just drop them in with a little Elmer's. You might be able to get just what you need by dripping a single drop of paint or coloring into the resin before it cures. braveviper, is this just your idea, or have you already done it?

Thanks for all the replies here, guys. This is kind of what I had in mind. I don't want to go waste money trying each type. I also have virgin lacquer thinner (stinky AND volatile) and regular old paint thinner (is this MEK?). I have not attempted to thin D2T with either yet. With the isopropyl I have not noticed any significant "softening" of the final cure. Like the others I think it eventually evaporates out during curing. I rarely thin when topcoating. Only if I screw up the first coat and need a thin second coat to cover a blemish or two. Or if I'm working a small pool of D2T and find it is setting up before it hits the lure. I will extend the working time that way. Or if using as a sealer, which is very rare for me. Also need to thin while making POP molds and using D2T as the sealer.

Looks neat. The legal dept. at Beck's might not like it, but I bet the CEO wouldn't mind! Muskie, you're gonna make fishing like NASCAR. Let's see, how many tiny logo sponsors can fit on a 5" bait?

I guess I have confused the terms. I always considered "rubbing" and "isopropyl" to be the same, but I guess not, huh? So really I've not used rubbing, but had good results with iso. Dean, when you mention the volatile nature of it, do you have specific things to avoid? Obviously you'd want proper ventilation and never use stuff like this near open flame, but what else?

For those that thin Devcon with alcohol, do you prefer rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol? I know there must be reasons why folks use the denatured type, but honestly don't know what the specific benefits are. Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol has worked just fine for me, but am curious what all of you have to say.

Yes, I agree with what the others have said. Furthermore, if you have a bait that you want to experiment with making only slightly heavier....you can increase hook size or split ring size, etc. Or put on a coat of Devcon and hope it doesn't kill the other action properties. Best applied thin if you don't want to risk ruining an otherwise good bait. I consider the floation/sink/suspend to be one major part of the "action." To further Dean's comment on temperature....I am not the type to use scales and micrometers. Usually arrive at the bait after a few attempts (when it is a prototype attempt). When making a suspender I found that testing the bait in a sink filled with tapwater roughly approximated the water temperature in the lake. Colder weather = colder tapwater.

The one you linked to at Sears looks very nice. By looking at the picture I don't think you'd get the tilt capability you mentioned before. But overall I think you would find more uses with the Dremel and press kit setup rather than the full size drill press. If you are doing production style work or larger baits then you would possibly need the full size drill press. The flex shaft is an awesome accessory...don't have one and wish I did. It's basically like a long flexible pencil sized shaft that extends from the chuck of the Dremel. It is a whole lot easier to do detail carving, etc. if you have it. Also easier on the wrists if you're doing multiple carving. You would probably want several carving bits, some cutoff disks, maybe a wire brush accessory, a polishing bit, small drill bits, and perhaps more important than even the carving bits you want a sanding drum as well. I probably have forgotten an accessory or two. So you'll be better off buying a kit with accessories. They sell the individual bits and pieces for two or three bucks each, so once you do the math in the store you'll see what I mean. The Dremel tool alone usually runs around $25 to $35 dollars. I personally don't think brand matters all that much, shop for the features you want. The kits usually start around $35 and up, but are worth it if they have the basic stuff you need. You will find many uses for that tool aside from tackle.

This illustrates the different ideas of "sealer." Many think of sealer as a protective coat on the bait that seals it from water penetration. Others think of sealer as a penetrating barrier that completely saturates the wood so no water can enter. Both versions can work. I've read where many reported that the urethane topcoat yellow with age or UV exposure. I think it is more convenient and possibly quicker to use the urethane type sealer, but the saturation type is probably better if you want complete indestructibility. I don't think that five or six coats of urethane type sealer would be necessary. I think two or three should suffice if your final topcoat is a tough one.

I don't think you'll find what you want in that price range unless it is at a flea market or yard sale. If you buy one at one of those type places make sure you plug it in and test it before you fork over any money. Check the adjustments as best you can without having your workpiece in your pocket. There are also "jigs" or kits made to turn your hand-powered drill into a press type operation. Maybe you can make that work with some good old-fashioned ingenuity. What I mean is that you can make a regular non-adjustable table work if you put some triangular wood blocks under the workpiece. Starts to get very cumbersome if you need multiple angle setups.

