Vodkaman

Before pressing the 'add reply' button, press preview. Then go back to the edit window and all the spaces will appear. Place your cursor at the end of a paragraph and you will be able to press delete 9 times, to bring the next paragraph adjacent. Then press return twice to provide a good spacing. Messy, but it works. I have 50 grams of glycerine in the double boiler now, it is just not clearing. I will give it a bit more time. If no improvement, I will add the contents of the previous experiment. I suspect glycerin on its own will not work. Dave

I tested the lure today. The big problem is tearing, the line just cuts through the gelatin. Casting the bait would be impossible with this texture, so I need to reduce the water content. A plastic tube instert would help, but I have nothing in the house for the job. Unfortunately, the bait tore out before I could get the underwater footage, but you get the drift: The bait, code name Big Ed, 75mm in length. I made the master about a year ago, but not having any soft plastic available, I was unable to test it. At first, I was very disappointed as it swam like a soft stick. But, as I jerked the bait over to the corner of the test tank, it sprang into life. As the pace picks up, a wide 'wagging' action starts. As the pace increases further, the paddletail joins in the action. A bit like a hunting crankbait, it has a dual action. I think that if I reduced the tail root thickness to increase the flexibility, I could get something special going here, but not having soft plastic materials is dragging this project back to a halt. Sorry to digress from the subject of gelatin, I just got a bit excited Dave

You would think so, but there isn't. Just write it up and post it. Looking forward to seeing what you have come up with. Dave

I made a quick mold to test the gelatin form. All I had was gelflex rubber and as you see, my master was not too keen on the molten rubber temperatures. Ah well, it is just an experiment. The clarity is very good, especially when wetted. You can see the yellow cast though. The small nick in the paddle tail causes a fatal tear if you mess about with it too much, but it is fishable, but I suspect it will be one bait to one fish. My paddle tail is probably a bit beafy, but the material has good flexibility, but I have never held a plastic bait, so I don't really know what I am talking about. I will try it in the test tank tomorrow. I will try pure glycerine next. Dave

X2 Dave

I have six gelatine packets and some glycerine. I am not interested in the glo powder, so omitted the xanthan powder. I set about experimenting, to find proportions: First attempt: 1 sachet gelatine powder (Dr. Oatker) 50 grams very hot water 15 grams glycerine Poured the hot water onto the powder and mixed until smooth. Added the glycerine and continued to mix. I don't have a mold ready as yet, so I poured into a polythene container and placed in the fridge. The gelatine hardened crystal clear and bubble free. Unfortunately, the color is a very noticable amber. The strength and flexibility was good, but I will know more when I sort a mold out. Tear strength was not so good. The cast was fairly durable, but once a cut was started, the rip was effortless. Still a very usable lure material, especially considering that it is remeltable. The prepares solution has a long working time, so it can be left to stand, to eliminate all bubbles. It can be remolted by standing the gelatine container in a pan of hot water. Does replacing the water with glycerine add any tear strength? Is there a way to increase tear strength? Thanks for posting. Now to sort a mold out. Dave

Welcome to TU Mack. No point in warning you about the addiction, as you are already infected. I am sure you will find knowledge here to advance your own and quite probably you have something to advance ours. Dave

For small cranks, I use 0.035" stainless steel 304 or 304L. I think 316 is suitable also, but I have not tried it. This wire is very easy to work with, easy to bend and virtually zero spring back. When in the shop, pinch the last inch of wire and check for ease of bending and no spring back and you will have the right stuff. 0.040" is still very workable, but it is amazing the difference that extra 5 thou' makes. The 0.035" holds the eye shape well, but if you insist on heaving eight pounders over the side, you might be better going for the 0.040". Dave

Good idea Mark, I like this. We should not let these guys get away with this sort of behavior. I am not a believer in name and shame, but after the guy has had the opportunity to put things right and refuses, then I believe that he deserves the negative press. But so far, he has not been given that opportunity. He has responded to the email, albeit in a condescending manner, inviting the customer to return the baits for evaluation. If the baits do not swim, then costs and postage will be refunded, if not, the deal is done. Just make sure you keep back some video evidence. If he claims the baits work fine, post the video and name him, to warn other potential customers about who they are dealing with. Dave

Ben, pretty sure he means testing with the lip in, but not permanently glued. SF, if it is a complete kit, then it is designed to work as a unit, with paint, top coat and hooks attached. Is it a balsa kit, do you have to add ballast too? There is nothing wrong with having a play first and learn about the lure, but you must attach the hooks for testing, or nothing will work right. Dave

Can you take a video of the bait in action and post it here? Dave

Sorry, double post. Please delete. Dave

BM, I understand your mind set, but you are letting this guy get away with it, but what is worse, is that he will continue to use this 'indignant' ploy and rip off others with his bad product. You perhaps should have eaten another $3 for the team, . At least then you could hit him in the feedback and ruin thin months 100% feedback record. When someone makes me angry, I find the best solution is to send the anger back to where it came from. Dave

Your camera is probably shutter priority, which means you control the shutter speed and the camera adjusts the aperture to suit. Increasing the speed forces the camera to open the aperture wider. By doing this, you reduce your depth of field. This means the range of in-focus depth is reduced. If you are aiming straight on, then this is not a problem, but if you doing a fancy oblique angle, you may lose the tail end, depending on what point you focus. The depth of field also makes sure that nothing in the background interferes with your composition, by blurring it out. Those speeds seem very fast. Maybe I am just out of touch with the technology. The pic is great. Dave

