mark poulson

Thanks Pizza.

Thanks Rocko!

Dieter, I make the end of the bore larger just by holding the lure in my hands at the drill press, and moving it so the regular twist drill bit cuts at angles, while it stays centered in the entry hole. It's not scientific, but it works. Even a straight hole in PVC works. Epoxy really bonds to the PVC.

sims7, Try drawing your profile on a piece of paper or shirt cardboard, so you can use it for both halves, if you're making a laminated lure. Then use double sided tape to join them temporarily so you can shape them together as one, and still split them back apart to add anything you want to inside.

Nice fish, nice kid. How old is he now?

Where did you find hexagonal glitter? I have some, but not all of the glitter from the same supplier is hexagonal. I didn't choose it, it just came that way. I'd sure like to be able to get it on purpose.

Isn't it time for an update of your avatar picture?

Jim, I use clear nail polish and large orange glitter for my bluegill and crawdad belly hilites. I'm sure a large silver glitter and nail polish would work for scales, too. I just put the nail polish on where I want the glitter to stick, hold the bait over a clean piece of paper, and then drop the glitter over the bait a pinch at a time. The glitter only sticks to the wet nail polish, and the excess falls right off. After the polish dries, I use an exacto handle to roll the glitter down flatter, blow off any loose glitter, and put another coat of clear polish over the glitter to smooth it down and lock it in place. If I were trying to make a scale pattern, I'd probably play around with holding the bait at an angle, to see if I could get more of the glitter to orient in the same direction. Just a thought.

Rock, Would just putting a bend, like a kink, into the threaded part of the screw eye work the same?

Dieter, When I needed small hinge parts, I used some fine sst cotter pins, and bent the very ends back tight to give myself a 1/4" "key" to hold in the glued hole. Would that work with your regular eye wire, since the epoxy is so strong. I doubt the wire would pull out of the epoxy before the epoxy pulled out of the bait. That would seem like a much simpler thing to make.

John, Are those fins made from AZEK trimboard?

Since you put so much work into the master, I would make an RTV mold of it before start playing around with other kinds of materials, so you'll always have a way do duplicate it.

Dieter, You can make a quick and easy screw eye installer/ remover by bending a piece of stiff wire (I used an 8D finish nail) into a square cornered Z, but with the two outer legs at 90 degrees to each other. One for install, one bent the other way for remove. It saves a lot of cursing.

I would stick with Createx and Wicked paints to start. They spray well, and won't give you the same problems as cheaper paints with pigment particles that are too big to spray well with an air brush. Buy large bottles of Wicked White and Black. Buy pearl silver and pearl white. Buy basic colors, like red, blue, green, yellow, all in transparent. Once you've learned what you can and can't mix with those, you can supplement with other color, and even other brands, like Apple Barrel and Wasco. I also buy from Coast Airbrush. There are lots of other sellers, but I have used Coast, so I know they are okay. Here's their link: http://www.coastairbrush.com/categories.asp?cat=11 You can also find Createx and other Tshirt paint for air brushes at Michael's and other hobby stores.

I am a hobbyiest, not a seller, so take this for what it's worth. It works for me. You can dip in Target Coatings' exterior water borne urethane, EM9300. It is super strong. But it will dull the colors, especially if you dip mutliple times. it takes 2 hours between dips, but you can speed that up to 1 hour with a hair dryer after the dip has set for 15 minutes. Hit it with a hair dryer, let it hang again for 15 minutes, hit it again, and it will be ready to redip in an hour. But waiting 2 hours between dips will do the same thing. I'm just always in a hurry. It is ready to fish in two days. The EM9300 is so strong that if I put it directly over Createx paint, it will cause crackling, so I use a coat of the SC first, if I'm worried about that. For my crackle craw finishes, I use the EM first to enhance the crackle, and then the SC. I dip twice in their SC9000, which is super clear (SC), and then once in the EM9300, and that works for my salt water swim baits. For spinnerbaits, if I were using Createx, I probably would only dip once in the SC, to protect the paint film, and once in the EM. Here's a link: http://www.targetcoatings.com/shop/catalog/EMTECH_EM9300_Urethane_Top_Coat-8-1.html

If you're going to topcoat with epoxy, use the 30 minute Devcon 2 Ton. It is waterproof. The 5 minute is only water resistant, and will soften after a day of fishing.

