Vodkaman

The setup looks very good. I did notice a slight sag in the top plate, that the pot sits on. This is likely to get worse over time. You could preempt this condition be adding a support beam, positioned across the centre. Dave

Great link Atrophius. That got the cogs turning in my head. Dave

I do not think that the lead added to the balsa was the cause of the problem. By adding lots of lead, all you did was increase the average density to the same level as a heavier wood and they swim fine. Also, the bait will swim best if it is submerged and not breaking the surface. I am not saying that a body touching the surface will not swim, but the water needs to be flowing over/around the nose to create the action. I noticed when testing cranks in a swimming pool, that if the bait got too close to the bottom, the action was totally killed. It is this phenomenom in reverse, that I am thinking about in this case. A heavier wood or a molded plastic is an all round better choice. All I am suggesting is that by pushing the work you have already completed, you have a chance to learn. We only learn from failures, not successes. The specific gravity (sg water = 1.00) of featherlite plastic (trade name) is 0.67 so any wood of similar density would be a good choice. If you go too heavy with the wood, you lose the flexibility of adding enough ballast to control stability. Dave

This thread http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/wire-baits/10046-weed-guards-2.html discusses the problem and comes up with a few solutions. The metal tube and foil ideas seem quite promising. Dave

Ring Fry posted the idea of using a coffee grinder for the coarse salt. He said that it worked well. Post No3 http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/soft-plastics/16550-swimming-senko.html#post123016 Dave

From my limited experience with the material, I think it is all in the stirring, temperature and the venting. Unlike other casting materials, were bubbles are to be avoided, this stuff needs to be stirred with a vengeance. This, I found, gave a finer bubble spread. Room temp can make a big difference, by affecting the rate of reaction, ie cool = slow, warm = fast. So, try to be consistent with the stirring and temperature for consistent results. The venting is important, as it has to allow the extra to escape. If not adequately vented, pressure will build up as the stuff expands and it will compress/distort the mold from the inside and create flash from hell. Do not expect to master this material in a couple of tries, you have to learn how it behaves and get a feel for it. Husky did a lot with foam a while back, so maybe a PM to him might be informative. But make sure you have read all the foam posts first. Dave

That bait is just AWESOME! If you are going to pour more, I suggest that you contact Carolina Mike and purchase a few pounds of runners (plastic cut-off's from his molding machine). Mike is a member here on TU. Dave

Swimbaits are not the easiest bait to start off with. But now that you have already built a few, why not post pics and see if someone can help you fix them. Nothing to lose except more time, but experience will be the reward. Balsa is available in different densities. You need the denser, heavier version if your twisted eyes are to have any chance of holding. Steer clear of balsa for model aircraft, it is way too light and will require through wiring. If you are not sure of the strength, do what John did and set up a pull test. I use a bucket of water as the load rather than scales. one litre of water weighs 1Kg, so it is easy to find the load weight. Dave

I said it before, The Rookie is the man. Dave

Well I would like to see the pic, seeing as you asked us for help with your design. Dave

Deflecting baits off rocks and stumps etc. is one of the finer points of fishing, endulged by professionals and connoiseurs of rod and line. As I am probably the worlds worst fisherman, I do not concern myself with such issues. I concentrate on lure action. Action is a combination of many variables, of which lip shape is only a small part. You must also consider, body density, ballast location(s), eye location, lip angle, hook size and even choice of top coat and hook size. I suggest that you build four identical baits and put a different lip shape in each one. Take them to the lake and let us know whether you could see any difference in the action between them. Dave

There, I new I read it somewhere. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/11914-painting-setups-5.html#post85773 See post No49 by Hazmail. The Rookie wasn't so crazy after all! Dave

I read this too, only a week or two ago. I tried a search, but came up with nothing. Maybe it was on another web site. Dave

Make sure the geometry of the lips are symmetrical from left to right. This can cause you lots of problems. Experiment with mofing the eye forward and back. Maybe fit an extended eye on an experimental lure. Make the eye stick out about 7mm so you can bend it up and down, to see the effects. This way you learn. Dave

