mark poulson

I thin exactly like Aaron and Junior. I try to get whatever I'm thinning to the consistency of milk. Different paints, like Apple Barrel and Folk Art, always need thinning, and some Createx paints, like opaques and pearls, may need it, too. I err on the side of a little too thin, rather than having to play around with my air brush while I'm trying to do a paint scheme. Using the 4011 reducer lets you make your paints thinner without losing it's film strength, and having it turn back into powder when it dries.

I don't notice enough odor to make me worry, but I've been around chemicals so long my nose may not be sensitive any more. It is viscous, so having a fan on behind you while you coat, to move the fumes away from you won't cause any problems. I have a box fan mounted up high in the back of my garage, and have it on, blowing past me from the side and out toward the open overhead door when I dip or brush my baits with Solarez. I am more concerned with the UV light affecting my eyes. I am careful not to look into my UV light box for long when I coat, and I cover my nail light box while it's curing my baits. If I need to look into the light for some reason, I wear UV protected sun glasses.

Ishi, First of all, welcome to TU! I make three and four piece swimbaits. I use the screw eye and pin method. I always put the screw eye in the rear of the section, and the pin in the front of the following section. I did a series of swimbaits a few years ago with the joints reversed, and found they didn't swim at low speeds. I always make my head section longer than the other body sections if I can. That keeps the head more still, while the rest of the sections swim behind it. For a 6" 4 piece swimbait, I make the head 2 1/4", and the other three sections 1 1/4". 1 1/4' is the smallest I make a section that will hold a hook, because the screw eyes I use need that much room. I use 1 1/2" .092 screw eyes and bicycle spokes for the hinges in those swimbaits. If I'm making a small jointed bait, I only put a hook in the head section, so the joints don't have to be as strong, and I can use sst cotter keys and spinnerbait wire pins for the hinges. I've never tried to use the hook hanger screw eyes for hinge pins. I am afraid the sharp threads will cut and wear out the screw eyes. But I may be worried about nothing. I've never actually tried it. Let us know how it works for you.

I only build balsa baits occasionally, but, when I do, I seal the blank with runny super glue. It makes the bait hard, and is totally waterproof, plus it adds almost no weight to the bait. For me, there's a fine line between having a penetrating sealer that's bullet proof, and adding so much weight to a balsa bait that I lose what makes balsa unique, which is it's amazing buoyancy. Since my balsa baits are smaller, I only use the super glue.

As a life long carpenter, I appreciate the variations in wood. Having said that, the consistency and even "grain" of AZEK PVC, coupled with it's strength, buoyancy, hardness, ease of machining and carving, and the fact that it's totally waterproof, make it the perfect material for lure building for me. When I'm building a lure, it eliminates any worries about water intrusion. I can shape, weight, test, adjust, paint, top coat (Solarez), and fish a lure all in the same day. It is a real find for me. Thank you again JR Hopkins!

Is there a chance that the swimbait was from Z-man, or Keitech, and made with the really strong, stretch plastic? I've never tried RTV with that kind of plastic. It may react badly with the silicone. I usually spray my soft masters with PAM as a release agent. I spray my hard clay masters with clear acrylic.

I tried Minwax Wood Hardener when I used to build with wood. I dipped my wood blanks, and held them under for several minutes. Then I let the blank drip dry over my painting station drying wrack. It took a long time for all the solvents to come back out, once I'd sealed the wood. I had trouble with bubbles from the trapped solvent when I heat set my paint. I tried heating the sealed blank before I painted it, but I could never get it to stop bubbling. That was the last wood sealer I tried before I went over the dark side...PVC. Hahaha That was five+ years ago. Maybe this new product is better.

Thanks. I'll keep my eyes open for it.

If it's a two part material, you may not have mixed it completely.

I think the main ingredient in WD40 is fish oil. It is a dynamite catfish attractant here in CA, so you may wind up adding it as a scent to your plastics, too.

