mark poulson

I've found that the wider the joints the bigger the wiggle. I typically make my last joint, to the tail, wider than the rest. When assembled, if I hold my bait by the head, facing down, I want the 4 piece bait to bend back down in a U, with the tail hanging straight down again. I use screw eyes and bicycle spoke axles as hinges, so I can adjust my joint size by running my eyes in or out as needed.

Never heard of them, but they look interesting.

If you're using Createx paints, there's no need to prime a plastic bait for adhesion. Just dip it in clean acetone quickly, to open and clean the outer surface, and you can paint the Createx directly onto the lure. It bonds just fine. That way, you avoid any potential problems with solvent affecting your rattle can primer.

Once upon a time, I had some cloth polishing wheels for my bench grinder. Are they still available?

Thanks.

Since I knew I was going to put at least 2 coats on my lures, and I coated them on my Ferris wheel turner, I would mix my Etex, use a hair dryer below my Solo mixing cup to get the air bubbles to burst, let it sit for ten minutes, and then brush it on as thin as it would lay on, and still cover everything. I'd check it for the first 15 minutes after it was on the turner, to see if there were sags or dry spots, and then I'd let it turn for 8 hours, after which I'd apply the second coat. Trying to put on one thick coat is asking for problems. It is designed to self level on whatever flat surface it's applied to, so it will sag if you put on one thick coat.

I tried that with some slip sinkers, and they were a bear to get off the wire after the top coat cured, because I had gotten some of the top coat on the bare wire. I had to carve it off with an exacto, before the weights would slide off.

Thanks for the testing, and posting the results. It seems like most of our lure making troubles come from trapped moisture or solvent, because we didn't wait long enough to let stuff dry completely, or offgas, before we top coated. So we are our own worst enemies. Hahaha

Hahaha Too true!

Neat effect. That guy make everything look sooooo easy!

X2

My daughter is in Toronto, and says it's still below freezing there, too. Here in SoCal I fished yesterday. We launched at 42 degrees, and it was 88 degrees when we got off the lake. Crazy weather!

I mix my hand pour plastics pretty hard to keep the flake and salt up, and wind up with some tiny air bubbles that don't go away. Is it possible to do that with injection plastics to make them more buoyant?

Off topic question. Skeeter, have you tried coating the foam with super glue before painting to make it last?

I have both black and white in the Wicked Air paints. I use them for base coating, mostly. The black is thin enough to spray right out of the bottle, but the white needs to be thinned. I use the 4011 reducer.

Nice setup.

You could always apply a thin urethane top coat before you add the mesh, to protect the paint from the adhesive.

Sorry, I was thinking of the 301. Doh!!!

Your buddy must be into some strong psychedelics! Hahaha

Riverman, I drill one hole where the joint slot goes, and then widen it into a V+- by rocking the drill bit back and forth side to side. I clean up with an exacto knife. I put my screw eyes in the other section first, and then mark where I want the slots for them to seat on the section I'm working on. I make V shaped joints, with the screw eye in the female part of the V, facing back towards the tail, and the slot going into the male part facing it.

The salt is important for me because I fish my Ikas and senkos weightless, with just a small split shot pinched onto the head, and a Northland Buckshot rattle hung from the hook belly on my Ikas. I use Kosher salt for the added weight, and to try and keep the lures from being cloudy like they get with ground salt, but the more salt you use, the more opaque the lures will be. Look at the GYCB senkos. They aren't transparent.

I realize there are lots of people using routers successfully, but, unless you're going into production and are practiced with routers, I think the risk far outweighs the advantages. Carving and hand sanding work really well, and give you a much safer method. If you're making lures as a hobby, you'll be able to hand shape them just fine, and they will catch as many fish as machined lures, maybe even more because they aren't "perfect". Have faith in your abilities, which will develop as you make more lures, use centerlines to help you keep them symmetrical, and you'll be fine. It's not rocket science.

It is strong and hard, and holds hardware and glued in stuff really well. Plus it is totally waterproof, so my days of sealing before I can test float lures are gone, and so are paint jobs ruined by water intrusion. AZEK cuts and machines like wood. If you use dull tools, it is hard to cut, and a dull tablesaw blade will melt as it cuts, and you'll see wispy trailers. But it machines and carves really well. The dust has an electrostatic charge, and is very obnoxious, so wear a dust mask. It sticks to everything. I use an oscillating belt sander to shape my lures, and take the lure outside to blow the clinging dust off it and my hands before I continue, after each shaping session. Maybe some cling free laundry spray would help with that, but I haven't tried it. It holds screw eyes fine with just a small pilot hole. I run mine in and back out, coat with super glue, and run back in. I also drill small holes and use the figure 8 sst sinker wires for line ties on my cranks, so I can turn them crossways and minimize hook rash. I drill a hole the same size as the 8, fill it with super glue, set the 8 in and position it, and then hit it with the accelerant. I've never had one pull out. I do the same thing with smaller Spro swivels, and they work great for belly hangers. I drill a snug hole, test fit the swivel, and then remove it, coat the inside of the hole with gel crazy glue, and reinstall my swivel. The gel give me a little more working time. The biggest fish I've caught on a swiveled popper is 8+, so I know they hold. AZEK trimboard doesn't have the tensile strength of their decking, but it is more buoyant, almost like balsa. For the baits we make, me anyway, it works just fine, and allows me to place my ballast in the belly without affecting the action of the lure. I hope this helps.

I make it by using both watermelon green and green pumpkin, and then adding brown or black to taste. I don't have a formula, I just play around until I like it. Add the flake early in the process, after you've heated your plastic to 350 to get it converted, because the flake will change the color of the plastic. Also add your salt early on, because that will change the color too. I add heat stabilizer so I don't overcook my plastic while I'm adding colors and reheating it.

Hardwood only worked for me when I used poplar, before I switched to Azek PVC decking and trim board. It was the only hardwood I found that was light, but strong. Try making the body wider on top, so it has a V shaped cross section from the shoulders down. That way, there is more buoyant material on the top/back than on the bottom/belly. I taper from 15/16" on the top to 5/8" on the bottom and that works. Be sure you add your ballast from the belly up, and keep it in the first/head section, or in the first two, if you need more. Never put ballast in the tail or you bait will swim tail down, and with much less action.