Vodkaman

Pitbull and Finfever. Thanks for explaining. But you must also see my point of view too. I was shocked at this apparent agressive exchange. The both of you probably found it all very amusing, but 'insider' jokes do not work on open forums. Maybe I should have guessed that it was something like this, as it was totally out of character for both of you, but I am not a mind reader or clairvoyant. Yes, I did misread the original post. From the poster, I assumed you already had the mold. Dave

I don't understand why I have to scroll into the next room to see the whole picture. I don't understand why the pic is even in the forums. This is not a technical question. You have the mold, it poured fine, you have the bait for testing. This should probably be a gallery post I don't understand why Pitbull made such an unsolicited attack in post No6, other than trying to live upto the Pitbull name. The pour looks perfect to me. I don't understand why you bothered to put smilies after that vigorously agressive response in post No7. I see Nothing remotely amusing in your text. I don't understand what gas stations have to do with anything. Between the two of you, enough reason exists to have this whole thread removed. Dave

A wonderful piece of writing Milia, you really set the picture in my mind. Now I want to try to catch a tarpon. If I do, I will remember to bow. Dave

Nothing noble, just searching. I will pick up some fresh elmers on my next shopping safari. But just 'cos you pay for a new bottle, in Indonesia it does not guarantee fresh. I always have to open it and check the consistency. Dave

I did the elmers drying test in the PoP dryer. It seemed to work just fine. I used 50:50 mix, soaked the first coat for a minute or so, drained, then into the dryer. I monitored the weight as the coat dried and gave it 3 hours, until the slight tacky feel all but disappeared. The tacky feel could have been exagerated due to the heat. I then gave three more thin coats, giving each an hour in the dryer. BUT, after drying, I noticed that I could mark the surface with my thumb nail. so I gave it a few more hours, no change. I then left the mold in the room for a couple of days, still no change. Either force drying Elmers is a bad thing OR the thumb test is normal OR my batch of elmers has deteriorated, it is a couple of years old and was a bit thick and may have needed extra thinning. So, the result was inconclusive. Any comments? Dave

You cannot beat the magnetic wallet pulling powers af a deep multi-coat finish of epoxy. Just go to the gallery and have a look at Fatfingers work (he usually includes a close up pic). You just cannot achieve this kind of aesthetics with a spray on top coat, from what I have seen so far. Of couse, you could argue that once the lures are in the water, such effects are cancelled out and the fish don't care, but I know which one I would reach for in the store. Yes, a heavy top coat does have a damping effect, if you add it to a lure that was designed to have a thin coat. But if the lure is correctly designed for the heavy top coat, it can still have a very lively action. If you want maximum action, then balsa, ballasted at the CoG, a wide scoop lip under the nose, a thin top coat and small hooks. But a 90 deg 'X'ing pattern is not the most realistic of actions, but I'm sure that it too will catch fish on its day. To design a lure, you first decide what you want it to do in the water and what you want it to look like on the shelf. Then you choose your materials and carve away. Then you test and adjust over and over, until you get what you want. Many just build the lure and accept what the lure god gives them, but you can have more, you just gotta search for it. Dave

Mart, when you test it, make sure you fit the split rings and hooks, it is important. Dave

Mart, welcome to TU. From the looks of that lure, you are well ahead of the game. Dave

Pete, you are in BIG trouble now. Jerry is going to send you an infraction. Dave

A generous offer, but sweeties work fine for me. So, who was the 10,000th member? I missed it! Milia, you're so silly. I'm sure the new member would prefer a long weekend with you. Dave

Captsully18, post No1: http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/11080-dick-nites-top-coat.html Dave

I thought this was a good idea first time I saw it, sorry for not commenting then. I built something very similar a few years ago, for routering small wooden parts, except mine had steel points (nails) in the bottom, to grip the wood. Very important to keep the fingers safe. I use my router table a lot, for other projects. I use the guide plate and make my templates under size. This way, I can duplicate profiles without any marking out or precision eye balling, just run the template along the guide plate. However, I have not figured out a way to make this work for such small items as lure bibs. My current plan is to design some kind of pantograph duplicator, for making lips. Haven't figured it out yet, but will be giving it more thought in the very near future. Cutting lips is the next big obstacle on my list. Dave

Does the lead really corrode inside the plastic? I would have thought that the plastic would prevent the oxygen getting to the lead, thus eliminating the corrosion process. Dave

Well, the PoP mold still has to be sealed. If using the thinned epoxy method of sealing, I would say yes. The dryer may help with the curing of Elmers sealing, but that has not been tested yet. The temperature may have to be reduced, but this is simply a matter of removing a bulb. I will start a test piece sealed with Elmers and see if it blisters. Dave

It is purely a ballast distribution. More ballast to the front. An alternative would be to lighten the rear by making the rear section out of a lighter density wood. A smaller rear hook might do the job, depending on the severity of the problem. An extra coat or two of epoxy on the front section could work. But if your solution is just adding weight, then the sink rate is going to increase. You also may disturb the action. Only testing will tell. Does it swim well now? If so, I would be tempted to leave this one as it is and pay more attention to the bucket tests on the next one, to get the ballast correct. Welcome to TU. Dave

