Vodkaman

I agree with all the sentiments expressed above. The world wide web is a wonderful thing for learning. If it was not for TU and the wealth of information, I would probably given up on this hobby long ago. TU isn't just about information, it provides the enthusiasm needed to continue through the failures and provides the eternal light at the end of the tunnel. I agree with the 'earning it' statement to a certain extent, but, no matter how much information you put on the plate, the new lure designer has still an enormous amount to learn for himself. He is going to spend hours whittling firewood, feel a fool chugging his latest creation in the bath tub, trying to find a hint of the action he was hoping for, burn gallons of fuel travelling back and forth to the lake for testing. Why? Because we do not have all the answers to give him. It amuses me when a new user posts for the first time and asks the big questions, 'Is their a formula for the lip', 'How do you calculate the weight location' etc. The same questions that I wanted answers to and no one could answer. In fact, I decided to make the quest for the answers to these questions a big part of my hobby as well as designing the lure that swims how and where I want it to. The big questions are complex and need to be broken down into smaller problems, I have had some success on the way, as I have had with my lure designs. I would post my results if I could just finish something. I digress, but the point that I am working around to is that most of you have been designing lures for many years and no doubt have made some neat discoveries, come up with some unique techniques, novel ideas, new construction methods etc. I know I have. Many of you will be thinking why should I share this with anyone. Their is only one justification for not bringing the new stuff to the table and that is you intend to use the invention or idea to make a business. I can totally respect that and have considered the same with my ideas. I have decided that a business is not the route that I am going to take and so will be bringing my ideas, humble as they may be, to the table. Others will be thinking, if I publish this idea, someone is going to use it and make money from it and I won't get anything. True, you probably won't get any money for the idea, but you will get more than you are receiving at the moment. You will get the credit for the idea and the respect of your peers. The biggest names in lure design scan this site, whether they are members or not, trying to find new ideas. Every time the new lure incorporating your idea is discussed by the site, the knowledgeable ones will remember whose idea it was and someone will make reference to that fact. That I would consider success and feel proud of my achievement and recognition. So I say, if you do not intend to make a business from your idea, bring it out. There is no justification for hoarding it to be printed on your grave, nobody reads gravestones.

It started out as a very silly joke, the USA Brit thing. But, as I was drawing it, I started to think that their might be something to it, it might just work. Incidently, hope I didn't upset anyone, sometimes humour goes too far.

I've just looked 'Elmers Glue All'. I thought that this was some kind of product that was only available in America, as I cannot remember ever seeing the name on my shopping trips to the DIY stores. It's wood glue, we call it PVA. I wish I had known this three months ago. Now I have to go back and read all the articles again that I stopped reading because of 'Elmers'. As someone who is new to this industry, one of the most annoying things is brand names, I sometimes think you guys are on the devcon payroll. It's EPOXY and comes in various brands. I've never seen devcon yet. I respectfully request that you consider the overseas beginners when you refer to products. I could keep on going on this tack. Their are so many phrases that you take for granted. Because it is obvious to me that it is common knowledge, I have been too embarrassed to ask. I found all my answers through research and PM's. I know, I should have posted, because if I don't know then their must be others. One more request, it would be nice if, when you refer to a lure, if you could include a link to a picture, so we can emmediately see what you are talking about. Sorry for the whinge and thank's to all contributors, I am learning more every day.

You should try your local electronics shop. I'm not talking radio's and TV's, a proper electronics components shop. They usually have tons of it. The usual stuff is copper clad, but they also sell blank boards. The same shop will sell etching solution for dissolving the copper if you want clean boards, but if you are painting them why bother. A quick buff with the dremel, a coat of clear and you have a nice copper reflector.

Cal. You just inspired me to come up with a brand new lure design, take a look at squealer. There is a rattle in the tail so you can listen to it!

Cal. I believe you (diddle deng deng dennnng).

Yes, I'd like to see the whole process, not just the rattle.

Sorry LaPala, typing with my boxing gloves on. Maybe we should get back to discussing the lure?

Don't feel too bad about it, Haven't worked it out myself yet. Hopefully, another more knowledgeable member will be able to help us out with an image of the 'prop bait'. Have a nice day!

Steady on Mr Bone! I'm so intellectually challenged, I can't think of an amusing reply. Actually, I am staring out of the window at a pea souper as I write. Hopefully, it will protect us Brits from the 'neukulor' fall out. So, how about a picture of the 'tallywhancker' then?

