mark poulson

I resemble that remark!!!! Hahaha I prefer to think of myself as well cured.

When I use the 1/4" lead wire, I cut a 6" length with wire cutters, roll it on top of my tablesaw with a flat piece of steel to straighten it, and then use a drywall knife to cut the length I need. I roll the cut off piece again to remove the mushrooming that cutting it off causes, so it fits easily into a 1/4" hole. I use PVC for my baits, and the lead wire is snug fit.

Remember that the higher the gloss, the stronger the film strength. That's why high gloss paints hold up best, especially outdoors. The gloss is formed by the linking of long chain polymer molecules.

Try wearing disposable nitrate gloves when you handle your baits to keep finger oils off of them. CVS sells them by the box.

Your baits look really good!!! I used the pink silicone that Larry Dahlberg shows on his site, and it had no bubbles. But it is expensive. http://www.makelure.com/

They look perfect! Good for you.

I use 1/4" lead wire, pushed into 1/4" holes in the bellies of my baits, and held in place with a drop of crazy glue. A 1/4" length weighs 2 grams, so it's easy to measure and cut the weights I need. I like to push it in just past flush, and then fill the depression with Bondo that I can sand to shape. The 5lb spool I bought a few years ago is labeled "Ames Wire", but I don't remember where I bought it. I think it was Cabela's, but they don't show it on their website anymore. For a hobby builder like me 5lbs goes a long way. Here is Ames' website: http://leadproducts.amesmetal.com/viewitems/pure-lead-pure-tin-wire-solder-bars-wire/spool-wires? You may be able to find out from them where a local retailer is in your area, or just do an online search for 1/4" lead wire.

I shape totally by eye, and it works okay. For me, the top shape of the crank has the most to do with whether it swims straight, since it's what hits the water as it's retrieved. The sides and bottoms have more to do with the width of wobble. I've also found that making the forehead of a crank, from the lip up to just behind the eyes, slightly cupped, like a rattle trap, helps it to track straighter.

When I used to use epoxy, I would take the baits apart after I'd painted them, coat the insides of the joints with D2T, lapping it out onto the sides 1/4", and then, after it had set, I'd reassemble the baits, put them on my turning wheel, and coat their faces with either Etex or NuLustre.

A centerline on the bait once I've cut out the profile does more than allow me to align the hook hangers, ballast, and lip. I gives me a guide to use as I shape the bait on my oscillating belt sander, to help me make the baits symmetrical, since I do all my shaping by hand, and by eye. For me, close counts, and having a centerline, and good light, makes shaping my way doable.

Great idea! Thanks.

I cut my lip slots on a bandsaw while the blanks are still rectangular. I keep a piece of the lip material next to me, and do test fittings until I get it right. Once I do the first, top cut, I do the rest of the cutting from the bottom so that, if I make the slot sloppy, I can have a good, square face at the top to wedge the lip against when I'm gluing it in. I use a piece of blue tape on the underside of the lip to mark a centerline on the lip, and check the alignment when I'm gluing and wedging. I use a small straight edge to line up both the hook hangers with the centerline on the lip.

Good luck!

Do you hit the lures with a hair dryer between dips? Sounds like you're trapping some solvent under the next dip coat, and it's keeping the lure soft longer.

Someone here on TU mounted some pizza cutter wheels on a bolt, with thin washers for spacers, and it seemed to work for them. Use as many wheels as you need to cut your tails, and vary the thickness of the tails by the thickness of the spacer washers. Someone else mounted a series of single edged razors side by side and used that. I think you could use a plastic comb, and a sharp single edged razor, too, but it would take longer.

One of the reasons I tried SC9000 water borne urethane was that it was supposed to not diminish or dull paint schemes, even metalics. I found that was true. The Solarez I'm now using also doesn't affect paint schemes, although some say it dulls them. I haven had that experience. Both finishes have a touch of some kind of solvent that will react to solvent based sharpies, so I spray a coat of Createx clear gloss over the sharpies if I don't want them to run. It would probably do the same as a barrier between sovent based paints, but I don't know how it would affect adhesion. One of the things that is great about lacquer paint is the way one coat melts into the previous coat, so you really get almost a single layer when you're done, and it's really well bonded. Putting a layer of water based paint between the lacquer coats would probably defeat that. But I haven't really had a problem with paint coats delaminating if my topcoat doesn't fail.

I use a hair dryer between dips of my water-borne urethane to speed up the cure time. That would probably help with your finish, too, since heat accelerates chemical reactions.

If you're worried about nail polish, which I know can be softened in water, just use the crazy glue (super glue). It sets and off gasses really quickly, and whatever isn't set will be set by the water when you fish it. The nail polish is just to add a smoother protection coat for the threads. The glue itself will hold until you cut it off with a knife.

littleriver, I, too, fished the original Rapala, when I could finally afford it, back in the early 60's. Mine is snagged in the middle of an eastern Sierra Nevada trout stream. Over the years I've bought many Rapala lures. But their deep divers have/had fragile bills. They broke at the line tie if you hit them on a rock, or even slapped weeds off them on the water. I figured it had to do with the metal in the bill, and maybe some weird painting process, like a radio-cured topcoat that caused stress at that point. The DT series holds up much better, so they have obviously finally changed something. I love their DT series.

Brush on some crazy glue, coat it with Sally Hansen's clear, hang for a day, and go fishing.

They look really good! I actually like the blue edges. I think it looks more natural. I try and add the same kind of thing with scented pens from SpikeIt.

When I've had crinkling with other top coats it's usually because I did too thick a base coat, trying to hurry up and get to the paint scheme itself, and didn't dry it enough. Lesson learned. Thin coats and dry each completely.

Sounds like it really was designed to hunt for fishermen! Hahaha I know I bought one of each, four in total, and was so unimpressed by the first one I haven't even opened the last three. It only semi-hunts at one speed, and getting that speed right is tricky at best. Maintaining that speed throughout a retrieve, particularly on a long cast, requires a lot of faith that you've got it right at the start. When you finally wind it back to where you can see it, and find out it's doing 360's, is really frustrating. I may play around with the bill, and drill a hole in the center near the bait, to relieve some of the water pressure, particularly at higher speeds. Since the baits are just sitting now it can't be any worse than it already is. Finding a good, sharp bit is the key, so I don't crack the bill. In the past I've use bits with a steep angled cutting edge for plastics that were designed just for that. But Rapala bills have always been really fragile. I think I'll use a new brad point bit, in a drill press, since the cut the outline before they remove the material from the middle, almost like a hole saw.

If you buy #30 silica sand, it comes dry.

I don't know. That would be a question for Jim at Predator Baits. http://www.predatorbassbaits.com/id69.html Hit the contact us button at the top of the page. Jim will answer any questions you have.