mark poulson

Some of us just can't read so good.

I use Spro #4 heavy duty swivels for belly hook hangers, and pass a short piece of sst wire from side to side/cross-ways through the buried eye of the swivel to add some insurance.

And he paints just as well as he builds, or better.

You'll find it here: http://www.coastairbrush.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Restorer I keep mine in a pickle jar. It lasts forever, even when you can see old paint floating in it. I sometime backflush with the restorer, and shoot the excess right back into the jar, if I think the brush isn't shooting right. Every few months I break down my air brush and soak it overnight in the jar. The next day I use the needle, blunt end first, to clean any old paint that might be still in the needle barrel, use my compressed air to blow through the brush to clear anything else that I can clear, then I reassemble the brush, putting a couple of drops of needle oil onto the needle before I reinstall it, and a drop in the bottom of the trigger before I reinstall the air hose fitting, so the oil blows up into the gun when I hit the air again. Thinning your paint, and backflushing with clean water between colors, will go a long way towards keeping your brush functioning well.

I've also found that, once I remove the broken down air brush from the Restorer, pushing the needle through the brush blunt end first, before I put the nozzle back on, pushes an amazing amount of old paint crud out of the needle slot. I did that with my first Iwata HP-C airbrush that I had stopped using because I thought it was just worn out. Turns out I had just done a lousy job cleaning it. Now I have two great brushes to use. Cleaning your air brush well is right up there with thinning your paints properly as the key to successful painting.

I use weed wacker replacement filament.

I guess I have a different perspective on Larry Dahlberg. I like his videos because he makes it look easy, and doesn't demand perfection. Lure making, for me, is about making something to catch fish first and foremost. I'll never be the artist that a lot people here are, but I don't let that worry me. And sharing whatever "secrets" I've learned, mostly from folks here, is just paying it back. People who want to take lure making to another level are great, too. I love seeing what they can do when they share. It's just not me.

Welcome aboard! Those baits look great. You're miles ahead of where I was when I first started!

I use an earlier version of this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Medium-Professional-Multi-Purpose-Respirator-62023HA1-C/202080144 Put it a sealed plastic bag when you're not using it, or the filters will continue cleaning air around them and become ineffective much more quickly.

I would guess that the slight color you are seeing is from the glitter used, not a colorant. I would experiment with different fine glitters like green or blue, along with the fine silver and coarse black, to see if you can get that color.

I found that putting a groove in the "forehead" of the bait, from nose to line tie, with a round file seemed to enhance the swimming action. I think it probably increases the turbulence (thank you Vodkaman) of the water as it passes over the bait's nose.

I get that effect if I add finely ground salt, or a couple of drops of white.

If you use virgin glass beads, they shouldn't scratch your injector. Bear in mind I'm just a hobby pourer, and make senkos with glass beads half a dozen times a year, but, when I do, I make big batches and multiple pours, all with both salt (for flavor) and glass beads (for weight and color retention). I've been using them for ten years, and my injector is still fine.

Try using spinnerbait wire.

You can try shooting a coat of Createx clear over the paint job before you put on the top coat. It seems to go on well over "dirty" lures, and should/could help with any contamination. If you can, do test shoot first on a "scrap" lure, to see if it works for you.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencenews.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F10%2F101617_ls_worm_feat_free.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencenews.org%2Farticle%2Funderstand-origins-pain-ask-flatworm&docid=VlrYNJ5AKas4hM&tbnid=CESpSHwuwugeyM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwispYm8hvLlAhUIqZ4KHT4nDi8QMwh6KAQwBA..i&w=860&h=460&bih=750&biw=1536&q=flat worm&ved=0ahUKEwispYm8hvLlAhUIqZ4KHT4nDi8QMwh6KAQwBA&iact=mrc&uact=8 Some do, although I doubt they would be fish catchers.

Paint 'em on!

Adding eyes can't hurt.

Try and follow the manufacturers mixing instructions. A bad ratio in some epoxies will result in coats that never harden. As AZsouth said, cold will slow epoxy curing, so keeping the temps up in the 60's minimum will help it cure more quickly

When I was building my first jointed glide bait, I had trouble with it swimming easily. Guys here at TU like Cadman told me that cutting down on the friction in the hinged joint (screw eyes and hinge pin) was crucial. I wound up weighting each section independently so they fell dead level, and at the same rate of fall. That eliminated any friction from binding in the hinges. This turned out to be the key, at least for me. My glide baits glide easily. The more open the joint, the shorter the S glide.

Let us know how that work for you. It might help you if you went to a more buoyant wood, so you can play around with different shapes and ballasting more.

Clearly the first lure wobbled well, while the second just king of lay over on it's side most of the time. I think the fast wobbling lure would be a great action for a warm water fast retrieve bait, on a rip and drop type of retrieve. If you're trying to get a more subtle, spybait-type action, I would remove ballast until it falls more slowly. Then you can cast it out, count it down, and do a slower version of the same rip/drop retrieve.

I drilled a hole slightly bigger than my glass container in a piece of 2X4, and use that as an anti-tip holder for my glass container.

Ask the moderators if they have it.

You can prime them with Rustoleum Self Etching primer (thank you Cadman), paint them with Createx, and then top coat them with either epoxy or clear nail polish. Or you can find a nail polish that's the right color, and just use that for your paint. A clear top coat will help the paint last until you lose them, or the hooks get too dull to use.