I top coated a balsa bait last night at room temperature. Because it was originally sealed with epoxy, I was not concerned with the possibility of craters and was anticipating another perfect finish. The chemical reaction heated air inside found a weak spot in my seal coat and burst through just before the epoxy went off. The resulting crater was 8mm dia. An Idea for balsa baits would be to deliberately introduce a fault with a pin, in a convenient place were the damage would be minimised. This could prevent damage by letting the air out sooner in the process, while the epoxy is still fluid. Just an idea I'll be testing this weekend. Does anyone have any feed back on the 'heating' method.

I tried to look the lure up on the web, to get an idea of what you were all talking about, ended up in a bunch of porn sites and got a warning from my boss! If you could be so kind, could you post a picture for us beginners. Many thank's

Mr Kickerfish. I just read the reviews. By all accounts, it is a good entry level camera. No one had anything bad to say about it, so it was a good buy. Your problem is, you want to photograph small objects from close up and the kodak C310 does not have a macro facility. Viewing your gallery pic confirmed this. The closest you are going to be able to take a sharp picture will probably be 1 metre. Check the manual, it should give you this information. If it doesn't then you are going to have to find this majic number. Mark out distant increments, take a snap at each and examine the results. This is not a huge problem as you have four million pixels to play with. You probably received some photo editing software with the camera. Use this to 'crop' the photo to fill the screen. You have to reduce the photo's before you can put them on TU anyway, or they'll shout at you. It's better to take a really sharp photo rather than trying to get the hook manufacturers name. Good luck with it and post another pic of the bait soon, it looks real neat.

We could help more if you told us what make and model camera it is and show us a photo. Their's a ton of photo experts using this site and they all will help you get the best results from your equipment no matter what it is.

Bob. I can only think of two things. 1. you are selecting 'new posts' instead of 'forum' at the top of the page. 2. your default thread cut off is set to one day (my account - edit options - third window from the bottom)

Cheesehead. Point taken. In fact, I did a test after posting, on a piece of raw balsa. I heated it in an empty jar sitting in a pan of boiling water for ten minutes. The jar lid had several holes drilled in it to prevent explosion VERY IMPORTANT. An identical second piece of balsa was coated and closely examined. The air bubbles could be seen comming from the wood, quite violently in fact. The application on the heated lure, although not totally free of bubbles, was much slower. My conclusion is that heat helps. If the lures are placed on a hot radiator or water tank etc the situation will be improved. Regular primers and sealers, I find, do not give adequate protection against the bubble syndrome. I seal all my baits with five minute epoxy, I accept the bubbles and after a suitable curing time, usually 24 hours, I attack with a dremel flap wheel to level the craters. The lure is now ready for artistic application of my half inch brush.

Interesting thoughts and ideas. But, while frowning at the moon crater texture of my lure, I noticed that my mixing lid was totally clear of bubbles. I think that, although CO2 is a product of the chemical reaction, this is dissipated long before the cure. I believe that the heat of the process is causing the air within the wood to expand and force its way out. Try heating the lures in an oven prior to application. It should reduce the volume of bubbles and the heat should allow them to break out easier. I would try it out for you, but my shoe box of an apartment does not have an oven. I would at least do a test before putting a fully painted picasso though this process.

Cheesehead. I acknowledge your tutorial on the glass rattle, Excellent job. I am also aware that some use spent 022 cartridges. I suspect that 'rattle cans' are potentially a very important method for catching fish and apart from an excelent article by Mr Sissons that I read a few weeks ago, I feel that the subject has not been given the air that it deserves. I also suspect that their are a few more construction methods going on out there that other members might like to share. Experience with cans, theories, new ideas, facts. I am hoping that this small contribution might get some knowledge sharing going on.

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If it is a shallow swimming bait, I assume that it is a steep lip angle. The steep angle will give you side to side oscillation or 'waggle'. You could move the eye further back but I doubt that it will solve the problem. I suspect that the lip is too short. Try temporarily gluing a larger lip over the existing one to see the effect, while your at it, try diferent shapes. If it is a square lip, try rounding the leading edge. It would be easier for people to help you if we had a picture of the lure, or, if you don't want to give the game away, a more detailed description of the current lip and eye geometry. Good luck with it and report back your solution, I am very interested.

You could make a simple pulley system yourself, doesn't need to be particularly accurate, at 15rpm it won't need to be balanced. I agree with Bezyb, no time for distribution.

The monthly shed

Me working, after wrestling with another TU thread. http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/folicallychalled/1de0uAWn7u0u-R-x0SDQCJxquuo6kqsEvUEBv4xQp5Fd3Ig=/large/

You obviously are a young wipper snapper. I used to tie flies myself many moons ago. In fact, before they landed on the moon. Now I struggle to type this message, my eyes are that bad. My question, Does recording a unique idea on a web site such as TU count for anything? I doubt it. You should tell us specifically what we should do. Their are obviously many people interested. C'mon, spill it!

This thread has been a real education, Thank's to you all.