Vodkaman

Eastman03 - Welcome to the world of Archimedes Dave

I don't have any pics, but it is an easy process with wood. 1 - Two slabs of wood. Harder will produce more pours. 2 - Drill two holes sideways and insert location dowels. 3 - Drill pour holes down the crack between the blocks, the diameter of the ballast. The pour holes should have about 1/2" of wood between. Dave

Cadman hit on a very valid point. Working on the CAD model, spinning and zooming, you think you have the model just how you want it. But, when you get the 3D print in your hands, you shake your head and mumble "No no NO!". The dimensions are the same, but there is a difference between the flat screen view of the 3D model and the printed model in your hands. I can't explain it away, but it is fact Dave

Eastman - this experiment might help with your visualization. 1 - Take an empty plastic drinks bottle. 2 - Fill it water until it just starts to sink in a bucket of water. Drop by drop towards the end. 3 - Weigh and write down the weight. 4 - Repeat adding lead instead of water. Both should weigh the same. Dave

Eastman03 - I am extremely confident in this statement Dave

Jazzatomo - Detail is difficult in CAD. Sometimes I will do gills and eyes, sometimes a pectoral fin (see my avatar) but rarely will I take it any further. With knowledge of the CAD software, it can take 1 - 3 hours to model up a plain body. To add in a lot of detail it can take another 6 - 10 hours on top. I am still occasionally trying to find a technique for efficiently adding 3D scale texture to a body, but have come up with nothing so far. I use Catia V5. This is a very expensive professional system. It is comprehensive and suited to many industries which makes learning a problem, sorting out what you need and what you don't. You can get it for free, in fact Dassault unofficially encourage this in order to get more people using the software. But, there are simpler CAD systems out there that will be easier to learn. Others will advise. Learning a CAD system is a major investment in your time. AND, if you only use it a couple of times per year, you will find yourself having to relearn all over again. CAD needs to be used regularly for the learning to stick. I am generally on CAD at least once per week. Dave

Luke - this is good. I just wish I could buy gelatin here in Indonesia. It is an Islamic halal/haram thing, gelatin comes from pigs. So frustrating Dave

It doesn't matter what you make the lure body from; balsa with lots of lead or ebony with a little lead. If both identical shapes sink at the same rate, they will weigh exactly the same. Dave Edit - sorry Gliders, just spotted your post

I stick to rotary tools Dave

Wot Bob says is good enough for me Drill depth is important. I try to have at least 1" but with smaller lures not always possible. Dave

Mark is right about the horizontal fall, this makes a big difference at the hinge. If the rear section is significantly more buoyant, this will apply friction at the hinge and limit action. So, I would say yes, both need attention to ballast. As for the MB mix, you really need to get involved with body density numbers. See my post on Archimedes dunk test for how to measure density, it is quite simple. Knowing the density of your mix is like knowing the density of wood, it matters. Density knowledge puts you in control. Keep lots of notes. Dave

I don't see a significant increase in difficulty, assuming a wire slot in the lip. If you are going for two small holes, then yes, I can see a complication. Balsa density varies from model aircraft balsa with a density of 4Lb/cu ft to heavy 20Lb/cu ft. I would say that 12Lb balsa is strong enough without through harness. You need to perform some drop tests, say 2Kg from 1m or what ever, to gain confidence. Think about what force is the fish capable of imparting on the lure. Double that and test. I fish for bawal up to 12.7Lbs, a deep bodied fish and very powerful. I have to stop the fish from running through the aeration tubes running down the center of the pond or I could find myself in a world of trouble. Often my 25Lb bs line is snapped. So, a fish is capable of imparting a load 5x it's weight on a restricted run. If you are fishing open waters and can allow the fish some head, then the loads are reduced. If you fish waters with lots of cover and need to apply some force, then this needs to be factored in to your tests. Dave

Speckledtroutfish - you would have to apply an adjustment factor. Sea water has a density of 1.025. As for brackish water, the density is likely to be variable depending on the tide. You can establish the water density with a brewers hydrometer, easily available and not expensive. If you can establish the water density, I can create something for you, perhaps a spreadsheet that will make it easy. Dave

YUP

I don't know what happened in my previous post. Pretty sure I wrote something relevant and linked the video. Can't remember my point now. Mods - delete if you think necessary. Apologies all Dave

At 5 mins into this video, you will see an earlier version of this clamp in use. Dave

Mine is a little more complicated as you would expect, but it does work and you will only need one clamp per lure. The clamp remains on through all painting and epoxy processes, and even fixes to the drying wheel for which it was initially designed. Material is 1/2" dia aluminium bar. You can see the clamp slot cut on a band saw or hacksaw. Chamfers formed on a belt sander. The 4.2 dia hole is tapped for 5mm Allen bolt. The rear shallow chamfer pushes into a 12mm dia hole, on a block and a drying wheel. Just sand until you get the fit you want. Dave

