Vodkaman

It really doesn't matter what it looks like, reputation is everything. You don't get a rep' unless it catches big time, and Pat's Perch has that rep. I would love to see a video of the swim action but could not find one. Dave

I agree with Mark. If I was going to work building and selling baits, I would want to clear a minimum $25ph. With the cost of postage from my location this would price my baits out of the market, so I stopped that idea before even getting started. This is why you will never find a Vman lure out there, I build for my own entertainment, I don't even give them away. Even though I know that $85 for a swim-bait is entirely justified, I would never feel justified parting with that much money for a bait. Dave

I second JR's opinion on testing tanks. A tank is one of those items that you don't think you need until you have one. The advantage, especially a raised tank (above ground) is that you can get up close and see what is going on. You can even shoot good video and slow the action down. By shooting swim video of slight modifications, you can identify the often subtle effects. Understanding cause and effect is vital, otherwise you are stabbing in the dark with trial and error. Dave

Dale - Creating the bare body will not determine the success of the lure, it is what you do with it in the following operations that converts the pretty piece of wood into a lure that catches fish. Dave

I can carve quite well (I think), but as an engineer, I would much sooner watch the machine do the job for me. I still have to carve the master, and for that I am prepared to put the extra time in to get the master as perfect as I can. My ultimate duplicator machine would use the CAD master to create the copies. The CNC knowledge for such a machine is beyond my capabilities at the moment. I hope one day to hook up with a CNC expert and get the machine built. Dave

Very interesting Pete - good job and thanks for sharing. Dave

I use Malwarebytes too. The free version is no different to the paid version. I actually chose to pay for the software because I thought it was so good. Dave

If you click the black dot to the left of the title, it takes you to the last unread. Works an my system anyhow. Dave

The check-out girl gave me some funny looks when I bought a hairdryer - I am completely bald! Dave

Good job. It looked like the fish would slip off the bent hook before the eye failed. Dave

I have done the gas syphon thing, I was burping for the rest of the day. Horrible experience. Robalo01 - I drove to work once and was so excited because the car park was empty, finally I would have a good space for a clean exit. The security guard at the gate looked at me funny, but it wasn't till I was halfway down the drive that I realized that it was a bank-holiday. Dave

Bassrecord - Most companies will not deal with Indonesia (where I live). I have lost a lot of stuff, probably theft in the system. Secondly, to obtain my goods, I have to pay the system usually double, sometimes triple the original purchase price. A recent example; I bought a 0.5Kg/0.01g scale and a 200Kg/1g scale from China. the cost of the two units combined was less that $100, but with postage and customs costs, the total paid was $400. This is why I will not do international business, either for materials or sales. TU members often offer to send me stuff for free, and when I have to decline I always worry about offending people. But anything other than a major postal service (UPS, FedEx etc) will not arrive, and if it does, I still have to pay through the nose. My advice, do not deal with Indonesia without insurance, and always use tracking. Make sure the customer knows and accepts responsibility for the risks, because you should not lose out on the deal. DAve

I tried FG resin, it gives a good solid canvas to paint on. BUT, when transits from liquid to solid, the process is very quick and is inevitably lumpy, even if you use a lure turner. Because the material is so hard, it takes a lot of work to sand it smooth again. My other concern would be the brittle nature of a thin FG resin coating. Just my thoughts. Dave

The occasional post on the subject once or twice per year is enough to keep all the players in touch, as I have said, there are only a few of us. I normally use bicycle chains and sprockets for the drive mechanism. My new bicycle seat design uses bevel gears. Unfortunately I was unable to source the gears at the right size and right price, so I decided to do the research and design my own, to be cast in resin. If the gears work out, this will open up a whole new world of possibilities, being able to manufacture my own gears to the exact spec that I require. I haven't begun to collect the ideas yet, but the dup m/c would be a place to start; by gearing down the drive screw speed, the surface finish can be directly controlled. This function can be done by sprocket and chain, but it gets messy and cumbersome. Dave

Dale - I like your rail system and the black gas pipe. Only yesterday I saw a video with a similar set-up only he didn't use the bearings as wheels. I would be going for bearings too. Dave