This type of fan was cheap, readily available and easy to work with (square). It does not have to be two fans. I tried one, but the drying time was not good enough, just a bit too long, plus I had the space. But your 100CFM fan should suck the pips out of a melon and do just fine. The heater does not have to be bulbs. Again, it was what was readily available. The vent holes are 19mm dia, because that is the size bit I had in my cave. Try a hole, if you get condensation, make it bigger. If may not even need a hole, so try without first. Use kitchen scales to weigh the mold before drying. You are looking for a 30% weight loss. Example, if you demold weighs 700gm, the dry weight will be 490gm, eventually going as low as 455gm (35%). Don't bother sealing the wood. As I stated, not necessary. A thermometer would be nice, just to see what is happening. Dave

Some knowledge of vortices has been around for a long time. Vincenc Strouhal was working on the subject back in 1878, in regard to wires vibrating in the wind. Structural engineers ignore vortices at their peril, ref the Potomac bridge disaster is only one example. But there is a lot more to vortices than this. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. Only recently have scientists discovered how a fish actually swims and they are arguing about that too. I am on the right track, as I posted the fish scale theory back on 12th July 2007. I have since discovered that the idea was already published, but it still felt good to come up with the idea independently. What I am saying is that vortex theory with regard to the fishing lure is very much a work in progress thing and is likely to be for quite some time. Occasionally I will post some ideas, with the object of getting feed back, hopefully arguing against the idea. This allows me to re-think and ultimately make progress. The only way I am going to make the next meet, is if I sell 500 lures, but the milestone of selling my first lure just seems to get further and further away. I keep getting side tracked with new projects. I have just finished the PoP dryer project, my duplicator project is about 30% built, I have a new swimbait hinge to be tested, also I am working on a 4 section swimbait that hunts. Also doing some CAD work, to design a ‘master’ for a swimbait mold. Gills and scales are surprisingly difficult to model. Other vortex related projects that get a lot of my time are: an electronic device for training competition swimmers to swim faster, vortex assisted boat hull (lots of people working on this one). If I ever do get my stuff built, fish tested and into production, I have at least 5 new designs: a subtle hunter, Bullrider (aggressive hunter), a hunting swimbait (not proven yet), a high speed trolling lure that won’t blow out and a one piece with a swimbait action. Also a few new soft plastic designs. I would love to do a lecture on vortices, but I would have to point out at the start, that the discussion would have to remain largely conjecture. Some may find it interesting, the rest will not need to bring any sleeping pills. Let this be a warning to the 10,000th member, things can get out of hand! Dave

If you do a search on Devcon or Etex, you will see that the search for the perfect top coat has been going on for a while now and does not look like the problem is going to be solved any day soon. Every top coat has its advantages and disadvantages. It usually transpires that the more effective top coats have issues about appliction and storage, as you mentioned. Those coatings that are easy to apply tend not to be suitable for lures. Either they are too soft, react with the water, yellow in the sun etc. There are probably half a dozen or so proven top coats, D2T, Etex, new lustre 55, propionate, Dick Nites etc. Each one has a learning curve associated with it. I suggest you have a good read, pick one and learn to use it. Time is not an issue, only at the start. If a particular top coat takes say 5 days, then for the first 5 days you have no product. But if you make 10 lures every day, then after 5 days, ten lures will be ready every day. In your spare time, sure, keep searching for the perfect top coat. If you find it, be sure to let us know on TU. Dave

Real life is not good enough. You take a splash of the real life (female/ negative), then you make a positive/life duplication, then you make the mold. Three itterations, each incurs losses. The result is a bland representation of the original. Even if you faithfully reproduce the detail of the original in the third generation, you are still not going to satisfy the customer. He/she sees scales on the original and expects to see exagerated scales on the copy. He/she rarely sees the subtality of the original. Do the fish even see this subtality. Are we catching customers or fish? It all comes back to the age old question of easthetics or action. A pretty stick or a bland lure that has ation. Which catches fish? Dave

A lecture on vortices is enough to chase anyone away. I think we should donate a lure each, not the other way around. Why make the 10,000th member special, why not just make every new member welcome. Dave

The pics show the final prototype of the recycling PoP dryer. The construction is self explanatory, but should anyone need more detailed information, I will make it available. The air is drawn through two mains operated cooling fans. These are very quiet and low power consumption. The air is forced underneath the shelf and up past 3 x 100W bulbs. The bulbs serve as a source of heat. The heated air passes over the mold and back through the fans. The mold(s) sit on wooden pins, to allow air to pass all around, with at least a 1

Plaster of Paris only gets hot after it has set, so should be no problem. Dave

Must be some vid! I get a message "This video is not available in your country". Never seen that before. Dave