Glad that one worked. I'll try it myself now Very interested here. Don't forget to take pics. Dave

Devcon 2 ton (D2T) is a two part epoxy with a 30 minute working time (supposedly). DN refers to Dick Nite, who sells three different coatings, S81 S82 and S83. If you click the blue highlighted text, you will get brief information on each. Dave

Inspired by a used condom, now that's funny. The lure is behaving more like a large lip, than a spoon. Even if the spoon action slowed, say with a longer trailer, the 'S' action of the trailer would prevail. Huge driving vortices comming off that spoon. Dave

Good attitude. You could always ask PJ's and ask them for the supplier. It is the least that they could do for you, Dave

Unfortunately, no one needs your permission to copy your idea. I know, it really sucks, but this is how it works in the real world. On the first page of the unread posts list, at the moment there are six KO related posts and one original work. Actually, the original work is very unusual, believe me, the ratio is NOT 6:1. I cannot help you with your wire search, I just wanted to offer my commiserations on the idea being stolen. Best advice is to treat it as a complement and be more careful with the next idea. Good luck. Dave

Dieter, the lure certainly has a nice movement as it swims and on the drop. A successful build in my eyes. It would be nice to build this type of lure and control the depth, but I fear that the build would once again be complicated, either by weight system or double curvature. Great video. Dave

Here is a link to a recent similar discussion that should help you: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/22024-uk-noob/page__p__164573__hl__iron__fromsearch__1#entry164573 I agree that you should heat all the weights from cold, to avoid interference from the bomb squad. If you wanted to cook more, you could pre heat, but that is probably as much work as melting in the first pot, so I don't see the point. Might as well finish pouring, then let the pot cool and do another complete batch. Welcome to TU. Dave

I too am not overly convinced by the restrictor idea. Even if it did work and reduce the flow, it would cause an issue at the injector handle. What ever is used to push the handles down, the flow has to be even or will be forced to be even. I have not addressed the problem of holding the injectors or pushing down the handles, but I am not anticipating much of a design problem here. Certainly you would not have to disturb your neighbour. I don't see 3 or 4 color injection as being much more difficult than 2 color injection, other than filling and cleaning. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that there may be a need for some kind of power assist at the plunger plate, possibly like the RTV tube guns, a ratchet arrangement. Four colors would be roughly twice the hand pressure, but I don't inject, so I do not know the pressures involved or required. Laid or layered colors, like you explained, was what I was going for with this solution. It also offers the four corner option by flipping the middle plate. I cannot see a solution for layered colors with a two plate arrangement. In layered mode, all four colors are aligned in my solution. The top two colors join and move down into the nozzle, were they are joined by the bottom two colors, which form the back and belly colors. I don't see how you can do 3 or 4 colors inline with two plates without mixing further away from the nozzle, this allows more opportunity for the blending of the said two colors, also, the premixed colors will be aligned wrong (side by side) and not allow the layering to occur, resulting in a 'four corner' distribution. I guess that it is still possible, by cutting one path in the top plate and the second color in the bottom plate, but I was not convinced because of the two 90 degree corners that the plastic would have to navigate before leaving the nozzle. With the two plate, 3 color arrangement, the single color will have twice the volume of the twin color tube, making uneaven color dirstribution, something else that I was trying to avoid. I have made all four fluid paths the same length, but like you said, this should not be important. I did not consider this, but I agree with your thinking, that it is the cross sectional area that matters, not the length. To step down to three colors, I went for a large grub type screw, purely so that the part remained in the block and not something that can get lost. There are other solutions, but I thought this was the simplest. Funny you should mention the swirl jig. I worked on a design for such, several months ago, maybe a year. I shelved it, as I could not see the pourers going for it, as it would be more expensive than the blending block. I don't think I even finished the design, so you beat me to it. I have put a lot of thought into this blend block, as it has been on my mind for quite some time, not just the duration of this post or indeed, the post on the 'other' site. When people introduce a 2 color option, I automatically start thinking about more. Dave

Jerry. I enjoyed looking in on the video feed and seeing all the guys and gals. I just wish I could have been there, but until someone gives me a lot of money, that is just not going to happen. Unfortunately, I missed the tutorial contributions, for reasons that I am too embarrassed to go into. If they are anything like last years, they will be well worth watching and from what I saw, this years contributions are up there too. It seems like you guys save this stuff up for the meet, Please let us know when and where the vid tut's are posted. I am trying not to rush you, as I am sure you are busy after the meet and maybe need a little relax time, but don't take too long Thanks again to everyone that took part. Maybe this post should be in the events forum, but I wanted the other members to see what they missed. Dave

double post.

I re-use my brushes. I haven't counted how many times, but it is a lot. I clean the brush with a splash of regular paint thinners in the bottom of a drinks can. Dab a few times in the thinners, then brush onto a length of rough cut wood block. Repeat ten times. For extended life, you could then renew the thinners and repeat, but I never bother. The epoxy will eventually build up from the root of the brush. The speed of this process depends on how thorough you are with your cleaning method. The same process works for resins also. For applying CA glue, I start off with the end grain. When you drip it on, it immediately gets absorbed. Away from the end grain, I spread it with my finger. Sometimes I wrap plastic around my finger, sometimes not. When applying the second coat, it will run, due to the wood already being sealed. Just direct the runs away from your fingers, or you will be wearing the bait. Dave