KelpKritter

Mark, The bait swims virtually the same whether I use the weight that is currently in the bait or if I cut it in half, which I could conceivably do based on the information I have now. Now that could all change with a change in the material, but I wanted to narrow the options for materials I have been looking at. BTW you have a PM concerning the AZEK. DaveB. KelpKritter

The product is by AeroMarine and can be found at www.jgreer.com. Thanks for the replys thus far. Dave if the 1.05 number is accurate then I would simply need to cut down my weight which is easy enough to do and I would probably be right about where I would want to be. Thanks for the calculations. I am sure with some trial and error I could also figure a ratio of microballoons to add to the mix to get what I need, but I was hoping I could avoid that since I am desiring a sinking lure anyways. DaveB. KelpKritter

I am in the process of considering molding my jointed swimbaits. I came across a product that looks like it might fit the bill and it is local to me. My baits are made to sink so that is the intention. The product has a specific gravity of 1.05-1.09 the manufacturer did not have the info on hand to give a specific number. I am not competent enough in the mathematics of bouyancy to know how fast this product might sink. Can someone give me an idead of how fast a rate of sink would be with this number? Again I want the bait to sink, but when I add all of the components I cannot have it sink like a rock. BTW most of my baits are fished in salt water so the rate of sink compared to fresh water is noticably slower. Thanks for the help. DaveB. KelpKritter

Mark, It has been fun. Got orders for 7 more baits today from all the hype. BTW I have had no failures with the top coat. The baits are going strong. Seriously considering moving to molding the baits. We'll see! DaveB. KelpKritter KelpKritterBaits

I do as Mark does and got a report from one of the guys fishing my bait today. He told me he had over a hundred fish so far on one of my PVC jointed swimbaits and the only problem he is encountering is some blemishes in the top coat from all the teeth marks! DaveB. KelpKritter

I just got back from a week of fishing and had one of my hinge pins come out and lost the last two sections of my bait. This same scenario happened a few weeks ago to a guy testing my baits. I have tried a number of different glues and also used epoxy putty to fill the end of the pin hole but that is a little messy and has a short working time. What are the other swimbait makers, that are using a pin system using to keep the pin seated without fear of it coming out. A lot of work goes into a bait to just have a section fly off on a long cast. Thanks, DaveB. KelpKritter

Nice start! I have no experience with cast lures so I cannot help with the hardware. If you have not already considered this I might suggest that you swim it before making a mold as swimbaits seem to take on a life of their own with regards to joint and weight placement, as well as body shape and design. Looking forward to seeing the finished product. DaveB. KelpKritter

Mark, I wonder what the difference is between the boards we each got. Is the problem evident from the "end grain"? I am ready to buy a new piece and would hate to run into the problem you are facing. My board has one textured side that I run off with the table saw and one "coated" very smooth side that also comes off when cutting the bait. The long edge, prior to me cutting off when shaping, is the texture of 120 sand paper. After the bait is shaped it is all very consistent in texture and easily sanded smooth. Like I said for it's cost I would hate to buy a new piece and end up with the challenges you are facing. Good luck with a solution, DaveB. KelpKritter

I am not a moderator so I cannot answer your questions specifically, I would hate to steer you in the wrong direction, but you can look at #3 in the disclaimer and it is clear about what can be posted. Apparently, to some extent, links can be placed on the forum to video clips. Please don't take this the wrong way as it is not intended to be negative, but this is not other sites. Therefore, since rules are posted a certain way we should try to follow them as best we can. TU is a great site with great posters who offer up tons of help and encouragement. On only one occasion have I failed to have a question answered and in that case I assume no one had the answer. It was a specific paint scheme related question. Keep posting, post pics in the gallery, and have fun. DaveB. KelpKritter DaveB. KelpKritter

Jacob beat me to the punch. I forget where the site rules are posted specifically, but if you search site rules you can find them in one of the responses to other posts similiar to yours. Good luck, DaveB. KelpKritter

