Vodkaman

The speed of the action is dependent solely on the lip width. The narrower the lip the faster the wiggle. For a tight action rather than a wide action, the coffin is a good choice. I tested various lip shapes in a direct comparison and the coffin was narrower than the others. Depth is just about finding the sweet spot for the tow eye location. Too far forward or back and you lose depth. No one can tell you where this is, you have to find it by testing. Examine pictures of similar baits and start there. A heavier wood will give a tighter action than balsa. But all you need to do is spread the ballast out on a balsa lure to achieve a tighter/narrower action. It would make more sense to use a heavier density wood. Dave

Ha! loved it - good job young man Dave

Paul - PM sent. Dave

Paul - My YouTube name is Vmanlures. There are a few lure vids you can check out. I will defo have to come and visit you next time I am in the UK. Unlikely to be for a long time though. My accent is also weak, having not lived there since '94. Dave

If it is the first bait to catch a fish for you, then you should leave it unmodified and get it in a presentation case on your wall. Dave

I am not convinced that the blob on the bill would cause such havoc. You could grind it off and test again, to see if it made any difference. Don't forget to report back with the results, so that we all learn something. Another localized coat could be added to tidy up if you wish. Dave

I too have watched all the videos. All quality and very instructional. What I like particularly is the accent, reminding me of my roots I will certainly be bookmarking the site, but have nothing to contribute at this time, as my workshop is not set up and may be a while. Dave

Yes, I spotted that after writing the post, realizing I had misread the original. Rather than throw it away, I decided to act dumb and post it anyway. What I should have done was started a new thread with it.The razor is obviously the way to go. Dave

If the master is bottom mounted and the RTV poured over, then the finish is not important. A few heavy taps of the mold container onto a solid surface should level the RTV out and let gravity do the rest. I have never tried top molding, by sinking the master into the surface. This method, although an accepted method, just seems too imprecise to me. But, an imperfect surface would be a plus, as every imperfection is adding a good location key, so I wouldn't be too bothered about smoothing out. It is nice to finish up a mold and have it all looking pretty and squared off. In my early attempts at plaster molding, I would sand the surfaces and sides. Yes, the molds looked pretty, but they did not perform any better and once I stopped, I didn't have to buy 20 sheets at a time and spend ten minutes cleaning up all the plaster dust. Dave

Bubba - yes, top coat does have a visible damping effect on a lures action. I am guessing that you may not have had your hooks fitted for the original swim test. This omission has an even more significant effect. Always test as close to finished conditions as possible. The only information to be taken away from an initial swim test, is that it swims or it doesn't. I am also assuming that we are talking about a new prototype, a new addition to your armory. Repeat builds should hold no surprises, as you are building to a recipe; a series of patterns, drawings, sketches and notes that help you repeat your proven design. Dave

As someone mentioned previously in this thread, eyes are number one. If you were only allowed to protect one thing, it would have to be the eyes. I am 58 years old, which means that life has dealt me a few close calls. My first trip to Liverpool Eye hospital was when a friend gave me an old calculator to fix. The batteries had corroded, so I fitted a new set to check for any life. As the battery snapped in, a tiny droplet of battery acid splashed out, obviously destined for my eye. I got away with a sore eye and a bottle of pain killer drops from the hospital, I was lucky. About a minute after the splash, I had a pint of milk poured into my eye, to try and neutralize the acid. The doctor said that this probably saved my sight from damage. Plenty more stories, but none bait related, thanks to you guys beating the safety drum. Dave

Ben - The way Indonesian bathrooms work is quite different to western bathrooms. Although in my new abode I have a western toilet, the normal is the hole in the ground type. The room is designed to be wet, with water splashed around, and to this end, there is a large water container next to the toilet. In my house, this holds about ten gallons and about 2' square, perfect for a float test. Dave

A bathtub is a test tank that some people occasionally use for bathing.Dave

My last batch of baits (bawal video) were 1.5". I designed them to keep it simple; flat sided rounded over, big round nose profile, to provide room for hardware, ventral negative curvature same radius as my belt sander. Small lures need not be more difficult to make, they just need a lot more thought in design. Dave

I don't do powder painting. I was just looking at the problem from an engineers perspective Dave

Jaw - I too started inventing my own fly designs. It was much more interesting than turning out the olde favorites. I had an uncle who was a game warden for a trout and salmon fishery in Wales. I showed him my collection and he was amazed, saying that these were killer flies and would love it if he could have a couple. I gave him a shoe box full. For many years after, he was always raving about those flies and how successful they were. Although I tied a thousand or more flies, made my own fly rod, taught myself to cast, I never fly fished more than three or four occasions in my life. The true irony is that, the first ever fish I and my father ever caught, was on a fly, on a 2' plastic rod bought from Woolworths. A guy fishing the same stream tied it on for us and we caught a small trout. Dave

Fshng2 - the gloves would not be necessary and the hand holes can be cut to generous proportions. The reason being that, the volume of air being drawn by the fan will be concentrated through the hand holes, making the velocity very fast and particle escape impossible. Dave

This was a valuable lure, a lure to be happy about; information was gathered and lessons learned. Dave

That filled very nicely. Dave

Personally, I would use Bondo to fill the crack. You could try cramming the gap with PVC dust and drip CA glue to fix, then sand it down. Just about every problem on a bait can be rescued. It is a good idea to work on the rescue skills rather than starting again. Having the confidence that you can rescue any operation that goes wrong, reduces stress and therefore adds to the enjoyment. Dave

It looks green to me. But being Vodkaman means that I cannot leave it there: 1 - I screen grabbed a square of the brighter section. 2 - Increased the brightness and contrast. 3 - Ran a filter to pixilate it into individual colors in large squares. 4 - analysed each square's color. Results: A - Only one square fell into the low end of the blue range. B - Only two squares fell into the high yellow range. C - the rest were low to mid green Conclusions - Defo a GREEN carpet. Dave

Good list, I pretty much agree with it all. I don't belong on the list because I don't take baits to the finished state. Even the baits that I fish are not finished, I just take lots of them. Finishing just does not interest me, but thanks for the mention. I find the process of lure design fascinating. For me, it is all about learning the theory, the scientific rules that govern how the bait moves. Taking those rules and designing a bait that moves different. I still have a lot of learning to do; prototypes to build to prove theories and explain how specific baits work. So many types I haven't even started on yet. At the moment, I am waiting for a new mold to be delivered from the 3D printers. I have had to invent a plastic material to emulate plastisol. If this method works, I have quite a few plastic ideas that I want to explore. I don't know what the big draw is for me, especially as I do this thing different to everyone else. It just works for me and the way my mind functions. Dave

It has been that long since I wore my shoes, I found mushrooms growing in them and had to throw them out. I only wear flipflops, but I don't pour plastisol. My plastic as water based and biodegradable. Dave

I made a lot of stuff when I was a kid: Rods - 2 part whole cane from the garden center, top fiberglass. weighed a ton and bowed under its own weight. Floats - from just about anything that would float. Spoons - from Grandma's spoons (not happy). Flies - I went hungry and saved all my dinner money for six weeks and bought all the fly tying gear. Robbed a few books from the library and taught myself tying. Fly rod - first serious rod, from fiberglass blanks. Taught myself to cast (more starvation involved). I built so much stuff from the age of 10 and onwards, that I just cannot remember my first catch. Dave

Albesia is probably considered not worth exporting, it is light and cheap. But the fact that it is light, cheap and carves well, makes it ideal for lure building. Dave