mark poulson

I do the same as Bob, except I use metalic gold from Folk Art instead of brown. Enough Createx yellow to give the bait a yellow cast, and then a couple of drops of the gold to "tarnish" it a little. I think of bone as a warm white. I used to paint a "dirty" bone with just brown, but it didn't get bit like the yellow/gold.

What does the lb rating of the foam mean?

I put a coat of Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails clear, with some glitter mixed in, to add glitter to my heads sometimes. It would work to coat the heads. Otherwise, I fish them with just the oven cured powder coat.

I do the same, with a pair of old needle nose that one of my sons gave me. It actually has the imprint of the hook eye in it now, from hardened powder that forms around it when I dip into the fluid bath. It's not 100%, mostly because I do it without my glasses, so I'm kinda sloppy, but they work well enough. I dip 50 or so, and hang them on a wire rack as I dip. Once I'm done, I check the eyes, remove any slop with a pair of split ring pliers, and then cure them in my toaster oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I don't sell, so this is just for me and my buddy, who does the lead pouring.

Thin wire vibrates faster, and stiff wire vibrates more. But everything is a tradeoff, since thinner is weaker, and stiffer bends less easily, and can be less forgiving. Nothing is forever, except herpes.

Swivels on the line tie will affect the action because the additional weight so far forward changes the angle of attack. Look how cranks with metal lips require entirely different ballasting,

When Revenge came out with their deep runner spinnerbaits, with the hidden body weight, the wire they used was thinner, and they broke very easily. Either the wire was too weak to begin with, or the added vibration weakened the wire, from repeated bending where the wire came out of the head. I stopped throwing them because they were so fragile.

Vic, Glad it worked out. You never know until you try. JR, I would think the added weight of the swivel is what affects the bait's action. Just using a snap, like what comes with a Speed Trap crank, shouldn't affect the action, as long as it's round. An angled clip will restrict the action of the crank. It has too small a space for the line tie to move well.

If I go that route, I'll hit you up for some pics., so I don't ruin anything.

Fair enough. I was hoping you had, and you would become my Uncle Jed Clampett!

Thanks. Is that on the outside of the pot?

Guys, I only mentioned it in this thread because several people mentioned here they had problems with their drinking water being undrinkable, since it was contaminated. I worry because younger people may not know that this was not the norm in this country even 25 years ago. There were certainly exceptions, like the one Erin Brockovich fought PG&E to address, and even wells that drill down into aquifers with heavy metals produce undrinkable water. But, by and large, water in this country was drinkable in most places. We were ( and still are) the envy of most of the rest of the world because we can drink our water. These members may be young enough not to know that polluting our drinking water is not okay, just because it makes cheap oil available.

One of the reasons I began using Target Coatings SC 9300 (super clear) urethane as a top coat (thank you Husky) was that it did not diminish or dull metallic paints. You might try something like that.

Would a PID automatically adjust to maintain the desired temp, no matter what the depth/amount of plastic in the pot?

Bob, Pollution of our ground water by fracking is something we all should talk about. No drinking water equals no people.

Travis, Will these mats work: http://www.dickblick.com/products/dahle-self-healing-cutting-mats/

So, I think the obvious question is, does anyone have the right to destroy a public resource for financial gain?

I buried a young friend who died of leukemia, after spending 10 years using automotive paints to do custom finishes on kitchen hoods. He didn't use proper protection and ventilation equipment, and paid the ultimate price.

Ronald, Those are some great ideas to calibrate the pot's heat at different fill levels. Here's Big Ray's link to the Steve Merlo video on Facebook: https://www.facebook...51236172107106/

Acetone is a good soft plastic solvent.

Vic, I'm impressed! Very nice, indeed. I have two questions. First, have you tried putting the line tie down into the bill? I'm pretty sure it will dive deeper if you do. Second, have you tried fishing it with just a split ring line connection, instead of the snap and swivel you used in the video? I've found that adding both a snap and a swivel changes the action on my lures. Mark

This is a great thread. Thanks for sharing it Bryanmc.

I find D2T is also relatively heavy, because it also goes on thicker. Depending on what you have on hand, I'd suggest you use something thinner and lighter to seal your bait, like a concrete sealer or super glue. But Bob P makes really nice balsa baits, and he uses D2T, so it does work. You should probably P.M. him and ask for his advice on how to use it with smaller baits.

When I first built wooden top water lures, like a Lunker Punker, I painted the with rattle can paint and rattle can clear for top coat. Because the whole paint scheme was oil/solvent based, it held up to water just fine. But it didn't like rocks, and didn't work with jointed baits (too much water intrusion). I would never use it now. Ben's suggestions are right on!

The upside with Solarez is you can dip it (indoors, so no UV light), and then cure it in the sun, or with a UV nail light. With the nail light it cures in three minutes, ready to paint, if you're using it as a sealer, or to fish fresh out of the nail light bos. As Jdeee said, it is not as glossy as other topcoats, but it is fine for me. It is thicker than urethanes, so one dip coat is all you need. Since it is thicker, it is also heavier, so I typically use it for big surface baits that are very buoyant anyway. I don't use it on small cranks, like square bills, where the extra weight might affect the action. It is hard and strong, so it really protects lures. I was given a bunch of older Poe's deep divers that had their bills installed not square to the crosswise axis of the baits. and asked to fix the bills, make them suspend/slow rise, and repaint them for my friend. I heated the bills, twisted them until they were square to the baits, reweighted them to make them slow rise, and then dipped them in Solarez, including the bills, because I wanted the resin to reinforce the heated, twisted bills. He is still fishing them, and the bills are holding up just fine. If you dip, do it inside, over the container with doors closed and windows covered, or the drips will begin curing as they fall back into the container, and you'll wind up with a bunch of boogers in your resin. Been there, done that. I had to strain it through mesh to get them out. Like Musky Glenn said, it is another useful tool, but it is not the magic bullet.