Mark, I meant to ask in one of our previous PM's about the wood fiber in the beige Azek. I found that interesting because as far as I can tell the white Azek, which I am using, does not have any wood fibers in it. Are you finding the same thing with the white you are using. As for the sanding I have not had a problem with getting a smooth finish when final sanding with a foam 180 fine sanding pad. Forgot which brand but it came from Lowe's. I also found that the darker colors definately hide some of the bad spots. With that all said let me also say that my final finish is far from immaculate. I figure the guys who are getting my baits know they are catching fish and once that happens they are bound to get chewed on and damage the final product anyways. We should all have pride in our work, but unless they are major flaws I wonder if it will be a major problem. BTW with all this said I have been giving the baits one coat of the topcoat and then painting to see if that cleans things up a bit more before painting. DaveB. KelpKritter

I have only been using opaque paints in my early stages of airbrushing and do not really need anything else to get the results I am looking for except in one case. I am working on a sardine pattern and the yellow stripe in the middle of the bait is very faint, almost transluscent, but an obvious yellow. My question is this, would a transparent light yellow from a company like Createx go on light enough to see the silver backround color on the bait, but still show the obvious yellow coloring desired in the stripe? Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the help. DaveB. KelpKritter

Maybe this will help in the discussion. The original batch of baits was primed with a regular old sanding primer, painted and heat set with water based acrylics, and then top coated with D2T and/or etex. The newest batch of baits have been base coated with white Krylon Plastics paint. Hopefully this will start the process of a better finish on the PVC baits. Heat set water based acrylics, and then two dips in the DN's. We'll see what happens next. Thanks for all of the feedback and information to chew on. DaveB. KelpKritter

I do not mind a bait getting abused, all that means is your getting bit The problem I am having is that both types of epoxy were coming off in big chips on the first day of fishing. I have a number of guys interested in purchasing my baits, but I am just not comfortable with the top coat yet. I will be testing the Dick Nite coated lures shortly. Keeping my fingers crossed! DaveB. KelpKritter

I was able to easily handle the baits after a few hours, just wanted to see if the experts had any thoughts on when to reassemble and/or fish the newly coated baits. On a side note I am looking forward to seeing how the top coat holds up to the fish. As of right now the best finish on my PVC swimbaits fishing for saltwater bass has been six coats of Rustoleum Clear. Both the DT2 and etex have chipped off after a number of fish being caught. I had one of the guys who is testing my baits, who incidentally has also fished the salt here in SoCal with a very prominent hardbait maker on many occasions and he told me the biggest problem the bait designer had with fishing his baits for our saltwater bass was the topcoat. After a day of fishing calicos at the islands the baits were clearly scratched and marred down into the paint. One more experiment soon to be in the books when I can get out on the water again! DaveB. KelpKritter

After receiving a sample of Dick Nites last week I was able to put two coats on my swimbait pieces over the past few days by dipping, which by the way, I liked alot and it seems to work really well. My question is how long will it take for the baits to reach a "full" cure. The instructions say they are stored within four hours at the company, but there is no mention of when the curing process is fully complete. Any thoughts. Thanks, DaveB. KelpKritter

Bob, Thanks for the feedback. I read a number of your posts on the subject of Dick Nites Top Coat as I was searching the site so I was hoping you would chime in. Thanks again, DaveB. KelpKritter

I just spent about an hour pouring over discussions about Dick Nite's top coat and came across a few things that were not discussed in detail, but raised my eyebrows a bit. I am planning on ordering, at a minimum, a sample of the top coat, however two things jumped out at me that might be problematic based on the search I did. First, I saw that Wasco paints may not be compatible. I just ordered a supply of iridescent paints from Wasco and if they do what I expect them to do to my baits I plan on using them as part of my painting process. Any negative experiences with the combination of the two products. Second, someone mentioned trouble when using Krylon primer. I am currently using the Krylon plasitic primer as I am using PVC to construct my baits. Any thoughts on these two issues would be greatly appreciated. I am getting closer to having a very strong bait once the top coat issue is resolved. One of my testers caught a 7lb. Calico bass plus numerous 4's and 5's Sunday using my swimbait. The only problem is the epoxy clear keeps coming off the baits. I have used two types and it keeps cracking off. Thanks again, DaveB. KelpKritter

By the way.....the effect doesnt' just show up over a white or silver base.....it works over most colors and in many cases the darker the base color the easier the effect shows up.....using a blue pearl over white isn't near as easy to see as using a blue pearl over black....both end results look different so you have to play with them to get a feel for whats gonna happen. Thank you, This was the information I was looking for before I ordered some paints I have been looking at. This should be a big help. DaveB. KelpKritter

I have both colors and like the results they give when I use it on my baits. DaveB. KelpKritter