It's really pretty simple, and I can clean my brush between coats or colors in about a half a minute. I use an Iwata two stage gravity brush 95% of the time, and this is how I clean it. Before I started using this method, it was 50/50 that I would have to shoot some acetone through my brush before I could use it again, and maybe even soak the nozzle parts in it. But this method has made cleaning a breeze, and I seldom need to run acetone through my brush anymore. Basically, I wanted a way to backflush my brush quickly and completely, and to avoid the paint in the nozzle from drying out between coats. I have a tupperware next to my work bench, with a cheap plastic artists brush in it. After I spray a color, or when I've finished with whatever paint is in the brush, before I heat set the paint on the bait, I put my air brush into the water so both the tip and the cup are underwater, and shoot a burst of air through it, to get the paint in the brush out, and to keep the paint in the nozzle from setting up. Then I hang it over the edge of the tupperware, so the nozzle is still underwater, and the cup, too, depending on how much water is in the tupperware. That keeps the nozzle and cup wet, so any paint left in them won't dry and become a problem Then I can take the time to heat set the bait properly. Once the bait is dried, I go back to the brush to clean it more thoroughly. I hold the air brush so the nozzle and cup are underwater completely, cover the nozzle with my index finger, and backflush the brush for five seconds. Then I loosen the nozzle a little, and back flush again. This cleans the tiny paint holes in the nozzle. I retighten the nozzle, use the artist's brush to clean out the cup and the nozzle, and backflush again. Once I've finished my painting session, I follow the same procedure. Then I pull the needle out, wipe it off, and put it back in and shoot a little water with dish washing liquid in it (a small squirt in a 12oz. spray bottle) through the brush to give it a final cleaning. I work the needle back and forth a couple of times to get the cleaning mixture into the needle channel, and to loosen any last paint that might have found it's way into the channel. Then I shoot the last of the mixture out through the brush. I think the water/detergent mix leaves a little lubricant in the needle channel so the brush is ready to go next time, but I always shoot some of the same mix through the brush at the beginning of each session, too, to be sure the brush is moving easily. If it's at all sticky, I put some acetone in the cup and back flush the same way, and that usually frees up anything that is sticky. I hold the airbrush in my right hand, and use my left to cover the nozzle for all the back flushing. I use a blue nitrile glove on my left, non-airbrush hand because I hold the bait in it while I'm painting, so it's easy to put my left index finger over the nozzle for back flushing. If you have a brush with an exposed needle, like a Badger, you can't use this method. I buy my gloves at CVS or Riteaid, and they last a long time. I'm still on my first box, and have only used three gloves all year. I am careful to get all the extra water out from around the trigger, or at least to be sure and flush that area out, too. Dirty water in the trigger area is the biggest drawback to my system, so I always start out with a fresh tupperware of clean water, and make sure there's no water sitting in the trigger area when I'm done, by shaking the brush after I'm done. It took longer to type these instructions than it does to clean with this method. Plus, you don't spend a fortune on cleaning solution, which is really just soap and water anyway, and you keep the nozzle from getting dry paint buildup between coats and colors. Some colors, like black, red, blue, and orange, are really strong, so I take a little extra time after shooting them to clean the nozzle and the needle. But most transparent colors, for the most part, aren't as big an issue as opaques, and I don't have to clean the needle at all before the next coat or color. Play around with it, and I'm sure you'll develop a system that works for you. Good luck. Rep

Frank, Is Lureworks selling the new paint yet, and, if so, what is it called?

Mythos, Acetone will eat right through most plastics, and I would be afraid even tupperware. I only add the acetone to the cup of the brush, like Ben said, and backflush, or fill a glass jar part way with acetone and soak the brush parts in it overnight, if I can't get it clean by backflushing.

If you plan to make cranks or swimbaits, cut them out with a bandsaw and shape them with a belt sander. Your sander will remove the hard skin as you shape them.

Thanks for the heads up Bob. You saved me learning the hard way. I'll look into a gel coat repair kit.

