mark poulson

I never had a problem with the tape contaminating the plastic, but I pour at 340-350. I originally put the tape around a mold to stop excess from running down the sides, and the reservoir feature was just a bonus. I did enlarge the sprue cavity in my mold to hold more plastic, too. I don't try and fill the duct tape reservoir with plastic. I just fill the cavities, go back and top them off as they sink, and don't worry about runoff any more.

Be careful with super glue. The fumes are really bad for you.

I've made jointed cranks with the same hinge pin/screw eye method that I use on larger swim baits. I use sst 1" .072 screw eyes, and either sst spinnerbait wire or bicycle spokes for the hinge pins. For really small cranks I use small sst cotter pins and spinnerbait wire, to cut down on weight, and only put a hook in the first section, so the hinging only has to make the tail swim, and doesn't get pulled on by the fish. They swim fine, but they have all been "square" to the centerline of the bait, not angled. Jackall makes a jointed crank with a slanted joint. The top of the joint is closer to the head than the bottom. I assume it's to allow more water flow and encourage more movement of the tail section, but I've never tried it myself.

It seems like a natural for balsa baits. And it's quick and easy. When you get around to it, I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.

X2 That is really slick!!!

You can do the same thing by wrapping the top of the mold with duct tape, and letting it extend an inch above the mold.

BobP, Have you tried Solarez as a top coat for you balsa baits?

If you hang your baits to drip off before you put them in the tanning bed, you shouldn't have a problem. I dip my cranks and swimbait sections in Solarez, I've found, working in my garage with just a small light overhead, I have enough time for the baits to hang and the excess to drip off without starting the set. I hold the crankbaits over the black Solarez jar after I dip them, so the majority of the runoff/dripping goes right back into the jar. That take approx. 15 seconds. Once the dripping slows down to occasional drips, I move the baits to hang them over a three layer paper towel dripping area on my work bench beneath an over head shelf where I have a rack that I can hang the baits from to drip. It takes another minute for the drips to stop, at which point I use a paper towel to pinch off the bottom drip. I let them hang another minute, and pinch them clean again, and make sure the hook hangers are clean, too. Then I hang them in my nail light box, turning them every 30 seconds, for three minutes. At that point they are done. My swimbait sections are too big to dip in the jar, so I use a fine bristle brush to brush them with the resin. I've learned that I have enough time to brush them evenly with a single coat, and then I let them hang and remove any accumulation, again using paper towels and cleaning out any hardware as needed. I've found I can redrill the bicycle spoke hinge pin holes after the resin has set with no problems. The Solarex can be drilled to adjust the ballast without cracking, and touched up afterwards by adding a drop or two of the resin over the filled ballast holes. I smooth it as best I can, and then taking them outside for a minute with the patches facing up to start the set and prevent the patches from sagging. Then I put them into the UV light for another couple of minutes and they're done, I fished one of my swimbaits yesterday for the first time, and the finish held up fine to both the constant contact of the joint hitting each other, and to a rock that jumped up and smacked the bait (because it was just too pretty to resist). Solarez has been everything I hoped for in a top coat.

Learn to backflush with the acetone. After you've soaked the air brush in acetone, fill the cup with acetone, put your finger over the nozzle to block the acetone/air mix from coming out. Pull the trigger all the way back, and down, to force the mixture back up through the paint cup. Do that for ten seconds. Then loosen the nozzle assembly one turn+- and back flush again the same way. This will force the mix back through the tiny hose that the paint passes through. Then loosen the needle, remove it and wipe it clean WITHOUT bending it or dulling the tip. Br gentle and take your time to get it out and back in straight. Put the needle back in, and repeat the backflush with clean water. If that doesn't clean out any remaining dried paint, I don't know what else to do. It always works for me.

I had to remove some ballast from two of my jointed swimbaits that I had coated with Solarez. I wanted slow sink, like ROF 5 at the most, but the Solarez added enough weight to make them ROF 10+, so I drilled out 3 grams to slow their fall. The Solarez drilled out fine, without the chipping I would have had with D2T, so it is a different animal than a glue epoxy. I was able to pack the drill holes with paper towel, seal with two drops of runny crazy glue, and then add enough Solarez to fill the holes flush. I put them in the sun to start the cure, and then hung them in the nail UV light for two minutes, and the patches were hard. Amazing stuff. I'll know how they hold up to swimming on Saturday, and I'll post the results.

Bob, You could try preheating your aluminum molds to prevent rapid cooling of the plastic.

