mark poulson

SC9000 urethane doesn't dull chrome paints. That is one of the main reasons I started using it. The SC stands for Super Clear, and it is. So if you wind up painting your chrome, and your topcoat dulls the shine, you might want to try it. It's made by Target Coatings.

Let me first say I fish for freshwater bass in SoCal, so toothy fish, other than strippers, aren't an issue for me. I'm impatient, so, when I was repainting some Bagely balsa lures, I used runny crazy glue to seal them, because it dries fast. After I'd scraped and sanded off all the old paint to bare wood, I held the tip of the crazy glue bottle agains the lure and let the glue run down and around it, until it was covered. After it was dry, maybe 5 minutes later, I put on another coat. I waited another 5 minutes+- until the glue was dry. Then I wet sanded it, and started painting. I used Nu Lustre 55 epoxy, one coat, as a top coat, and they have held up fine for three years. I do T my belly trebles, so they don't put any hook rash on the lures. Or I use Triple grips, which seem to do less damage to the finish.

Very interesting. A unique method, for sure. Congratulations on a beautiful lure.

Jed, That is weird! Maybe the wood has a spirit of it's own......

Wow! That gives me a whole new "perspective". Thanks.

I haven't yet poured a lure from anything but soft plastic, so I can't help you with your resin question. By and large, I think you want a surface lure to be as buoyant as possible, to give you the liveliest action, and the most lattitude in ballasting. But having the lure sit down in the water moves more water, attracting attention in rougher water, or at night, so that's why I seat them the way I do. I've made them from Douglas Fir, Pine, Poplar, Balsa, and finally PVC decking. For one piece lures, where water intrusion isn't a big issue, wood works fine. Take a good look at a similar lure that you like, and see if you can't duplicate how it sits in the water, and it's general shape, so you're not starting from square 1. I've found that weighting them 40/60, so they float almost level with the front 1/3 to 1/2 of the top out of the water is the ticket, at least for me. Having the center of gravity just past midpoint makes the rear want to keep moving after the front slows down, which is what you need in a walking/gliding bait. I do a preliminary test by balancing the lure blank over a pencil on my workbench. I adjust the weighting of the lure until the balance point is just past the center point. If I had to give a formula, I'd guess 40/60 is about right. Bigger walking/glide have a lot of water resistence. So the deeper the tail sits in the water, the harder you have to work to get them up and walking, and to keep them walking. Smaller lures, like spooks, can still walk with the tail down, but big ones need some help. I make my shorter 4" lures hang with the tail slightly lower. That way, they walk the dog better, but they don't glide as far or as easily. A tip for deciding how to weight a lure is to consider that the longer the lure is, the more water resistence it has, and so the higher you'll want it to float at rest. My balance point is just back of the mid point, and, taking a cue from the Lunker Punker, and the Pupfish and Dog X before that, I make the shape of the bottom like a flat banana, with the front "chest" flatter, to help get the lure up and walking, and the rear 2/3rds more rounded, to reduce water resistence on the change of direction. Hope this helps.

Thanks Pat. It will be interesting to hear how the Minwax Hardener performs, expecially with the harder woods you use. Please let us know.

I've also shared whatever knowledge I have with people through PMs, and I've never had anyone who didn't PM me back and say thank you. I don't do it for the thank you, but it is nice to hear. I started in construction digging ditches and hauling trash, and worked my way up to carpenter, and I always had help and learned from the people I worked with. Sure, there were guys who were too worried that someone would steal their job to ever share, but they were in the small minority. Most people, just like here, were happy to share what they knew, to try and shorten the learning curve for someone else. I don't think those of us who share whatever we know are doing it for applause, or to be noticed. I, for one, am just happy to be able to help. After all, most of what I know about lure making I learned here.

I vote Iwata gravity fed. Get the bigger cup, so you can paint more. Get one with a 3 or 3.5 tip, and that offers an additional 2 needle and nozzle. You should be set for ever. Just be religious about keeping it clean. There are a lot of airbrush cleaning threads on this site.

Check out this bait. It's on the left right now in the Gallery preview. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?app=gallery&module=images&section=viewimage&img=5544

And don't inhale.

Very nice!

What do you use to seal your lures to make them more waterproof?

That would be the holy grail. I've never seen one offered. Yozuri makes lures with internal paint schemes, so it might be a way to go.

Really? I used it, before Fishing Glue and Mend It, to repair both soft plastics and to seal chips in the topcoat and paint on wooden lures, and it's held up just fine. I use it to seat my Spro swivel hook hangers in my swimbaits and lures. I even use it to seal the balsa before I repaint balsa cranks, and I've got cranks that I have fished for years. I've never had a problem. Could the water temperature be the thing that releases the glue?

Steve, You didn't say what brand of mayonaise jar. Seriously, it was a great post, and please don't be offended by us. We've all inhaled too many paint fumes.

Maybe that's why the Rapala DT series lures all have such deep bellies. That way they can place the ballast low enough to achieve the kind of lure angle you're looking for.

I've found that two piece lures swim with a very lazy action unless they have a bill. I think that's why commercial two piece lure all have bills. The only two piece I've fished without a bill was a Giron, and it swam for beans. I made some two piece lures, and wound up adding a bill to get them to swim with more wiggle.

Me, too. I don't throw a crank or jerkbait without a split ring. In my experience, not using a split ring dampens the action too much, and sometimes kills it altogether. The square bill I bought from Pred. runs great with three balls in it. I haven't played around with removing balls yet.

Dieter, In the past, when I've been cramped for space for my ballast, I've drilled holes side to side, and install the ballast that way. Just a thought for you.

I'd make sure I had some kind of a center rest/support if I were turning multiple lures on a 40" blank. And always make sure your tools are sharp. That's the easiest thing you can do to improve your turning. Don't be afraid to use a wood rasp or file for shaping, too, and sand paper to finish your lures while they're still on the lathe. Saves a lot of hand work.

I use AZEK decking, 1"X 5 1/2". It's very buoyant, strong, and works like wood. You have to be careful not to heat it too much when you machine it, or it starts to melt and get sticky. I don't know anything about Dioxin release. I hope it's not a problem, but I wear a dust mask when I machine it because the dust is fine, and messes up my sinuses.