Reason I say it can be confusing....the sweet beaver is a good example. You see similar baits offered for sale everywhere, but they still are reputed to go after guys for producing one. My belief is that this is acceptable (sorry Hillbilly for the he said/she said). But I am not a lawyer and the confusion of all this is why people pay them money. I agree that the patent process is out of reach for most guys. So my conclusion is if you want to make molds, you should try to make original designs that don't borrow too much from anything. And then you should be OK. But again, I am not a lawyer.

It is definitely possible to kill the action. And it is possible to not do so with Devcon. You'll probably find out tomorrow, right, Kicker?

Make sure you have enough line spooled on as well. Sounds like you must be playing fish to the end of the line or casting to the end of the spool if you have lost your spool tie. I think the knot that Norcalbassin mentioned is fine, but you still don't want to be at the end of the spool against a large bass. Curious if this thread will reveal a much better knot. Might end up needing to link to diagrams.

That's a cool photo, Sterling.

Cheesehead, you have just said what I was trying to say in just a few sentences. I agree 200% with what he has said. Perhaps I mislead by talking about drilling the hole "larger" than necessary. I would still want a relatively tight fit. We are talking about tolerances here that are difficult to measure, so I don't even try to measure them. You can drill a hole that is slightly too small and just exert a small wobbling pressure to the drill to get the size you need.

Just don't copy a bait of someone else's design. This can be confusing, though, because I'm sure you could look at "original" designs and someone else could point out how you violated someone's protected design. You may have never seen or heard of the bait, but there have been so many bright minds before us... Even if the bait is unprotected, I personally think you shouldn't do that. Don't mean to steer this away from the main question, but thought it would be worth mentioning. I don't know the answer unless you can afford a part time attorney to search up patents all day long. Lenox2k, I am NOT implying that you are considering copying anything.

Yes, in fact I think the hand wound version will be more secure since they will have a more aggressive thread. But screw eyes will work fine in bait woods except balsa. Either way I think you want to secure with Devcon (short cure version is fine here, one of the only times you might want to use it). If you do that, then topcoat again, the fish will have to rip off the entire topcoat (OK, that's a stretch, but you get the point). I must point out that others have discussed this...I can take no credit. The only pullout I've experienced was with a screw eye...I blame that on a defect of production and am still arguing with the maker (LOL). Having said this, I will say that with thru-wire you absolutely do not have to worry and your bait will be more lively. LaPala, Cheeshead, and Dean kind of worked on my conscience for a while and made me give it a serious attempt. Good results.

I assume you're talking about the regular wrapped wire eye. I usually would drill a larger hole than necessary and then fill it with mixed Devcon. This is one of the few instances where the quick setting type is useful, IMO. Then drop the eye shaft in the hole, line it up properly (thin strips of masking tape to hold it in place while curing may help), and wait. I think the quicker way is to use the preformed screw eyes, but as many have pointed out they can be overkill on bass baits and don't look as nice as a smaller diameter wire eye.

Thought a bit more.....the results I find could be explained by moisture content in the wood. Trying to do that (no sealer) on greenish wood would cause problems. You don't have to fire wood in a kiln to make it dry for certain uses. Hot climate + no production schedule + wood stored away from water = dry wood.

JDW11, if you don't mind, provide some info here on Centari and what it's properties are. Never hurts to examine another product.

not sure I have much more to add, but dayooper is for sure right. The cause of "too much" paint can be as the others mentioned....too hot, improperly fluffed paint (packed too tight), swishing for too long, etc. Bottom line is that you will figure it out with practice. The good news, the learning curve is short, so you won't waste a lot of jigs and paint.

Speaking of changing colors, don't forget that you can custom mix your own colors...yellow + blue = green, etc. That is why I think it is best to stick with primary colors, black, white, etc. unless you are doing production work. 35 mm film canisters work great for that and fatfingers mentioned you can ask the folks at the photo center in Walmart and they'll hook you up with freebies (maybe).