I don't make muskie lures, so I can't say whether this will work for you or not. When I made wood lures, I used Etex, and then Nulustre 55, because they were more flexible and moved with the wood. They are both decoupage epoxies, designed for moving with large wood surfaces as the wood expands and contracts. They also dented when I hit rocks with my lures (purely in the interest of testing) instead of cracking, like when I used D2T. If you're really secure in the sealer you use, so tooth penetration and water intrusion aren't an issue, either Etex or Nulustre 55 will work for you. But you will need a turner for either of those finishes. I've since switched to building with PVC, so water intrusion isn't an issue anymore. I used a water borne urethane as a topcoat, because it didn't change the colors on my lures, even the metalic paints. I've just begun using Solarez, and it seems to be a very hard, tough finish. It also doesn't need to be put on a turner. You can dip with it, clean off the drip buildup once it's stopped dripping, and hang it in a UV light box to cure in 3 minutes. There are several Solarez threads in the most recent forum section with lots of details for how to use it. But, even though it is "tougher" than D2T, less brittle, it still chips if I try to clean it up with knife. So far, I've used it on cranks, and it's terrific. I just made a couple of 3 piece swimbaits, and finished them with the Solarez. I'm taking them swimming Saturday. Hopefully, a 20lb striper will give them a ride, and I'll find out how the finish holds up on swimbaits. More to the point, I'll find out how the banging of the sections affects the Solarez, which is where D2T failed. I'll post the results.

That's the site I tried, and Google said it was contaminated.

I put a piece of aluminum foil over my nail light while it's on, so I can work next to it while the lures are curing. I just move the foil aside, and wear UV rated sun glasses, to adjust the lures while they're curing.

Is that a bad thing?

Yeah, but my Dr. made me cut way back. Blood pressure!

When I want to insure no reaction between my paint and top coat, I add two coats of Createx clear gloss. That seems to do the trick, but I've never used the chameleon paint or any candy colors, that I know of.

I think Createx Customer Service may be right. I've found that if I spray too thick a coat, once it skins over there is water trapped underneath that never comes out. I am very careful now to spray multiple thin coats, and to heat set thoroughly between each coat.

Must have been moody females!

I always try acetone as a paint remover first. If you soak the lure without letting the acetone hit the bill, and then let it drip dry, it should remelt the cracked top coat and fuse the cracks. I use a brush to apply the acetone around the bill. It should also give you a nice clean surface to paint. If that doesn't work, sand it off by hand with 100 grit sandpaper. Once the cracked top coat is removed, switch to finer paper to smooth the surface, and prime.

Will your brushes spray water? If so, try thinning your paint so it's like skim milk. I use 4011 reducer from Auto Aire to thin my paints. If they won't spray water, tear them down, soak them in acetone overnight, reassemble them, backflush first with acetone and then with clean water, lots of water, and see if they work better. If that doesn't help, I'm lost.

I've caught 1lb trout on 4" Orbit 80 jerkbaits, and 5" jointed minnow lures.

Cleaning your brush as you go, and thinning your paint to the consistency of milk, are two keys to air brush success. Develop a good, thorough cleaning routine that you can use between coats and between colors. Basically, every time your brush cup runs out of paint, you should flush and backflush it to avoid problems. If you do it enough, it becomes second nature, and really minimizes headaches. And the 4011 reducer is a great thinner for all water based air brush paints. Good luck.

I originally was intrigued by the Sebile single hook crank, and wanted to see if I could build one that dove deep. I added as much ballast as I needed to get 45 degree down angle at rest, but still buoyant, when I float tested my lures prior to painting. The paint and top coat added a little more to the down angle, but the lures were still very buoyant and back out of snags nicely. I actually got the idea for the bill from trying to adapt a square bill shape to Ben's deep diver bill, and it worked. And a buddy in my club suggested bending the tip of the bill to make it dive faster and that worked, too. The single hook design is snag free so far. Unfortunately, it's still fish free, too. Hahaha

I'm no expert on Solarez or UV lights, and just a hobby builder. But I have found, using the Solarez Polyester Gloss Resin and the 4 bulb nail curing UV light I can coat a crank bait in five minutes, from dip to handling and putting on hooks. The resin has a slight odor that reminds me of when I surfed, in another life. The nail light, turned so it is vertical with the opening facing up and the controls on the bottom, is plenty big enough for cranbaits with bodies up to 5" long. I use paper clip wire to suspend the cranks vertically in the nail light box, and lift and turn them every 30 seconds,+-, for three minutes, and they are done. Hard, clean, clear, and glossy. If I can shake this head cold, and the weather warms a little, I am going to make some 5" sectional swimbaits this week, and am thinking now about how I am going to suspend the sections in the light box to cure. Fun to think about. This stuff is great for bass lures.