mark poulson

I don't think you can do it without a duplicator of some kind. Even then, wood varies in density, and hand sanding will leave subtle differences. And how deep you drill your hardware and ballast holes will vary, so the amount of epoxy will vary, and, with it, the weight and action of the lures. It may not be much, if you're really careful, but wood's a natural material, and you just have to live with it. I've been using PVC decking lately, and even that has variations, with small voids, unmixed plastic, and soft spots, so it's not fool proof. I know, I know, . Good luck.

That's what I thought. I received a sample of both the white and black wicked colors, along with a bottle of reducer (by the way, thank you Snax for that contact). I've only used the white so far, and I really like it. Nice shine. And it's water based, so I can use my regular painting setup and system. I'm not sure I'd want to venture into water borne paints. I'm familiar with water borne floor urethanes, and the fumes are nasty for the first hour.

In my limited experience, the only way for a home manufacturer to get "duplicate" lures is to cast them from a master.

It's because I'm typing in the morning, and you're typing in the afternoon. Are you still in the UK, or are you back in Indonesia?

I'd make a jig out of a shallow wood tray and bondo. You can adapt it to any type saw to cut the slots. Dave, I was typing at the same time you were, and had tried to say the same thing, but my explanation came out as jibberish. You said it all.

If you're spraying a lot of lures with lacquer, you really need to invest in a safe heating system, like a remote heater exchanger (forced air heater), and have a good ventilation system, too. I don't recommend any open flame heater when you're spraying solvent based paints. Even red hot heating elements in electric heaters can be ignition points, if the fumes are heavy enough. If you have a spray booth that vents the overspray fumes to the exterior and is really efficient (read that good air flow/no smell inside), you can get away with almost any heat source, but it's better to err on the side of caution. Electric heating mats are another way to go, but electric heat is expensive for large areas. A cheap start is to insulate your shop really well, and weatherstrip the doors and windows. Air movement, and exposure to cold outside surfaces, are what make heating difficult.

Are Createx and Auto Aire made by the same company?

You've got the right attitude, Jamie. Enjoy you time with him, and keep building memories. Happy Holidays to him and to you.

Talk about thin blood! I read this thread last night, and woke up with aching hands and a head cold this morning! Thanks a bunch!

Thanks.

If you want strong thread that's "cheap", try using fishing braid. I use it to wrap hook hangers on my store bought rods, and it works fine. Of course, it's green, but I only do it for myself, so it doesn't really matter to me.

I've tried all morning, and get a "this site is unavailble" message, or words to that effect.

Do a search here for 3cc syringes. The ones I use are Flexcoat mixing syringes, and I got them from Netcraft. Look under rod building supplies, and then epoxies. I use them, and leave them in tight fitting holes drilled in the caps of the resin and hardener bottles. I leave them sitting upside down in the tops of the bottles when I'm not using them. They don't allow air in when they're sitting there, and you can just turn the bottles over and pull out equal small amounts whenever you like. Just be sure to have one hand on the syringe so it doesn't fall out. And don't mix them up. I do one at a time, so it's idiot proof. Since I've started using them (thanks to everyone who suggested it) I haven't had a single bad batch of epoxy.

Looks like a greyish green, or a greenish grey. I'd start with basic trans green, and add trans grey until I got the shade I wanted.

I would probably keep the turner in the house, but, if you want to know about the fumes from Etex, first, email or call them. Their tech support is great. Second, mix up a spoonful, and put it on a piece of wood, and hold a match near it. Start 6" away, and slowly move toward it. I've never done that, but that's how I'd test how "flammable" it is. I've used a hair dryer to soften Etex when I'm having trouble with it flowing, and it's never ignited, even though there is a red hot element somewhere in there. If you do it on the stove, there should be no danger of any flames spreading if it does ignite. And, if you have an exhaust fan over your stove, you could just sit your turner on the stove and leave it there overnight with the fan on. If alcohol fumes at a distance were really that dangerous, I'm pretty sure most of the contributors to this forum would have exploded years ago.