For emphasis! Hahaha

Bob, I just did the same thing. Rapala makes good lures. I want to have one in hand when I try to make similar lures. I think the raised edge may be a big part of making them hunt. Dieter, I saw how the Rapala bills are curved where they enter the lure, too. I am going to make some curved lexan bills, shaped to final size first, and then cut a regular bill slot on the bandsaw that will just accept the curved part that goes into the lure. I'm hoping, that way, the bill will still be square, and I can fill in the voids with epoxy. I'll let you know how it goes. Do the Finnish lipped lures you posted hunt like the Rapalas are supposed to?

What he said!

Lexan is easy to shape. Make a convex shape on a piece of wood, and a complementary convex shape on another. Heat the lexan with a heat gun, and sandwich it between the two pieces of wood. You don't need to clamp it. The heated lexan is soft, but cool hard really quickly. I sanded a curve into a piece of wood, and found a round piece of metal that fit it pretty close. I clamp the bill into a pair of vice grips to keep the part that goes into the lure flat. It works for me. That scatter lip is intriguing. It looks like it has a raised bead all the way around the edge. So it catches the water even more before it spills off one side or the other. Those folks at Rapala are pretty clever.

Ask for PVC trim board. It is the most buoyant, and still plenty strong enough for one piece cranks and top waters. AZEK is the only brand name I know, but there are others out there that work.

I just bought one. Weighing in tenths of a gram will be a big help for me when I'm figuring ballast. I've been using a weight watchers scale, but it only weighs in grams, not fractions. Thanks.

Has anyone tried using a flour sifter to apply powder paint over large pieces, instead of dipping them?

Ben pointed out the problem with soldering or welding thin wire. The spot you heat becomes brittle. I soften spinnerbait wire with heat to open and close old loops, but I can only do it once.

I just posted this in another thread, and am too lazy to retype it: I am just a hobby builder, and make baits mostly for myself and a few friends. For me, PVC has cut my bait making process down from four days to four hours, tops. I got turned to the dark side (PVC) several years ago by JR Hopkins ( ) when I was struggling with finding a way to seal my wooden swimbaits, without success. I can make a bait, attach the bill, line tie, and hardware, and ballast it in my test bucket without any sealing, because it is totally waterproof. PVC has allowed me to make, paint, and topcoat (Solarez) a bait in one day and fish it the same day, if I want to. The PVC trimboard I use, made by AZEK, is as buoyant as all but the lightest balsa. For feather light cranks that pop up like corks, there is nothing like light balsa. But for all other cranks, including top waters, the PVC trimboard works great. It is waterproof, light, and strong. My biggest fish on a homemade PVC popper is 8.5lbs, and that bait is still going strong. I do use the AZEK decking for my jointed swimbaits, because it is stronger and more dense (it is structurally rated to support people) than the trimboard, and it is plenty buoyant (like poplar). I have a ton of wooden baits lying around in my garage that I no longer fish because, with PVC, there is no water intrusion worry, and it is so hard that it just dents if it hits a rock, and can be touched up on the water with clear nail polish.

I am just a hobby builder, and make baits mostly for myself and a few friends. For me, PVC has cut my bait making process down from four days to four hours, tops. I got turned to the dark side (PVC) several years ago by JR Hopkins ( ) when I was struggling with finding a way to seal my wooden swimbaits, without success. I can make a bait, attach the bill, line tie, and hardware, and ballast it in my test bucket without any sealing, because it is totally waterproof. PVC has allowed me to make, paint, and topcoat (Solarez) a bait in one day and fish it the same day, if I want to. The PVC trimboard I use, made by AZEK, is as buoyant as all but the lightest balsa. For feather light cranks that pop up like corks, there is nothing like light balsa. But for all other cranks, including top waters, the PVC trimboard works great. It is waterproof, light, and strong. My biggest fish on a homemade PVC popper is 8.5lbs, and that bait is still going strong. I do use the AZEK decking for my jointed swimbaits, because it is stronger and more dense (it is structurally rated to support people) than the trimboard, and it is plenty buoyant (like poplar). I have a ton of wooden baits lying around in my garage that I no longer fish because, with PVC, there is no water intrusion worry, and it is so hard that it just dents if it hits a rock, and can be touched up on the water with clear nail polish.