You have better eyes than I do. I thought it might be a coffee cup sleeve. You're right, a TP core is what it looks like, but I'd guess Costco store brand. Maybe you should start a contest. Hahaha

I use Bustin Bass bait, too. I don't prime them at all. I just dip them quickly into clean acetone, or brush it over the bait, to make the surface virgin plastic again, and then go right to my Createx. It bonds fine. Just try to keep the acetone off the bills. I do the same for repaints. The acetone softens the factory finish enough to get a really good bond with the new Createx paint. I bought some cheap hemostats online, and I hold baits with them by the hook hangers when I'm painting, and also when I'm applying the acetone cleaner. You can find some here: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=hemostats&gs_upl=&ix=seb&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=909&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6473469804901399577&sa=X&ei=svdIT62aCIiXiQKlg9HbDQ&ved=0CGgQ8wIwAQ

I've only made one piece molds with my clay masters. I shape the Sculpey clay, bake it hard, coat it with clear acrylic as a sealer, and crazy glue the bottom to a piece of formica. Then I glue the wood mold box down around the master so I have enough room to get my GE Clearseal RTV silicone all around the master. Any 100% pure silicone will work. I put the first layer of silicone onto the master with my finger, to force it into every nook and cranny before I glue down the wood box. Once the box is set, I mix up some silicone with a few drops of water and begin adding it around the master in layers, until the box is full. The water helps the silicone cure more quickly, and you have to play around with how much to add, but a couple of drops mixed into a small batch works. Do a test to figure out how much. If you have voids when you remove the box and master, you can finger in some more silicone into those, and it will stick to itself really well. Lately, I've switched to adding the silicone with a caulking gun in layers, and dropping in the water and mixing it in place with a stiff piece of wire. It works, but it doesn't set up as fast, because there are areas that don't get the water, but it's still faster than using straight silicone with no water. Lately, I've been thinking about making some two piece molds using the Sculpey masters. If I do, I'll put a cut off wooden golf tee, or something similar, into the head before I bake the masters, to act as a sprue for injecting. It's really hard, at least for me, to cut and rework the silicone after it's set.

No problem. What kind of baits are you making?

I use a cheap, 2 speed hair dryer. I use the lower setting to dry the paint. The lower fan speed is more gentle on the wet paint. Once the paint looks flat, instead of wet, I switch to high, and heat set it for ten seconds or so, to really get the paint hot, and encourage the cross linking of the paint. I don't know if my hair dryer is hot enough to achieve a full heat set, but I've never had a problem, as long as I've used multiple thin coats. I have a heat gun, but have never tried it on my paint. It gets really hot, and I only use it for powder coating. But others use them and it works for them. I'm sure it's an acquired skill that I haven't acquired! I'm just a chicken.

Everyone here who uses PVC owes a big thank you to JRHopkins, who first discovered it as a building material, and turned all of us here at TU on to it.

Createx is a T shirt paint, so it can be recoated immediately after heat setting the previous coat. If you're painting wood baits, and using a primer, it's usually best to wait overnight for the primer to lose all of it's solvents before you begin the Createx painting. Even water based primers seem to take longer to dry, probably because they are designed to bond to the sealer, and promote adhesion of the finished paint. I'm no chemist, so I can's say for sure. I can tell you that painting over primer that's not fully set/cured can result in bubbles in your Createx, when you heat set it, as any trapped solvent is heated and turns to gas as it tries to escape. But, once the primer has set, you can do as many coats of Createx as you want, just as long as you heat set between coats. Try to keep the Createx coats thin, so they dry quicker and there is less chance of trapped water. Thick coats of Createx can skin over, feel dry, but be soft because there is uncured paint with water still in it beneath the skin. Thoroughly heat setting the Createx is critical. Having a paint scheme ruined because you tried to put the paint on too heavy, and it didn't completely set, is no fun. Been there, done that.

Those are some beautiful baits. Good job.

I use .072 for cranks, and .092 for swimbaits. I get them at: http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/catalogue-index/catalogue-items/eye_screws.htm There are lots of other online suppliers. Google .072 stainless steel screw eyes, and they'll come up.