mark poulson

I found that, for .092 screw eyes, I stick with the #6 and larger split rings, but made by a good manuf. I buy Danielson rings on TW. I'm sure there are quality bulk sources for the same thing, but I don't need that many. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Danielson_Stainless_Steel_Split_Rings/descpage-DSSSR.html I tried some cheapie bulk rings and they stayed open after I put them on the lures, so they went in the recycling.

I have had several split ring pliers, but none compares to the Leadmaster pliers, 5" model. They come with their phone number on the pivot, but it's not valid now, so I don't even know if they're still around. But they are/were the best. I have a pair of Rapala split ring pliers, and I ground the tongue down to make it thinner in both directions so it works well for #2 and larger split rings.

What brand hook are you using?

Makes sense.

A good vice with smooth side inserts (I use A35 teco clips held on by masking tape) will let you squeeze the sides of any lead head to get a flat for eyes. If you want a mold that will let you pour flat sided heads, maybe you could get a multiple cavity mold a little heavier than you want, and fill the bottoms of the cavities with JB Weld, smoothed to make a flat the size of the eye you want to use.

I'd say you should weigh one, or ten, and then divide that weight into the weight of a gallon, allowing maybe 10% for solvent loss and waste. That should be close, provided you reuse all your sprues and bad pours.

I didn't say it was right. But, from his perspective, maybe the steady business from Lurecraft is more important to his survival. We live in hard economic times, and people are doing whatever they think they need to to survive. It is not the choice I like to think I would have made, but I'm not in Del's shoes, so I can't say if it's right or wrong for him. Evidently he keeps up with the orders from Lurecraft, so maybe people just need to accept that he's no longer "direct to the public", and go to Lurecraft for their standard molds, and to someone else for customs.

Maybe Del does molds for Lurecraft first, because they are a big, steady customer. That's understandable. He runs a business.

Wrinkling is caused by either a solvent reacting with an underlying paint, or because the film strength of the top coat is so strong it pulls on the weaker underlying paint so hard it actually pulls it apart, like with crackle finishes. Air brush paint that is not properly dried is still weak. That goes for thick coats that never truly get heat set. Properly dried acrylic paint won't be affected by AC1315, in my experience. The same goes for other urethane coatings, nail polishes, and epoxy finishes. I've dipped all of them now, and had no wrinkling. I even rushed my paint job on a lure, going as fast as I could without skipping a step, just to see how it would be affected. Did I mention I'm not a very patient person? Hahaha Once I decide to paint a bait, I want it done as quickly as possible. For me, a well painted lure is a tool for me to catch fish, not a work of art. You can see that in my paint jobs. I dried each thin coat very well, though, because I was trying to eliminate any weaknesses that might give me a false reading. I have painted and dipped several plastic knockoff baits now, and there were no problems. I dip cleaned the baits in acetone first, shot on Wildlife, Wicked, and Createx colors, and then dipped them once in the AC1315. I hung them outside to drip back into the open AC1315 container, and then moved them into my garage, once they stopped dripping, to dry. I hit them with a hair dryer once they had lost the wet look. From start to finish, the process took two hours, with cleaning the air brush between colors and at the end, and the hour it took for the top coat to become dry/hard enough to put the hooks on. I fished them two days after they were finished, and one coat held up to grass, rocks, and some stripers. This is not the magic top coat, but it is a good one.

Cooler weather and air temps may be a problem. Heating your lures before you dip them might help. I actually hit them with a hair dryer before I dip them, just in case they have any moisture left on them. Also, storing the AC1315 at room temperature might help, too.

Fun stuff for sure. Thanks for sharing.

All I can think is that you may have put on too thick a coat of paint each time, so the paint stayed soft. Having the paint really dry first is key. I do multiple thin coats, and heat set them well. Try thinner coats. You can also try letting your baits dry overnight in a warm place. Other than that, if you're using the same type water based air brush paints I use, like Createx, Wildlife, Folk Art, and Apple Barrel, I'm at a loss why your paint wrinkles.

If this is the one you're thinking of, I doubt it. I've never been able to cut a skin with fur on it with a press. I've always had to use a knife with a point and cut at angle as I draw the knife along the skin. http://www.lurecraft.com/Deluxe-Plastic-Splitter/productinfo/2X138/ I'm only looking at the picture, I haven't ever used one, so maybe it can be adapted by removing some of the blades. Rabbit skins are a lot tougher than plastisol I bet you could make a similar tool that would work, but with the blades angled, and spaced how you need them, so a pointed corner of the blade would make the initial penetration. But I would think you might have trouble keeping the blades from cutting the fur. I have to go slow to avoid that.

Should I add my heat stabilizer to the gallon jug when I first get it, or wait until I've poured out what I'm going to heat each time? Thanks Frank.

Keep them out of the direct sun, and don't let them get hot in a compartment. Mine swelled up like a pregnant guppy, and were ruined.

For home pourers like me who stir their plastic as they pour to keep the flake in suspension, is paying extra for the degassed worth it?

But you're....you! Hahaha

It's the fumes from all the top coats over the years!

Thanks. That's it. He could be Mark Davis' brother...they sound just alike.

I can't open your link.

I get that warm bone yellow for hardbaits by adding yellow to a base white, and then a drop or two of gold to make it "dirty".

High praise, indeed! I still have some polyacrylic in a dipping jar somewhere in my garage, but it's sat so long I'd probably need a jack hammer to get the solids into suspension again. Hahaha In my never ending quest for good, fast, and idiot-proof, I've accumulated a great selection of "the usual suspects" over the years that have made their way to the back of the line, as each new candidate for "the perfect top coat" has bumped them back.

I am only a hobby pourer, but I bought some glitter from Baitjunky, and he sent along a sample of his plastisol to try. I was very pleased with how it heated and poured. When I need more I will be ordering from him.

The mealworms I've seen have always looked more yellow to me, with dark brown joint and accents. I'd try a yellow with some gold to get the main color, and then add some brown flake, or whatever color flake that looks brownish in the yellow plastic. Here's a link to a whole bunch of mealworm pictures: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=mealworm%20pictures