mark poulson

Found it.

Wow, this looks like a great thread in the making! Thanks for being willing to share all your hard work.

I agree with BobP about epoxy, but Solarez does bond well to both plastic KO's and Lexan bills.

Has anyone here added a double arm wire to a standard spinnerbait to get a different, U rig-type look?

Man, I bought two 8 cavity molds, plus six skirt molds for $100 from someone here. I really lucked out! It's great to be able to pour matching skirts for any crazy color scheme I come up with.

The reason I asked is because Ray is looking for a mold, and so much has been posted here about problems getting Del's molds on time. Maybe that has changed now, but I wanted to see what else is out there. It's good to know there are some alternatives out there. The Del's mold is actually a little longer than the original Ika, 2.25" plus the nib for skirt attachment,and a little fatter, 5/8" at the 1 1/8" long cylindrical middle section. It tapers the same at each end, similar to the original. It makes casting them weightless even better. Plus the added length lets me use a 5/0 VMC EWG hook. I load them up (a cup of plastic) with both salt and blasting medium, plus a table spoon of my old Caney Creek sinking additive, to make them stronger. They cast like missles!

I'm with you Pete. His wife is Debbie, and I know this must be terrible for her, and his whole family.

Who makes a Fat Ika mold besides Del?

I would look for another maker first, to avoid problems. Does Bass Tackle make an Ika mold?

Have you guys tried water-based sharpies for adding details?

Have you guys tried Solarez UV cured resin?

I'm not familiar with the particular compressor, but it has a very small storage tank. Generally speaking, non-airbrush specific compressors like that are noisy when they cycle and repressurize their storage tank. So, a larger storage tank will take longer to pressurize, depending on how strong the compressor is, but it will give you a lot more stored air, so it doesn't have to cycle as often. If you're worried about noise in the house, I don't think that compressor will be quiet enough for you.

I don't know about the Durham's, but I bake the pop for a couple of hours at 170, and then let the mold sit overnight before I seal it with D2T, diluted 2/1 with denatured alcohol ( the 1). Be sure to mix the D2t really well BEFORE you add the alcohol, or the alcohol will bond with the unmixed parts and it will never set up.

That sounds perfect for PVC and resin baits, if you coat them with bondo and then roll in the pattern. It would probably work to make a reverse pattern in a clay master.

Nate's wife just posted this: Nate is back in the hospital in Osage Beach. He has multiple blood clots and pneumonia in the right lung, a blood clot in the right leg, a UTI, low platelets and all with a fever. The pain is being controlled and he is resting. They are giving him blood thinners and antibiotics. He and I have been best friends for 41 years now and at times it seems like yesterday. Please keep him in your prayers. Love, Deb

I do sometimes, either with AC 1315 or Solarez UV cure resin. Mostly when I've painted the lip with craw claws, like with Wiggle Warts,where the bait looks like a craw swimming craws first. Both protect the paint and seem to not peel at all. But first I dip the blank, unpainted, into clean acetone, to remove any surface contamination, and some of the sanding marks left from the manufacturing process. I also think it presents a "virgin" plastic surface for painting, because it removes a thin layer of plastic, so I can paint directly on the plastic with no primer. That lets me do transparent paint schemes. As a side note, I use the Solarez when I've heat bent the lip, to give it a little more reinforcement, in case the heat weakened the lip.

Thanks Skimpy.

Would trailer hooks work? They are short.

I use the Naked Bait skirt maker, and put the flash into the collar while it's still on the skirt maker. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Naked_Bait_Jig_Spinnerbait_Skirt_Expander/descpage-NBSE.html

The most successful vibrating baits I've used have either an arkie head, or a football head.

Thank you so much.

Drat! That's old school for damnit! Oh, well, back to the search! Do you have a mold number, so I can search online for it?

Dave, You truly are an engineer! You can't let something slide without improving it just a little. I've never had a Snap Lock snap open up on a fish.