Pete - good job on solving the feed, I haven't even looked at that yet. Good advice on the power issue, I second that; cheap, simple and safe. Mark - exactly right regarding the cutters. Shifting a lot of material with the router, you soon lose the edge, and the bits are very expensive. With a saw, you can get at least 100 blanks cut, and buy the disks in five packs and very cheap. I bet it is even possible to hone up the cutter teeth, but it is just not worth the effort. Dave

Dale - I think there is a possible hybrid design possibility between the two copy machines; if the master and the blank block are connected and can be rotated, then your copy carver method can be used without having to cook one side and then turn over. This might be the way that I go with the new design - see, you inspired me Dave

Dale - I have designed a copy carver (your style of machine) but I I had to give up my house just as I was about to build it. The idea was to rough out the blanks on my duplicator and then cut the detail on the copy carver. I also have another m/c design for cutting lips using the copy carver method. I like your thinking. It is similar to mine and a few others on this site, Hazmail springs to mind, but there are others. There is much satisfaction when a m/c idea comes to life, even better than catching your first fish on a home-made. Dave

The new format looks different, but basically functions the same way, at least the way that I use the site. Once everything is fixed and running, there will be no difference. Dave

Jigginpig – you made me laugh. My explaining skills are not good, I know that as well as everyone else does. Stylus or follower – just like the needle on a vinyl record, the stylus follows the contour of the master shape to be copied. The stylus is connected to the cutter, so if the stylus lifts then so does the cutter. This applies to both types of copy machine. Type 1, copy carver - The master shape and the wood blank are fixed. The stylus is dragged across the master shape manually, just like colouring in with a 3D pen. As the stylus moves over the master shape, the cutter makes the same moves over the wood blank and cuts an exact copy. Type 2, duplicator - The master shape and the wood blank rotate at the same speed. The stylus rests on the master shape. As the master shape rotates, the stylus is lifted and lowered by the uneven shape. This in turn lifts and lowers the cutter, which cuts into the rotating wood blank making the same shape. The stylus and cutter are mounted on a threaded rod. The thread slowly drives the stylus along the length of the master and the cutter follows the stylus. That is the best I can do to describe the two copy methods. If anyone would like to step in and simplify my descriptions, please do, I have absolutely no objections. Dave

I was confused when you claimed detail ability, now I understand. Your m/c is a different kind of dup m/c. Mine is like registr8r's type of m/c. Dave

Same here - I am sure Kurt will get to the issue soon enough. Dave

Gliders - good job, nice trout pattern. Dave

Gliders - first off, I am glad you're OK with the diversion. BobP - I am the 'tinkerer type'. I had no real need for a dup m/c, but it was great for prototyping a new lure. I could produce 50 identical bodies in a couple of hours, leaving me free to try many lip and ballast variations without having to butcher and make do with a couple of carvings. It was particularly useful when I was experimenting with large swim-baits, as those bad boys took an age to carve manually. Another advantage is that the consistency of the body forms allows me to make molded jigs to solve lip slot problems and even drilling eye and ballast holes. Finally, if you screw up, no need to try and botch a repair, just grab another body out of the bag. Yes, designing and building a dup m/c is a lot of planning and work, but I think it is well worth the effort and have no problems about doing it again. I started with a router cutter, but moved to a circular saw cutter; cheaper to replace and less waste. But, wood waste is really a non-issue unless you are cutting many thousands. surface finish is a slight issue, especially using the circular saw. You get ridges depending on how many cuts per inch you set your m/c up for. I found that 20 seconds on a flap-wheel was enough to knock the ridges down enough, and let the sealing and paint process solve the rest. I call myself a lure designer and not a fisherman, so the ridges were not an issue for me, no one else was ever going to see the bodies. I do fish occasionally, but not often. The main limitation of a dup m/c is bounce. If you set the turning speed too high then the profile tracer will bounce. If you add springs or weight to counter the bounce, then your master doesn't last long, as ridges cut into the master. I found that around 60 rpm was about the limit. I used a standard threaded rod with 25 threads per inch. So for a 3" body, the cutting time was 75 seconds plus reset, loading and unloading. Dave

Power-cuts get me every time; the computer is down, so I decide to watch a tv video instead. Dave