Vodkaman

Obviously, the best way would be to mold the cut sections seperately, it will save on cutting joints in the future. But I do understand your reluctance after all the hard work on your master. A tip read here on TU: Next time, after cutting the blank profile and before shaping, cut the joints but not all the way through, so you still have a one piece body for shaping. If you mess up, it is not too painful to start again, after all, you want your master to be perfect. After shaping and carving, you can complete the cut with confidence, as the innitial cut is straight. Dave

Great tut Pete. Several good ideas in this one, the lip jig, the paper hole punch and I particularly like the butchered golf club idea (I hate golf, lol). My friend has left a set of golf clubs in my house, wonder if he would mis one. Dave

Here is a density chart, so that you can compare the different woods. http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/chemdata/woods.htm I've never used cedar, but what I have learned here on TU, is that the wood dust is a problem, so a mask should be used when working with power tools. But you should be wearing a mask anyway! At 0.492gm/cm3 density, it should make a decent lure. Dave

can you get carrot in createx? Great video. Dave

A Canada goose and a little grebe. I landed the grebe, but the Canada goose took off and snapped my 2lb line. I felt guilty about that one, but what can you do. My friend hooked a cow. Don't ask, we were kids. I still don't know what really happened. The same guy managed to hook his own ear, around about the same time. He is semi pro now. Dave

Most important, hide the receipts! Welcome to TU. Dave

Romeo. I just did a web search, as I do before working with resin, as I always forget the drops ratio, I know, I should write it down. The first doc I came across stated 12 drops per fluid ounce. This would be 144 drops for your mixture. When I did the resin/bondo thing, I only used the resin (polyester or fibreglass resin) catalyst. Everything worked out fine. Do a google search and read a few different docs, as there may be conflicting info out there, then use the most quoted figures. Best dump what you have done so far and start again. Dave

MT, you should make him buy his own baits and stop sharing. That should slow him down a bit. Just joking, I know you are very proud of his fish catching abilities, as we all would be. That was a good day. Bruce, has FF forgiven you yet? Dave

DM's post (No12) is a good example of what you cannot post here. If you are having problems with a company, you should talk to them, not TU. You flower it up by saying nice things, but at the end of the day, your post is negative about the company and potentially harming the companies reputation. Many people seem to be having a lot of confusion over the rules. I find them very clear and concise, you just need to read them. Ref http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/tu-site-info-updates/886-site-rules-you-must-read-before-posting.html No16. Dave

When you give flowers and keep the wrapping! I really like that one Pete. Almost as good as Amilia's, what an idiot. Dave

The important thing is heat distribution. Ideally, a pot with a thick bottom. These are usually copper bottomed and are more expensive. But you may be lucky to find a second hand, used, as Bojon suggested, yard sales. In UK, we call these car boot sales. Lots of bargains to be had. Dave

Yes, I would be interested, definately. It might be worth starting a new thread with it. Dave

I could make a list of stuff I learned every week and I've been here two years. Dave

Thanks for the feedback, it too makes a difference. Using the lamp was a very good idea, good tip. Dave

There are differing opinions on flexcoat (nothing unusual there). This link was the last discussion, three weeks ago. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/15728-alternative-clear-coats.html If you do an advanced search on flexcoat and select the hardbaits forum, there are 41 more threads to read. Toughness and yellowing seem to be the main concerns, but lots of members swear by it. Dave

Congrats from me too. Lots of doors opening fast, hope you manage to keep pace. Good luck with getting your molds cut, fast. Dave

I agree with Mark, the underwater shots were really good, they give more information on the action than a plain top view. I will have to look into this idea myself. Any tips? I agree with Rookie, the vid definately needs a couple of mermaids. Get it right, we are a tough audience. Dave

At first, I thought you've put it on too thick. But after reading Bobs post, maybe you are not putting enough on. I seems that there is a happy medium somewhere. You need to experiment with this. Dave

Yes, what Clemmy said. You have already re-arranged the tail, so a few more exploratory holes wouldn't hurt, to find the ideal solution. Dave

At the end of the day, you are still going to have to rub down with emery before soldering. So a chordless drill and wire brush attachment would be my route. If you don't have a small brush attachment, I would make a flap wheel. Saw down the centre of a 5/16 bolt about an inch (cut the head off). Insert an inch wide strip of 150 grit emery, a spot of super glue will hold it. This will clean up the internal solder area in seconds and no chemicals to deal with. Dave

The fact that the ingots were shiny tells you that they contain significant amounts of something other than lead. Pure lead corrodes in minutes, it is quite a reactive metal, like aluminium. The layer of corrosion prevents further corrosion, a bit like a layer of paint, stopping the oxygen getting to the metal. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/wire-baits/14776-looks-like-lead-but-doesnt-act-like-what.html this was a recent post on a similar problem. Didn't really get resolved here, but worth reading for comparison. Of the four common metal elements alloyed with lead (tin, zinc, antimony and bismuth), two have melting points higher than lead (621F), these are zinc (786F) and antimony (1166F). So your residue is probably one of these. If you heat the lead up more and the problem does not go away, then it is the antimony. I'm not so sure that the metals are supposed to separate like this (edit, Dano thinking the same), I thought that the melting point was altered. Maybe the original melt was not mixed in sufficiently, just theorising (guessing). If more heating does not solve the problem, then just skim it off. Here is the link to that thread on fluxing: http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/wire-baits/13893-best-lead-melt-flux.html it contains 7 pages of quality, useful information about alloys, thanks to Sagacious. The important thing is to report back when you find the solution, so we can all learn some. Dave

If you have hard lead around the edges, it is almost certainly a lead temperature problem. As the molten lead cannot heat up until all the lead has melted. Something to do with latent heat. Dave

I would re-label the jar while you're at it. Could turn out to be a serious husband repellant. Dave

Plaster of paris is the powder you start with. Once water is added and it cures, it becomes gypsum. If the gypsum is heated 120 - 180 deg C, it converts back to plaster of paris. Source: plaster of paris -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia The point of this is that, if you microwave or oven cure, you have to keep the temperature below 120 deg C, otherwise the surface will become crumbly and useless. When I choose to oven cure, I use the lowest setting and wedge the door open an inch or two. I have read that microwave works, in 3 minute blasts. Never felt inclined to try it though, because of the 120 deg C rule. Dave

When the neighbours cat has tufts of hair missing, because you ran out of epoxy brushes. When the wifes christmas card makes a good stencil. Dave