I hook a lure up when I arrive at the bait fishing competition pond. I throw about 20 or so times, and pull in fish that will never be captured in the 4 hour competition. The locals that are around are astounded at my success. They have never used a lure in their lives. Of course, lures are not permitted in the competition, but it does present a really good testing arena. This bawal fish is 3.5Kg, close to 8Lbs. The pond record is 12,5Lbs, held by me with bait, in a competition. Dave

So many solutions. Lips coming loose is a rare problem except for mass produced lures! Dave

Corey - I wet the slot first with CA glue. I don't just apply a single drop at the jaw, I continue until the joint is full, allowing time between applications. It usually only requires two drops per side. Eastman - if I was in a production/selling situation, I would definitely go for epoxy fixing. But, everything I do is prototype and personal use. I will add that I have never had a lip failure, but qualify this with the statement that my lures are never endurance tested. Some have been used many years after construction with no problem. If selling, I would definitely go with a majority opinion, but for prototyping, CA is wonderful Dave

Yes, I know what you are experiencing. The effect does not bother me as I am not paint finishing lures, but still, I want to avoid this result. I insert the lip and just touch the jaw of the lip with a drop of CA glue. Capillary action draws the glue into the joint and the cloudiness does not happen. CA joints is all about capillary action. Try it. Dave

Frank - I agree with all you have written. Most fish could be caught on most lures if not all, given a consumable appropriate size of course. And, we have all caught fish on rediculous objects; wine corks, cigarette ends, even bare hooks. But, a true lure worked in the correct way (very important) will have some special appeal, some instinctive attraction to the predator. My specialty over the last 13 years since I joined TU, practically from day-1 when I read an article on the subject; hunting. Lures with an erratic movement on top of the regular sinusoidal action. There is a very good reason for this; it is pretty much accepted that hunters catch more fish. The sinusoidal waggle gets the attention of the fish, but it is the change of direction that gets the strike. This change of direction or change in pace, or stop-start is down to the skill of the angler and separates the winners from the 'also rans'. There is a scientific explanation for why this is so, it is to do with the muscular biology that fish have evolved. They have two types of muscle; one for general life and one for attack and flee. The flee muscle burns its energy very quickly but takes time to replenish. If the larger predator attacks, the smaller prey invokes its flee muscle and escapes. Both have used their special muscle and so an immediate second attack is not possible and the prey escapes. The predator has learned that if the prey can be bullied into fleeing, it spends its flee muscle and is then vulnerable to an attack. I hope this makes sense. We have all witnessed predators following the lure back to the boat, and this is the explanation for this behavior. My aim is to develop that has a violent change of direction built into the lure along with the regular waggle, all achieved on a steady retrieve. Hunting works to a certain extent, but generally it is not violent enough. So, to sum up; it is changes in motion that elicit strikes, way more than paint or a sweet, regular action. Of course, this is just my opinion, backed up by observation, some science and reasonable comparative results. Dave

One of the unique features of TU is the gallery, which is the separation between displaying your work and the learning/teaching processes. To this day, there seems to be a lot of confusion as to what you can post in a forum without everyone stepping on your neck. So, here is my understanding and interpretation of the rules, which I admit that I haven't read in a while. I generally go through them a couple of times a year. Gallery - to show off pics of lures. That is all, the sole purpose. You can get the 'feel good' of people respecting and appreciating your skills as a creator. Forum - a place to receive and give knowledge. By documenting your process of a build you are giving knowledge. People will read and learn how it is done. Other people will see better ways to do the process, this is good too because you get to learn. Photos are very important for this process. The forum is a place to ask questions about a process, be it construction or painting, again, photos help enormously. You discover a new process or idea, post it in the forum with pics, spread the knowledge and answer questions. The general forum is exactly the place for build documentation and photos. If you have a specific problem with your beautifully painted lure that doesn't swim properly, the question belongs in the forum. The photo will raise eyebrows, so you better be genuine in your request for information and a solution to your problem. Nonetheless, the post belongs in the forum. If you think that my thinking is incorrect then let me know, I will welcome correction or criticism happily. What is tour interpretation? Can the rule be improved? Not everyone likes the forum/gallery system but personally, I LOVE IT. There is nothing worse than flipping through the new posts in the forums only to discover that it is another 'Look at what I have done' post. Dave

Great posts. Vortices are much harder to assess in the complexities of the softy world, but make no mistake, they are there, causing the curly tail to flop around, just like the flag on top of the town hall. The wacky rigged worm moves under the same rules, as does the falling Senko. Dave