Vodkaman

Ivan Ivanovitch, a distant cousin of mine!

I believe Wallmart are having a sale on helium pycnometers next month. My method is pretty much the same, only using jars and two interconnecting tubes. The first jar is filled and the level marked on the tube (zero). The water is transferred to the reservoir jar via the tubes, the lid of the measure jar is removed and the lure inserted. The water is then returned to the measure jar. The water level is marked on the tube again. The diference between the marks represents the volume. The accuracy is not bad, but the procedure is a little fiddly and needs practise. The narrower the bore of the tube, the more accuracy, but the narrower tube makes the water transfer tedious because of having to clear the bubbles. I would say that 100 inside dia tube would work best. With care, an accuracy of about 1 or 2 percent should be achievable. The second tube is a vent, which aids the flow of water from one jar to the next. If anyone is interested on trying this method, PM me and I will draw a diagram.

Nova. Interesting idea, has anyone tried using lead as a mould. It would have a limited life and would probably not give a shiny finish for plastics, but would be fine for hard baits. How would you seal the PoP mould. Would the lead mould last longer than RTV. How many castings can you do from an RTV mould, I realise that this is like asking how long is a piece of string as it depends on the shape of the part being cast. But is it hundreds or thousands. How re-useable is RTV, do you re-melt or throw it away.

Could you post a pic please. I just looked up a buzzbait on the net. It was a spinning blade on one side and a skirt on the other. If one resists the water stronger than the other, it will lean to one side. To correct the balance, the weak side can be bent further out or the strong inwards. Excuse me for intruding on a subject that I know little about, but all fishing lures interest me and I hope my most humble opinion is valid and helps.

So, how are you going to measure the density of the sticks? This is the bit that I am interested in, or is that what you are asking. I have a method, but I am looking for something better.

I work against the grain with balsa because I find that more material is removed per stroke. Because balsa is so soft, working with the grain just compresses the material and the softer material between the grain will be removed faster than the harder grain, leaving an uneven finish. The second reason is that it really fluffs up the surface ready for the coat of epoxy. I will even scuff it more with some 150 grit emery. This gives an excellent key for the epoxy and because of the coat thickness, the rough finish is not evident.

Woodie, that has inspired me to design a new musky lure, 'the WALLET'! It has a credit card lip and six trebles. Predominantly red, green and scaley, with two horns at the front. I might even install an electronic sound chip, to nag the musky to death on the way in!

Terry, I believe the nice lady is correct, I have said the same myself in past threads. Redg8R, is it at all possible to switch off the star rating? It hardly ever gets used and when it does, it only causes distress amongst the members. At the end of the day, this is supposed to be fun, not a competition. We save the competition for the lake.

I know you want to keep your trade sectrets and I do respect that. But what are you referring to by aluminum, it's obviously not the metal, aluminium (as we brits call it).

I'm not a plastics guy, but lately I have read a lot of posts with this same problem. If the the plastic is hot enough and the mould has been pre-heated, then this points to a venting problem. A 1mm dia hole or smaller in the mould extremities may all that is required to solve the problem. Without the vent, the air has to fight its way past the incomming plastic, which I imagine to be a vairly viscous syrup. Has anyone considered some kind of vacuum pump to forcibly draw the plastic through via an extremity hole. It would need a little thought but would be much cheaper than an injection system and at least as effective. Just my thoughts on the subject, NOT proven advice.

The star rating system is a great idea, but why should it be anonymous?

I recon it could be the fans! If the fans are blowing into your face, this will cause the eye problem. The sixteen hours is OK, as long as it is something that you enjoy doing.

I had a minor dremel incident last night. Fortunately I was wearing safety glasses so the end of my finger did not damage my eyes!

The blood knot is hard to beat for strength, provided you are careful not to stress the line. In other words, the knot has to be tightened from the loose ends such that the 'fishing' line is not pulled through the knot. This mistake is easily visible when using mono as the line curls when it has been stressed. This line stress thing applies to any knot. The blood is not an easy knot to learn and it has to be practised a couple of times if you haven't tied one for a while.

Personally, I have had no adverse reactions with epoxy. It is nasty sticky stuff, so I have nail polish remover to clean my hands. This is probably just as bad as the epoxy. If you are working with it for a couple of hours then I would ventilate, but for a five minute job occasionally, I would not bother. As for safety glasses, I consider them absolutely essential when using any machine tools, even the humble dremel drill. When spray painting water based paints, I would imagine a simple mask would suffice, but I don't paint so I'll leave that to the rest. Sounds like you're having a hard time of it, have you seen the doc, you might have some kind of allergy to the materials.

Longball, fair dig, ouch. The search engine is a very useful tool, but I still firmly believe that we should not fob off new members with just the search engine. It is also a good thing to re-visit old subjects, they often stir up the new ideas, which is a primary function of this site. New members are only new to this site, they are not necessarily inexperienced and often can place a new perspective saddle on an old donkey. So bring it on Brine.

Wardsmit. Thank's for the PM. The swim will be interesting because of the high eye location. This means that the lure will be 'lip heavy' and the water will force the lip back until the body balances the lip forces. In this case, the balance is reached beyond 90deg and the lip will be effectively trailing behind. This is perilously close to death roll and I would imagine it gives quite a twitchy action. Being close to death roll is not a criticism, in fact, to get the best movement, you have to flirt with instability. This particular instability is the same as deep diving lures, where, if the eye is moved even 1mm too far back, the lure blows out. Lets hope the fish find it as interesting.

Travis, I totally agree. I feel a bit guilty working for their industry over here, but at the end of the day I am a mercinary contractor and they pay 75% more than Detroit.

This is very amusing. I thought it was going to turn into a bash the British thing, but it's looking like another civil war. I don't know a lot about Kentucky, my only experience of USA was working in Detroit for a few months. Interesting place! I accidently knocked this huge guys beer over, he appologised profusely, my guess he was worried incase I was carrying. My bald head makes me look very angry, so better safe than sorry. I found it a really friendly place.

http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8219&highlight=chrome This was the thread that I remembered, everything you want to know about chrome. If you persue the chrome thing, don't forget to feedback your findings. Good luck.

I think the passport is to stop the locals from escaping!

I can feel an international incident comming on here!

Yes, it feels silly writing 'ball park' all the time, but if I don't, someone always steps on my neck and reminds me that if someone pee's in the river upstream, the buoyancy will be affected. Regarding the hard bait solution, I measure the volume of the body first, say it is 20g. This tells me that a suspended bait would be 20g. If I want 10% float, this means that the final weight of my bait must be 18g. I can weigh the bait with all the wires and hooks, allow a gram or two for paint and epoxy (varies on whether I decide to prime or not!!!) and know exactly how much ballast to add without playing submarines in the sink. This is of course an over simplification, as when you add to the external surface by covering with epoxy and adding hardware, the volume increases. But, by keeping notes of volumes and weights, after half a dozen lures you get a good feel for the ballast required. It all saves that sickening feeling as you watch your newest creation vanish below the surface. A bit like mixing too little epoxy, you only do it once.

I remember someone had a spray can solution, try a TU search, I'm sure it was after the crash.