Vodkaman

If sink flutter is intended to be a feature of a bait then it must be worked in very early on in the process. Rough carvings to experiment with shapes to find their required sink rates. If this idea was to be a regular design feature then I would be looking at a specialized vertical test tank, something that you can video the fall and time the fall to get the rate. You will have to get your calculators out and do some Archimedes in order to be able to repeat the results consistently. Weight distribution is only important to get the horizontal fall, it can be concentrated or distributed, makes no difference. It is all about shape and fall rate. I would be constructing a 12"x6"x60" glass/plastic tank. Trial and error will get you to the first workable prototype, but from that you need to extract the density in order to achieve repeatability. As usual, all testing must be with hooks. Dave

That is how I have done it so far. It is VERY expensive. I have so many projects that require 3D printing that I am now looking for a printer. So far, unable to find anything locally but I have not looked very hard as yet. Import is not an option, Customs will double the cost of such an item. TU members have generously offered to print my stuff for me, but customs again will 'charge' me to such an extent that local printing services would be cheaper. I have about a dozen lure projects but so much more, a new design for a painless bicycle seat, a cheap medical ventilator, a humidity drinking water generator, solar hot water system, and more projects that I will have to search back for. Dave

Unfortunately no. That was around the time I was evicted and lost everything. My thinking hasn't changed much; I still think that cross section shape is important and fall rate is key. There is a minimum speed for those vortices to become regular but not necessary for at least some movement to be visible. The video below shows the whole story and makes things very clear. The minimum speed is dependent on the shape, but anything much greater than 4" to 6" per second should produce the desired effect. A wider body with a flatter belly should produce better effects. Dave

I really showed my inexperience when I was living in Sweden. It was a glorious weekend, T-shirt and shorts. I decided to go up to the lake for a day of trout fishing. The last mile was an up hill hike, but the anticipation of a wonderful day was so exciting. As I climbed over the ridge the excitement turned to despair as I viewed 50 acres of ice. Dave

From a design and aesthetic point of view, the end of the nose is ideal; looks pretty, looks deliberate and is easiest to hook on. But, lures are a balance of several elements of which tow eye position is only one. You can force one or two of the elements but you must be prepared to adjust others to find the correct balance. In this case the body shape and internals are fixed and you have the lip and eye to work with. Under the chin seems pretty safe, but for a first build, I would probably want to try several positions and lip lengths and widths, and learn from the results. I generally make my main adjuster the lip because it is the easiest to adjust. I simply make the lip way too long and then trim away making notes as I go. Dave

There are a couple of 'man-made' competition ponds stocked with catfish close by. The fish are generally 1Lb - 4Lb but occasionally much bigger. Cats are not my favorite, the standard bait is rotting fish guts. I never thought of using a crank or a popper, but the chances of me being allowed such a tactic is very remote. Competition fishing is very big here in Indonesia, ponds run at least two comps a day, sometimes 3 or 4, extending into the early hours depending on demand. Dave

It is great to see the entry photos but I too cringe at the multiple entries. Are the rules so difficult to comprehend. They must have read the rules to be able to enter the competition in the first place. Dave

Overhead video screens of lure actions would be a cool idea. Type in a code and see a video in the store. I don't buy lures, but if I did, I would want to see a video of the swim action, and a capture for a bonus. Dave

LMAO. There are far more people read this forum than you could ever imagine. It is a shame that more do not contribute, but they are skilled builders none the less. I do not view the gallery images as a rule, preferring to come up with my own fresh ideas on lures. But once a year I do indulge myself by viewing the competitor contributions. Impressive. Just a shame that they are mostly illiterate and unable to comprehend rules Dave

I haven't built a popper myself, but I do understand the concept; gather the water and squeeze it out the top to make some splash/plop noise. A vertical cylindrical shape would achieve this result, particularly with a lip at the bottom of the face. Many commercial poppers show an kinked/angled side profile which hints at the same idea; gather the water and force it upwards. Dave

You have made a solid start. Plainly, you understand the eye socket issue, and you will be applying these cutter thoughts to your future designs. As for the 2nd part, the buoyancy thing, I can see your line of thought because I went down that line myself, but wrong. The upward buoyancy forces are all about Archimedes, volume displacement of water. The total external volume of the lure generates an upward force of 1 gram for every cm³ of volume. The CAD COG of this uniform density volume will give you the COB. Dave