Welcome to TU Sinyo. I looked up the density, 38gm/cm3, so it is light enough. But small cranks really need to be of a light wood. I use albesia and search the store for a light piece, as the density varies a lot. I drill the hole for the ballast, then seal the wood, to prevent water soaking in. I then hang ballast and float the lure so about 20% is above water. The hooks, hardware and top coat will pull it down lower. You will get a feel for it, after finishing a few. It might help if you can post a picture of your bait. Where about in Indonesia are you? I'm in Bandung. Dave

Longhorn is right on the money. A deeper section towards the tail would reduce the tendancy for the tail to bend upwards without inhibiting the side-to-side motion. If I was to make this type of bait, I would cast it in a mold with the tail section curved slightly down. So in the water, it would straighten up. You guys are dipping, so not sure that this is possible. Might be worth making a new dipping iron to check it out. Dave

Gary, I was thinking the same. The overfill line has to go somewhere. It cannot sit on top as there is no room, so gets compressed, as does the loops underneath. When you cast, the innitial force rips the loops no problem. But as the force reduces, eventually the loop catches and ends the cast prematurely. This is assuming that you have no knots in the line of course. Strip some line off and all your problems should go away. I never did like closed faced reels, I like to see what is going on. Dave

Sounds like you have over filled the reel and the line is rubbing on the housing. Can you hear the rubbing? Dave

SR9, excellent question. Normally I would make the answer to this question overly complex, so this time I will not mention vortices (darn, I just did!). So, as long as you just accept that the lip creates side forces, that will suffice. The width of the lip controls the speed of the action or side to side motion. The wider the lip, the slower the speed. The forces on the lip also cause roll. The wider the lip, the more roll is generated. There comes a point when the roll becomes too much and the bait will spiral or swim on its side and become unstable. The length of the lip determines the power of the forces. These forces are balanced by the water forces on the body of the lure. A good analogy is a see-saw, were the balance point is the tow eye. On one side you have the lip forces, the other the body forces. If the lip forces are too strong, then the lip is pushed down. It will reach a point were it gets too far down and it will break out to the side and spiral. This is why on deep diving lips, the tow eye is usually on the lip itself, so that part of the lip force is above the eye, helping to balance with the body. Fine adjustment of this position will get you the maximum depth. As for the various shapes and patterns of lips, I can

So why air dry? There are arguments for and against oven drying PoP molds. A lot of the TU PoP artists use oven drying, so it can

Sounds like you are having the same problem as me. I could get the blade centred on one wheel, but not the other. The manual did not cover this, so I had to figure it out for myself. The tracking adjustment moves the top wheel in and out. The tensioner adjustment, rather than moving the top wheel up and down, actually angles the wheel up and down. So, unless both wheels are parallel, the tracking is near impossible to achieve. I found by playing with the tensioner, I could improve the tracking. I did not get it perfect, as I did not want to over tighten the blade. It did the trick, as I have had no more problems since. Mine was a cheapo piece of garbage. I guess you get what you pay for. Dave

I just dug out my manual, which was neatly stored under a pile of paint tins, in the shop. Thrust bearing gap 0.4mm (1/64") Blade guides gap 0.8mm (1/32") So the figures are the same. The notes on blade tension were very vague. It mentioned the musical not thing, but musical notes vary from a bottom A flat to a double Z sharp! This is not precise enough for Vman. It did say that the tensioner knob should not be screwed all the way down, as the spring acts as a shock absorber. I adjusted mine from slack, until a discernable musical note could be heard, so probably close to the bottom A flat. It did mention an alternative of raising the head and measuring the side play at the cutter point (1/8"). Again, very un-precise, depends how hard you push the blade. You have to do the tension thing before doing the gaps thing. If you didn't, just re-check the gaps. You may feel that I am being over pedantic about this, but I stripped the liner off the wheels on mine, by not doing the adjustments. Dave

Forgot it was PVC. Maybe you could burn/melt the slot in, by making a suitably sized metal blade, heat with a torch and push in. Tidy up excess with a sharp blade and emery. Dave

I would have every relevant receipt for purchases that I have made. Tools, safety gear, clothing, ventilation gear, broom handles etc. Materials, wood, paint sealer, acetone etc. A record of all the sales that you have made. Make sure the top list is bigger than the bottom list, lol. Dave

And that's engineering folks! Dave