mark poulson

Solarez UV polyester resin is the easiest and most trouble free, in terms of reacting with any paints you use. If you buy a UV nail light, you can dip your bait, let it hang inside, out of direct sunlight, for five minutes so it can drip back into your dipping jar, wipe off the last drips on the bottom, and then hang it in the UV nail light box. It will cure hard enough to fish in three minutes. I turn mine every 30 seconds. http://solarez.com/products/low-voc-dual-cure-polyester-resin/ I bought a quart, and it lasted a long time. http://www.amazon.com/SHANY-Light-Dryer-Watts-Series/dp/B00644YNCM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1408459337&sr=8-8&keywords=uv+nails+lamp I paid $30+- for my nail light. The 36 watt model works well.

You can even use Sally Hansen Hard as Nails clear to protect your jigs. It's a quick, handy deal for one or two, not for quantities. I have some clear with different colored glitter in each bottle that I shake up and coat jigs with after I've powder coated and baked them.

Thanks.

You make it look soooo easy!

That's a smart idea. Simple and effective.

That's a neat idea! Does the extra blade weight affect the spin of the larger blade?

Give a man a fish, and he'll eat today. Teach him to fish, and he's headed for a divorce!

Heat stabilizer and a digital thermometer are your friends.

Put in a set screw. If you use a wing nut screw, it's easy to remove and reinstall. Just mark the injector and nozzle, so they line up when you reassemble them, and the screw holes will line up.

Those guys at Robo are really talented, and creative, too. They make worms that work.

In a way your first post was right. Time is money, and, with all the labor he puts into his baits, he needs to charge a shload just so he can sleep at night. It would break my heart to make such exquisite lures and not get what they are worth.

Thanks. I did find them on Barlow's site.

I have made silicone molds, too, but it is a lot of work. And I couldn't get the fine detail I wanted, or use soft masters. I had really good luck using Solarez UV cured polyester resin. Here's what I use: http://solarez.com/products/low-voc-dual-cure-polyester-resin/ I bought a quart, and it lasted a year, mainly for top coating hard baits. Once I had used it to repair the broken nose on my son's surfboard, I realized it could be used for mold making, too. I made some fine finned molds using factory soft plastics with fine fins as masters, and it copied all the details, Just be sure that you use a slick base plate to glue your masters down to, and seal the four sides down real well, too. The resin is viscous, and will find any crack or hole and run out. I didn't use a release agent when I made my mold. It would probably help in getting the mold off the base plate, but I was afraid it would interfere with getting the resin to fill all the detail. I added the resin inside the garage, and then took it out into the sun to cure. I did it in layers, so it would cure completely. I brushed on the first coat, so all the details got filled really well, set that for a minute in the sun to begin curing, brushed on a second coat, another minute in the sun, and then filled the mold box so I had at least 1/4" over the tops of the masters. I left it in the sun for half an hour to fully cure, and then took the sides off and pried it off the base. It was strong and rigid. Because the poured mold wasn't perfectly smooth on the side I poured from, I used a belt sander to flatten it, so it would lay down evenly when I poured my plastics. I had some flippers that got fully covered, so I drilled some tiny vent holes down to each one, to help them fill completely, and they do. I use spray pam as a release agent on the mold when I pour my plastics, and it works great. I don't think it will work with hard masters.

Smalljaw, Where can I find the 786BP hooks? I can't find them on the Eagle Claw webpage.

X2 It also does Oxblood jigs really well, too.

I keep a Glad brand tupperware tub of water next to my painting area, and I made a simple U shaped wire holder that attaches to the side, so I can hang my air brush in the water while I'm drying my lure's paint without the paint in the brush drying out. I used a metal coat hanger for the wire, so it's easy to do, and not expensive.

If you're going to shoot lacquers, clean immediately with lacquer thinner or acetone, after each bowl of paint, unless you refill immediately and continue painting. Back flush really well and pull the needle out and clean it, or you'll wind up with a frozen air brush.

That's a good idea for adding ballast, too. Thanks. I bet you could add it to bondo and shape it.

The things that make paint glossy make it stronger, just like with top coats.

Insanity doesn't recognize borders!

Try buying a couple of spare paint bottles, and use one with clean water to back flush and clean your gun. That's what I do with my Badger siphon gun, and it works fine.

Great minds think alike! I guess they type at the same time, too. I don't know about other states, but Calif. doesn't allow the same kinds of lacquer paints that we used thirty+ years ago. Something about ozone depletion. Of course, the new paints do save the ozone, but they are deadly for people. Go figure!

Createx will NOT hold up without a top coat. Neither will any other water based fabric paint. I'm guessing Bomber used some kind of flat lacquer, but I've never sprayed that kind of paint. If I were making them, I'd top coat with my normal top coat, and then either knock off the gloss with a scotchbrite pad, or spray a coat of matte finish over that, to knock off the sheen.

I would be concerned how heating them would affect them, and how long before they turn rancid.