It must be SOOO frustrating for Curt. Personally, I would throw ALL the rule breakers out of the competition. Dave

DGFidler - good project. The CAD model of the flat sided body is as simple and uncomplicated as it gets. I only see one issue with the design and that is the eye socket. If you intend to use a ball-end cutter or a cutter with a radius then this result is not possible. Secondly, be careful regarding the calculation of the COG using the CAD software. The COG only takes into account the downward forces of the body material, the ballast, hooks, lip and other hardware. The buoyancy forces are not considered, and for a lure that actually floats, the center of buoyancy (COB), the sum of the upward forces is actually greater than the COG which is the sum of the downward forces. The COF or Center Of Forces will be about half way between the COG and COB. This is a complex idea that is going to hurt a lot of heads and burst some balloons regarding understanding COG. This detail will likely not be important to your bait, but when the lure is static in the water, the center of forces, the sum of the upward AND downward forces is not the same as the COG. The problem arises if the two forces are too close together, again most unlikely otherwise this would have been discussed before. The beauty of knowing the COG and the COB is that you can then accurately predict the float angle, the attitude that the lure sits in the water, be it nose up, nose down or level. It is then possible to alter the position of the hooks and ballast at the CAD design stage to control the float angle. I will write in more detail about this one day and try to make it clearer. But, the information is only of advantage to CAD designers, manual designers will have to use the 'suck it and see' method. Dave

Introduce a CAD design section and I will submit 20 images from different angles Dave

Such poor quality, certainly not around, or infinitely better now Dave

Curt - I am confident that this year will be different and EVERYONE will read the rules and follow to the letter. Good Luck Dave

I must have missed this video, first time I have seen it. The video highlights a few problems for the CAD designer in that you have to be aware of the milling process and the tool radii required. You can start with a very pretty CAD model, but after the machining process you end up with an unrecognizable mush. It would be a lot more interesting to see a video of the complete CAD design process that people use with the different CAD systems. Dave

Big Epp - good summary, I agree. If I ever brought a crank to market, I would probably do a Henry; 'you can have any colour you like as long as it's black'. Dave

If the bit that you trimmed off was EPS then you have removed some of the 'float' capability. From an engineering point; you have reduced the volume but kept the weight the same. It would have been a good idea to start a new thread for this question. Dave

Don Mang - you cannot pot these pics (last post) on this thread, they need to go in the gallery. The pics are not relevant to the post. All 'look at my work' pics go in the gallery. Dave

The TU management team is VERY proactive against spam, removing the unwanted intrusions as quick as they can be reported. AND, it is up to the members to report these spam posts. One spammer seems to have managed to dive under the detection net by actually spamming in the correct forum for sales; the advertising forum. It is still spam, as the membership should not be interested in lipstick boxes, beard oil boxes or any other type of liquid box. I hope the management manages to plug up this loophole soon. Thanks for your hard work in keeping this forum site clean. Dave

I agree with JD. I build baits in this size range and all I have is 6 & 4. This is another one of those cases were 'if it looks right then it is right'. Dave

For me, position is primarily a structural thing; a deep enough slot for a solid connection and enough body behind/above the slot for support. Waggle is a force x distance or lever thing, so the further away from the COG then the more waggle you get. If you simply move the lip rearwards on the next prototype, you will likely have a different result or even fail, because the geometry to the tow eye has changed and disturbed the balance. You may have to experiment to find the new eye position. Be mentally prepared to make a few prototypes. Make one adjustment at a time and make notes. Always test with hooks and hardware fitted. Dave

Exx1976 - I do not understand you. I have refrained from posting this sentiment before. You put a lot of effort in, making excellent contributions to the TU community, gaining a lot of respect. And then, you seem to have a brain fart and chop someone off at the knees for very little reason. I am not blame free, I too have had my moments of indiscretion. I suggest you think your more acidic replies through before hitting the reply button! Dave

I felt quite chilled last night as the temperature dropped to 24°C (75°F) inside the house. It could have been as low as 21°C (71°F) outside. I may have to buy a blanket! Daytime is usually no problem high 80s°F to mid 90s°F. When I start house hunting in April, I will be looking at 500ft lower altitude, this will buy me an extra degree or two. Dave