In my experience, primers are designed to allow you to atain a smooth surface for painting by filling surface defects with a high solids, easily sanded material, and to promote adhesion of the paint to the base material. If you're painting woodwork on your house, and don't prime, you'll need several extra layers of finished enamel to achieve the same nice smooth paint job that one coat of good primer sanded and two coats of enamel will give you. For wood lures, I seal with Minwax Wood Hardener, prime with Krylon white primer, sand with 400 grit, and paint. When I repaint plastics and want a colored lure, I scuff the old paint with 400 grit, and then spray with opaque white Createx. Then the paint scheme I'd doing. If I want a "clear" lure with highlights, I scape and sand off the paint, wipe it down with Acetone, and then spray the transparent colors directly to it, either Createx or Wildlife. I top coat plastic lures with only one coat of Nu Lustre 55, to keep the weight down, and haven't had any problems with delamination or paint failure. So far. Fingers crossed.

Dieter, I agree about line size. Typically, I throw 8lb flouro for smaller jerkbaits, cranks, plastic worms, and flukes. I use 12lb flouro for jigs and Ikas, which are a Yamamoto finese jig plastic. And for topwater, walking lures, I use 30lb braid with a leader of 17lb mono to keep the line from fouling the hooks. I use 50lb braid for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, which are both reaction baits that move so fast I don't think the fish really "see" the line, and for deep spooning, so I can get an immediate hooset, and bend a snagged hook if need be. I go down to 4lb flouro for throwing 1/16oz. dart heads and tiny plastics to boiling fish, but that's the only really light line I use, and it's in open water. Flourocarbon line has changed the way I fish. It is supposed to be "invisible", with almost the same degree of light refraction as water, so I'm able to use heavier line for worming than I used to with mono. So I can use baitcasting reels for everything I throw except the 4lb. stuff. And it's low stretch, so I can feel a tick even on a slack line. I use big mono for big lures like swimbaits and surface gliders for two reasons. First, it's buoyant, so it stays up and doesn't drag the gliders down or inhibit their action. And second, because casting a 4-6oz. lure puts a lot of strain on the line that's dropped down from the rod tip to the lure at the start of the cast. The big mono is strong enough not to snap from the load of casting, and has enough stretch to allow a little margin of error, like occasionally forgetting to hit the spool release. Plus, even though it's "rope", it's still more managable than flourocarbon of the same strength rating. Sooo......that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Words to live by.

Well, I hope the weather is mild this winter for you. I'm afraid to wish for a warm winter, because, with global warming, you might melt and float away. We finally had a good rain storm here in SoCal. An artic front that moved down and dumped a couple of inches of cold rain. Temps went from low 70's last week to high 50's this week. Should warm into the 60's this weekend. I hope it drives the damn shad deep, and turns on the jig and swimbait bite. Lately, all the fish are on shad big time, and it's a morning bite, even on overcast days. All the bass I catch spit up tons of shad on the deck.

$250!!! Dude! Bill Siemental is loving you right now. When they open DVL back up, tell me when you're going, and I'll follow you around and retrieve your lost lures! Seriously, it's easy to lose lures if you don't know the tricks for getting them back. Patience is the key. And keeping your line tight, so it doesn't drift down into the rocks and get snagged, too. I throw my sinking swimbaits on 25lb Bass Pro mono. It has enough stretch to absorb casting "errors" like tip wrap, but it's heavy enough to give a good hook set. I throw my floaters on 20lb mono, and my shallow cranks on 17lb. mono. I use flouro and braid for everything else. Seriously, invest in several lure retrievers, both the extendable shaft and the slide down the line with chain kind. They pay for themselves in one trip.

I switched from Etex to Nu Lustre 55 with UV inhibiters, because I didn't like the yellowing. The Nu Lustre goes on like Etex, and it hasn't yellowed so far. I've been using it for six months. I leave my lures on my deck all day when I'm fishing, which is once a week, and the white and silver lures are still white and silver. That's a good thing.

Snax, 3.5 feet of snow? My frost bitten fingers started to throb when I read that! I can't immagine living where it gets that cold. If Columbus had landed in San Diego, no one would live east of the Rockies!

Thanks. I just wanted to be sure it was worth doing a search of the trucks for the glue guns. I'll do a couple of test applications, and post what I find.

Have you come across a glue stick that will work for structural stuff? I was thinking about ballast and hook hanger installations. I own a couple of hot glue guns, and lots of glue, because we use it from time to time in const., but just to temporarily tack stuff together while the real glue sets, or to hold metal corner bead and trim in place before plastering.