Vodkaman

I cut the lip slot and drill all my holes from the block, before I even cut the profile. This way I can use standard drills and not worry about chipping. The drill press gives me holes as good as the angles of my block. If I want more accuracy, say for a through hole or for holes to intersect, I use a pin alignment method. In the days when I had to cut holes from a carved body; I used a series of drills, starting with 2mm dia, increasing until I get to my desired diameter. I run the drills in reverse and then forwards - no chips. Dave

RAWJigs - great set-up and a wonderful family you have - that works. Patrick - If you don't need the extra cash, I would say finish what you have committed to but start learning to say 'NO'. Once the enjoyment goes, you are going to pack it in anyway. You may have to stop the give-aways, as this just attracts the orders that you are having trouble turning down. Yes, it is nice to hand out a few but you have to stop! Family is NUMBER 1 - I know, I lost mine. Dave

A tip I learned here on TU somewhere, when gluing two pieces together, mark the faces with a marker pen before joining. Now it is impossible to lose the line by sanding. Dave

I gasped a little more with each successive image - great job. Dave

JR - yes, you could use a rule, but then we would have nothing to write about. I own an Iwata airbrush and that has never sniffed a drop of paint either. Dave

Tim - just as accurate as mine. JR - Same method as me, I print out my PDF sheet of profiles, glue on to strips of wood, cut out the profiles, THEN mark. Dave

JR - Bob is using the compass as a woodwork scriber. There are lots of ways of achieving this marking out of the centerline: My method: I have a block of wood with several holes at various distances to the base. I jam a pencil in the most suitable, place the lure blank on the table and run a line around. This line is not central, in fact it is better if it is a fraction off. I flip over the blank and repeat. This gives me two parallel lines and exactly between them is the imaginary centerline that I work to. When you are carving, it is a good idea to add a few more lines at various distances, say 1/4 thickness. These help you keep your carving symmetrical which is most important. Never start hacking at a piece of timber until you have the lines down. Dave

Good job on the mold. The generous proportions was a smart move, helping to keep the shape. Interesting lure, with the side cuts. Do you have a video of the swim? Dave

Bobitas - good luck with the project and I will look forward to seeing what you come up with. DAve

More shelves. More sockets Bigger bench More shelves More sockets More light More air More shelves More power More shelves and a maid Dave

Benton B - X2

I presume you are attaching your belly eye through the lead. Nothing wrong with this, I have used this design before to save space. I don't know anything about the JB weld product, but I would say that your ballast is secure. It is all to do with the area of bonding contact. For example; a 6mm dia lead weight has 3x the bonding of a 2mm dia twisted wire hole for the same length. If I am trying anything new, I set up a simple pull test; Fix an eye to a door or roof beam, some line and a bucket of water as the load. My standard is that the test piece must survive 24 hours. I just measured my standard bucket for you; it holds 14Ltr of water which is 30Lb. I think that is a pretty good test. DAve

Please - leave auto clear to the auto paint professionals - Ben is not being over cautious, the stuff is dangerous to you and everyone around you. It amazes me that you can actually buy this stuff, especially in USA! It should be banned from sale to the public! Dave

Yes Bob, certainly room for both. I have built plenty of these baits but never fished one Dave

Mine appears to be working fine. But, when I just went back to check, 'Hard bait new posts' told me: Sorry, you don't have permission for that!Hmmm. I use Firefox 36.0.4 Dave

The problem with hinged swimbaits is space for all the ballast and hardware. Also, there is nothing to make the lure dive down as the lure is lipless, so unless you get close to neutral buoyancy or a slow sinker, your lure is going to cruise the surface. This demands a lot of ballast. The more buoyant the wood, the more ballast you need. So for a wood choice, something with a density of 0.5g/cm3 (0.40 - 0.65). You don't want to go too heavy, as ballast is important in the lure design, for stability. I can't name woods for you as I am in Indonesia and don't know the English names for half the stuff I use. There was a recent discussion on this subject. Here's a wood discussion. Dave

Someone has been messing with the auto text thing. I didn't type 'plaster of Paris' in my previous post. Just to clarify, the paragraph should read: Let's say you just carved your balsa lure, you are happy with it and thinking towards putting some paint on there. The balsa is hairy and no amount of polishing with 400 grit paper is going to get it smooth. Plus, as soon as you put paint on there, the grain and even more hairs raise up. Dave

Adam - first of all, welcome to TU and a great question to kick off with. I just read a post (No2) by BobP in a thread called 'sealing lures', were he asks what is the purpose of the coat that you want to apply. Let's say you just carved your balsa lure, you are happy with it and thinking towards putting some paint on there. The balsa is hairy and no amount of polishing with 400 grit paper is going to get it smooth. Plus, as soon as you put paint on there, the grain and even more hairs pop up. A very good solution for this is thin CA glue (instant glue or superglue). This comes in different thicknesses, you want the thin stuff. What this does is freeze the grain and the hairs and allows you to sand the body to the finish you require for painting. The thin CA will penetrate deeper than the thick stuff and be more effective. After sanding, apply another coat of the CA, to catch any spots were you perhaps sanded too much. A quick polish with fine grit to finish off and you are ready for primer. BUT, if you are expecting your lure to stand the test of time or you are fishing for toothy critters, you will probably need something a bit more substantial, like a coat of epoxy. Most use D2T, but there are other good epoxies out there. Avoid rapid cure epoxies, you will never get it on in time and will leave you a lumpy finish again. Some people thin the D2T with a few drops of denatured alcohol so that it goes on a bit thinner. Once cured, this can be scuffed up with a fine grit and you are ready for painting. For the best results, an adhesion promoter. I don't know anything about this, as I don't paint. As for hinged swimbaits, the same solutions only a lot more problems;Anywhere with moving parts or removable parts give problems and need extra care and attention. If you are using through hinge pins, the holes have to be sealed and re-drilled. I do this three times minimum. Balsa is probably not the best choice for a swimbait, but that is a whole new discussion. Dave

Yes JR, there will always be secrets and that is OK. Personally I have none. I have published some stuff that some people wish I hadn't, but only stuff that I discovered or worked out for myself. If someone confides in me, that stays under wraps. Dave

JW - I do agree that there is a problem and as I indicated in my post, I get frustrated with it too. Rowhunter's suggestion of a new member sticky is a good idea. It will catch some of the problem, but not the kind of person who signs up, fires his question and then disappears with his answer. You can call him selfish, lazy, call him what you like, but he won't hear you. Dave

Epoxy cure is a chemical reaction, the higher the temperature (within reason) the better the reaction. A low temperature will give a slow reaction. There comes a point were it is too cool for the reaction to take place at all. This information should be on the box. The reaction is actually exothermal, which means it creates its own heat. This is very noticeable on 5 min epoxies, but the slow cure epoxies that we use, this heat is hardly noticeable and is not going to help. Dave

I have learned so much from this site. I have actually applied a lot of the knowledge into my job, particularly vacuum forming and molding. If you are prepared to read and learn, this place will keep you busy for a few days - better make that a few hundred days. Welcome. Dave

Ha! just imagine the pro's set loose with a carving knife. Could make a good pro-am thing. Dave

We need some pics of what you are shooting with. It is OK to post lure pics if it is with a subject in mind and this qualifies. Dave

That would make an interesting competition: The only allowed materials are; rod, reel, line, hooks and wire and published list of allowed hand tools, no lead allowed (this is a 'green' competition). No livebait, worms etc allowed. The competitor has to first construct a lure from available materials around the bank. The rules would determine if man-made materials were allowed or not, I would say not. Dave