mark poulson

This hardener is used in residential construction to make rotten non-structural wood sound again, like window sills, door sill, sash and door, and exterior trim. Painters use it all the time. In a pinch, it's cheaper than replacing the rotten wood. You still have to go over it with an appropriate filler, to restore the original shape of the wood, and then prime and paint. It's a good product for that. I just ordered an 8oz. container of it to try on my lures. I'll let you know how it works.

What he said! I've made jointed baits with hard and soft tails, and both styles swim. A softer tail might give a more realistic appearance and movement at slow speeds. I use clear plastic margarine tub tops, which are flexible but not limp, for some of my tails. They swim great, even at low speeds, but the plastic doesn't seem to be UV protected, so the tails crack where they enter the wood body after a time. It's not that big a thing to change them out, but I'd like to find a plastic that was as cheap, flexible, and colorable that held up a little better. I've also used the soft plastic replacement tails from Scott Witmer, who makes them for the 22nd Century Triple Trout he makes, and they work well, too.

Sonny, Give it up! :bull:What glue worked? Rofish, Talk about an international lure!

rofish, I don't mean to scare you (BOO!!!). I just had two sst twist wire hinges on the last, single hinge sections of two swimbaits unscrew while I was fishing them. The first one I just drilled out and re-glued, and thought no more about it. When it happened again, I looked closely at the glue that came out when I re-drilled it, and saw it was "mushy". At that point, I took apart the other hinges on that lure, and found that water had gotten into all the twist wire portions of the hinges, which were all set in Devcon 5 minute epoxy. So I read the directions that came on the epoxy box, and, low and behold, the package said "water resistant", while the package for the 30 minute Devcon 2 Ton epoxy said "water proof". I still have lures that were assembled with the 5 minute epoxy. I will watch them, especially the single hinge tail sections. I am hoping the single hinge application subjected the twist wire to rotational forces that don't apply to double hinge joints. But, as I said, I found mushy, punky glue in the double hinge twist wired holes when I drilled them out. Maybe the glue is still strong enough to prevent pull out even if it gets wet, but not to prevent unscrewing. I don't know. I am not concerned enough, at this point, to take the other lures apart until they begin to fail. I posted the warning twice because I know how much work goes into lures, and don't want someone else to have a failure that this precaution might prevent. You may not face this problem. Maybe your 5 minute epoxy is water proof. I am not familiar with European glues. I only know what I read about the Devcon 5 minute epoxy I used.

I'm not sure how to vote. If you're saying you need to charge to keep the site going, then I vote yes. If you're saying you just want to make the site different, and need to charge to do that, I vote no. I like it as it is. Any more complication will just make it a pain to visit. If you're saying you are thinking of selling the site, and this will increase it's value, I will probably vote yes, to help you increase the value of the sale, pay the dues for a little while, and then eventually stop visiting. I am not selling lures. I am strictly a hobbiest. And the only reason I've been able to make successful lures is because of what I've learned here. I started making them to replace a Pupfish lure of a friends that I broke. One thing lead to another, and now I've made a bunch that catch fish. And I've had guys I fish with offer to buy my lures, but they're just for me, and a couple of fishing buddies. If you had had a charge to visit the first time I came here, it would have been my last visit, and I'd have looked elsewhere for help. I can see how expanding the site would involve a lot more work, and more moderator time, so charging for that makes sense. I just don't think the site needs expanding. There are a lot of forum sites that don't charge. But they do sell advertising, mostly fishing related. And they're model seems to work for them. One I visit a lot, Westernbass.com, has an add banner at the top of it's forum pages, and they get some kind of payment whenever someone accesses one of those sites through the banner connection. I am not sure exactly how it works, but it does. I asked the site owner if it helped him if I went to those add sites through the banner, and he said, "Heck yes", so I now make a point of going to a couple of sites from that forum site instead of visiting them directly. Given the enormous number of fishing-related businesses discussed here, and sites posted on the forum in responses, I'd think you could work something like that out. But I don't pretend to know if that would meet your financial needs. I'm totally clueless about the financial aspects of running a site like this. But it's your site, and you can make of it whatever you like. I'd just like to know, upfront, why the changes? Of course, you don't owe me, or anyone else, an explanation, but letting us know why you're doing it would help in my decision making. From my perspective, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies. So, is it broke?

Man, that's incredible! I gave away some rubber lures from the '50s to a friend who collects stuff. Probably worth a fortune. I still have some rubber worms I bought at Thrifty's in the '50s. I just can't remember where I put them! CRS!

Doesn't seem possible that plastic plugs would now be "old". I remember when they were the newest thing! Sucks getting older.

