Vodkaman

You examine the bottom of drinks cans before buying. You have to move spatulas and paint brushes so you can butter your toast. Dave

I'm very confused. Maybe PM would be better for this trafic. Dave

Everything said by Riverman, especially Absolutely. Dave

Buying a hairdryer when you are bald as a coot. Friends start yawning when I talk about vortex geometry. Spend way too much time in bridal shops. Take my gram scales to the wood shop and start calculating. Maid complains about wood dust throughout the house (sorry, I live in Indonesia, maid is normal). Every horizontal surface in my house is occupied by lure building materials. Divorced. Girlfriend falls asleep while I talk to you guys. I will post more, if you like. Dave

My suggestion is that you look to those that advertise on TU first. If they cannot provide what you need, then look elsewhere. Dave

Hanging would be too good. They should lock him in a room with half a dozen survivors once a week for the rest of his life. Dave

Bassmun, welcome to TU. There was an excellent thread on dents about 4 weeks ago. Here is the link. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/soft-plastics/15558-dents.html I agree with everyone, just a minor flaw, but still worth reading. Microwaves don't heat constantly through the plastic. You need to heat and STIR in stages, in order to distribute the heat throughout the plastic. You were probably looking at a cloudy centre, while the outside burned. Dave

JBlaze, the weight markings on the body and ballast made me smile. That is just the way I do mine. Sorry to digress. Dave

I bet that would real nice with one of Bojons tubes trailing behind it. Maybe with the tails cut to 3/4 the length of the body or even longer. Dave

Man! I just cannot believe that has not been done before. Dave

Welcome to TU BMcCollough. Sorry I can't help you with your question, but I am sure someone here will be able to. Dave

It is all about thermal conductivity. If the heat gets sucked out of the pyrex too fast, the cool surface contracts and causes the crack, as the glass is too hard to distort with the contraction. A plaster jacket would solve the problem and also keep the heat in the pyrex cup and extend pouring time in such cold conditions. Jim (Ghostbaits) wrote a very good article for the idea. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/soft-plastics/11472-keep-your-pyrex-cup-plastic-warm-dipping-multiple-color-pours.html Make sure the plaster is totally dried out, at least 10 days in a warm cupboard, or a few hours in a very low oven with the door open 1". Dave

http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/7848-x-ray-baits-needed.html Above is a TU link from 2007. The Xray thing has been discussed before a few times. But it is good to bring it to the surface again, all good information. x-ray, x-rays, xray, xrays (for search function in future. I found the above link searching "rays"). Dave

Nothing wrong with having a very healthy respect for the machine. It is only when you lose this respect, that the machine becomes dangerous. I was worried that when the blade snapped, that it would be dangerous, but was pleasantly surprised that the blade remained constrained by the machine. I feel comfortable with the bandsaw and ponder how I ever managed without one. Of course, you cannot do the tight turns as with a scroll saw, but this has not presented any problems so far. I use a belt sander to tidy up after the saw operation or a dremel for the tight internal radii. Like someone suggested earlier in this thread, it would be a good idea to try one first, to see if it does what you want. Must be someone close to your location with a bandsaw. I think there is a place in the workshop for both machines. Dave

Birdman. Very good solution to the problem and a very good tutorial. Thanks for the share. Dave

Mad Eye, they turned out real sweet. Nice job. Dave

It may be good for removing the paint from gill grooves and scales etc. But for general paint removal, I think the spray area would be too small. It might be useful for carving resin blanks. Then make a mold of the carved blank. If you mess up, or are not happy, you start again with a fresh resin blank, rather than a block of wood. I often cast my carvings before completion, so that I can try alternative endings. Dave

When I did some casting, I did exactly that. I molded a line where the lip was to be cut. Molding a pip for the hardware is a good idea, ensuring that your baits are repeatable. As for screw eyes, Mounting them in the mold will be difficult as they have no support. Would be much easier to mount a wire harness, as it will have at least three points of contact with the mold. I preferred to drill the holes after casting. I do not think you can fit screw eyes as you would with wood, with a smaller hole then screw in. The cast material is very hard and a bit brittle, could cause problems with the threads breaking or even fracturing the body. I could be wrong on this. I would prefer to drill a hole so that the screw was a sliding fit and fill the hole with epoxy or similar. So that the epoxy plug cannot pull out, someone suggested widening the internal portion of the hole, forming a wedge, by angling the drill. Apart from the wedge, this will also rough up the internal surface, giving the epoxy more grip. These are good questions and deserve a few more replies. Dave

It sounds like it is not set up properly. I broke a couple of blades on my bandsaw when I got it, dur to incorrect setup. Read through the instructions to make sure. I broke my rule and started using the bandsaw straight away, without reading first. I was in a big hurry. The craw thing sounds like a difficult one to start off with. Are you using an existing lure as a guide, or just winging it. Some progress pics would be useful, if you are prepared to allow the members to guide you on your first attempt. Might save you some grief. Dave

Christmas present for the wife. Dave

Yes, a cold crack will happen. But how are you going to stop the plastic flowing into the head? May be better to pour a head, then glue together. With a molded spigot that will fit into the tube. Still, not going to be pretty. Dave

Welcome to TU Paul. The advantage of balsa is its extreme buoyancy. This means you can get extreme action from your bait, but only by concentrating the ballast centrally in the body, around the belly hanger. If you distribute the weight, then you might as well use a heavy wood, as the result will be the same, reduced action. To avoid instability problems, keep the ballast low. But do not be afraid to experiment with the ballast. By adjusting the location, foreward, aft, up, down, different effects will be discovered and you will learn. Interesting things happen close to instability. Dave

A couple of extra top coats and/or next size hooks might work. But A-Macs suggestion is probably best. Dave

Birdman. Very interesting solution. A vertical rotation of the water. What are you using to drive the water? I really like it. Dave

The only thing I can think of, is to pinch the open end together and seal with a suitable glue, the stuff used for plastic lure repairs. Trim the now flat nose with scissors to shape, then dip. I'm sure you already though of this, but it is not going to give you your ideal result. Another way, would be a shaped balsa dowel insert, glued in and dipped. This might give you a better shape. The problem that I anticipate with all this, is the air trapped inside. As you dip, this air will expand with the heat. Hopefully not too much to cause you problems with the dipping. The second problem is buoyancy. The trapped air is going to nail your lure to the surface of the pond and will probably require some weight to achieve the sink rate you require. The air bubble inside the body can be adjusted with a hypodermic needle, at the waters edge. The plastic should re-seal the needle hole automatically. Then there is the teeth issue. I don't thing the dipping process was ever designed for this type of lure, but that does not mean you cannot try. This is called innovation. Good luck with the project and keep us informed. Dave