mark poulson

I am just a hobby maker, but I've found that vibrating the cup by hand will loosen stubborn powder to allow better dipping. That way, I can dip without creating Mt. Vesuvius.

I use 1/16" Lexan for the lips.

I was able to make my own Speed Traps. They aren't hard to make, and they work. I have several pictures of my finished Speed Trap copies in the Hard Baits Gallery.

Clearly they know it's you, and are trying to hide. Hahaha

This will help you. I shoot a bit and backflush with it every four or five painting session. I put it in a glass pickle jar with a gasketed metal lid, and it lasts for years. Even when it has old paint suspended in it, it still works. If I can't get my air brush to shoot right, I break it down and soak all the parts overnight, and then reassemble the next day and shoot another cup full back in my soaking jar, and I'm ready to go. It is a life saver. https://www.coastairbrush.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Restorer

I think you'll get more and better answers if you post this on the Wire Baits forum.

in my experience, wedge tails are more subtle. They work at slow speeds for me better than a paddle tail, but that's because I'm not looking for a "good kick" from a wedge tail.

I would add, "Don't be afraid of carving a little too deeply, or too perfectly." I've found that I can use bondo to repair anything that's too deep, and smooth and shape the face at the same time. If you're worried it isn't strong enough, put a couple of drops of runny super glue on the bondo, after it's been finish shaped, to reinforce it.

I have found that glass media affect the bait's color less, and salt helps the fish hold the bait longer, so a combination of the two, like wallyc14 said, is what I use for my stick baits. 4 cups plastisol, 1+ cup of glass, 1- cup of kosher salt, to achieve the 2 to 1 ratio of the original senko.

Thank you Bryan.

Frank, please repost the link to your youtube stuff. Thanks in advance.

It might help if you offer to pay them for the design.

Thin your paint with the paint manuf.s thinner, especially water based paints. Learn to quickly clean your airbrush so you won't get paint clogs. Do a more thorough cleaning after each painting session. Never put away your airbrush without wiping down the needle, or it will get stuck in the airbrush. Been there, done that, had to sell the T shirt to pay for a new needle.

If you're worried that the bait's epoxy might leak or get weak when you tweak the line tie, after you've tuned it to run right, add a drop of runny super glue to the area where the line tie goes into the lure. It will wick into any gaps in the epoxy, and reseal and strengthen the point of connection. I do that all the time when I'm tuning a new bait on the water.

You might try heating the blank in an oven or a microwave before you dip it. My friend Barry Starud, of Barry Baits, does that before he dips in a penetrating epoxy, and he gets really good results. I dip my red cedar lures in the wood hardener, and it does penetrate and harden, but I've never cut one open to see how far it penetrates. I make sure my lures are fully shaped and sanded, and that all the holes, for line tie, hook hangers, and potential ballast, are drilled before I dip them, and all of the holes are really hard afterwards. Cedar is a softer wood than Maple, so it may depend on the wood you choose, too.

I hope you do a test piece, and report back to us what you've found.

You might try Minwax Wood Hardener instead. It is designed for residential painters, to harden wood that has begun to rot, so they can fill in the bad/missing part with Bondo, and then paint. It is drawn into the grain, especially the end grain, and makes the wood waterproof. I dip my wooden baits for ten seconds, and then hang them to dry/cure, with a fan blowing the fumes away. After it off gasses it's solvent, you can finish sand, prime, and paint. Then use your topcoat of choice.

Whatever the Dollar Store or Dollar Tree in your area sells for $1.

A cheap, durable, easy-to-use clear coat for jigs and spinnerbaits is Dollar Store clear nail polish. It cures hard enough to fish overnight. I don't use in on my power coated baits, since powder coat is almost bullet proof by itself, but I often paint jigs and spinnerbaits with Createx air brush paint to get more complicated or different colors than the powder coat I have. After priming them with Rustoleum Self Etching Primer, I paint them with the Createx. Then I top coat them with the nail polish. It holds up for years. If one does get nicked, it's a simple matter to touch it up and then use it again the next day.

My friend just gave me a 2"x2"x36" piece of western red cedar, so I'll be playing around with it starting next week.

Is that related to fire hardening wood?

Thank you.