I think it depends on the material you're using to make your lures. I use pine, poplar, douglas fir, all woods with enough strength that longer sst screw eyes (1" and up), set in epoxy, or twisted sst wire eyes, again set in epoxy, work fine. I haven't made, only repainted, balsa and plastic lures, so I can't comment on them You can always make a sample piece with the eyelet you'd like to use, and test how strong it is. If you can't pull it out, the fish can't, either. A word of advice. Whichever method you use, screw eyes, twist wire, or through wire (which I've never peronally attempted), don't use 5 minute epoxy. It is water resistant, not water proof. Water seems to find a way along the wires, even with a good epoxy topcoat, and eventually they can loosen, and unscrew, or let water into the lure. Use the D2T 30 minute epoxy, which is water proof, not water resistant. A little more time in the process can save a lot of heartache later.

They look great!

A sanding block with 36 or 50 grit paper, and a couple of coarse files, or finer wood rasps, will do the shaping you need pretty quickly and easily. I find doing it by hand gives me more control when I'm not sure what I want it to look like, and am just feeling my way on the first one. After that, once you have a shape you like, you can do more, quickly, using power sanders. The main thing is to go slowly. It's easier to remove wood than it is to grow it back.

Great job! I'm envious of your carving and painting skills. What did you use for you fins and tail? They look so real. How much does it weigh, and how does it swim? You don't plan to throw it at Amistad, do you?

Fingers crossed! I like your weight placement. Should swim great.

Hjs, Thanks for the tips. I'll probably try just old plastics first, and see how it goes. I'm in deep enough as it is just making wooden hardbaits!

Thanks David. I'll give it try, and let you know what happens.

David, I have a ton of torn up Robo, Yum, Zoom, and Yamamoto plastics. What kind of plastic should I buy to use as a starting base?

I have nerve damage in my spinal cord, caused by a virus that attacked the mylin sheath around the spinal cord. It happened twenty five years ago, when I inhaled some vapors on the job that lowered the blood brain barrier and let a virus that was already in my blood stream, but harmless, pass into my brain and spinal cord. The virus died out after a couple of weeks, and the numbness it caused slowly disappeared. The only residual symptoms I had left was numbness in my hands, not a good thing for a carpenter. If I put my hand in my pocket, I couldn't tell the difference between a dime and a quarter. But, even though I still have a "glow" all the time, I've slowly regained my feel. Nerves do regenerate. So good luck, and fingers crossed.

Dave, I just watched your "How to Pour" tutorial and it was excellent! I haven't poured anything since I used to pour surf sinkers thirty years ago, mainly because I had never seen it done or explained, but now I feel comfortable giving pouring plastics a shot. I'll probably start by reusing a few pounds of worms that I have in the garage. Any suggestions regarding reusing old plastics?

Gene, Are you the one who gave me the tip about using egg sinkers with cotter pins through them for hook hangers? If so, thanks again. If not, what can I say? )

That's funny. Their olive color is why I bought the Apple Barrel, because I couldn't find it in Createx or Wildlife Colors, and the olive I mixed wasn't what I wanted. I guess great minds think alike! I think, once you get comfortable, you'll probably be interested in some of the other paints available from different suppliers for air brushing. I've gotten some really interesting effects with some of the Wildlife flipflop colors and iridescent colors from BearAir Express airbrush airbrushes airbrush supplies airbrush paint ABMag. And I just ordered some of their Auto Air paint to play with. It's a good source for a large variety. Shipping costs suck. I'm sure if you look around the internet, you'll probably find other suppliers, too. Just google air brush paints. Anyway, good luck.

Nice job! Especially for your first air brush paint job! I think you're on the right track with the ghost color pattern. It works really well here in SoCal in ultra clear water. I might suggest buying some air brush paint, and see how you like it. The reason to try a better paint that is made for air brushes, like Createx, is that it is easier to work with, with smaller pigment particles (which I learned here from Bob P) so you can avoid some of the clumping, splattering, and clogged needle problems that cheaper paint, with larger pigment particles, can sometimes have. I sometimes use Apple Barrel paints, hobby paints, which are $.99 at Michaels, but I thin them with Windex. Nothing scientific. Just put some paint in a small salsa cup, add Windex a squeeze at a time, and stir, until the paint is runny like milk. Works for me. You might try it with your hobby paint. And the Windex helps to keep the paint from getting hard in the salsa cup, so the next time I want to use it, I take off the top, mix it, add enough new Windex to get the consistency I want, and presto, I'm in business. Just a tip to make life simpler.

Diemai, I don't know soccer from schmocker, but I know your team won. If they go all the way and win the championship, they will be the best team, plain and simple. So, for you, I'm rooting for the German team.

Congrats on what looks to be a successful fin installation. And on the German team's victory.

Good luck with the painting and with the fins. And good luck against Turkey.