mark poulson

Good job Eric.

Thanks Benton. I'll try the 1/64 pins. I'm not worried about it failing due to pin size, since I don't have any hooks in the tail section. If it does fail, it will be on a whale, and I'll gladly make another tail section, if that's the case. )

I use one. It works great. I leave the regulator on the compressor set at 80psi, and have an inline combo regulator/water separator for my airbrush that I set at 35psi. Lots of capacity, quick recovery. The only drawback is noise, and that will vary, depending on manuf. and model. Just be sure to have a separate regulator for the airbrush, so the compressor tank can be kept at a higher pressure for more storage.

I use a construction compressor that has a 3 gallon tank and pumps up to 125psi. I leave the regulator on that compressor at 80psi, and set my airbrush regulator at 35psi, so I can shoot pearls if I need to.

There are different grades of polycarbonate. The Lexan brand is the purest I've found, and is, like the man said, bulletproof.

I don't weight the tail section. I thought that might dampen the swimming action, like a feathered tail hook, so I never have done it. Bob, I use two hinges on my 10" lures, but I can't find enough room for two on my 8". The lure body is 61/2", and the soft plastic tail is 1 1/2". The tail secion is, maybe, 1 1/4", and only 3/4" tall. Any suggestions?

I use opaque for my base coat, and transparent for my shading and scale patterns. I use iridescent for my backs, and shade over that with transparents, too.

In my experience, all solvent based urethanes yellow. Only water cured urethanes dry truly clear.

When I use Minnwax polyacrylic as a sealer, I dip the lure, sand after it dries to smooth the wood, dip again, fine sand for adhesion, and paint.

Yake, I can see by your photo the lower line tie is already low. Riverman's post reminded me that when I made my first batch of gliders, I made them tall, like your carp. They were really hard to fish, and didn't glide like the original Lunker Punker I was trying to imitate. Fortunately, they were rattle can finished, so I just reshaped them, lowering their profiles, and rounding their belly cross sections. The reshaped lures worked great. It may be that your taller lure has too much height to glide easily. I think it's a matter of water resistance.

Yake, If the lure floats top side up, it's not top heavy. Otherwise it would capsize. If I were you, I'd put in two new eyes, one high and one low, and try them both. Save a trip to the water.

I think prochallenger is right. I don't think anyone who has posted on this thread means anything they post as a personel attack. But some of the posts can read that way. I know it took some of you a long time to get where you are, and to learn what you know. I'm 60, and have been a carpenter for over 40 years. It took a long time to get where I got, but now I am a good carpenter. It's what I was meant to do. And I love to teach others what I know. Hoping they get as much satisfaction from the work and craft as I do. And I can see in reading what others post here that the guys (and, maybe, gals) who are really good at lurecraft seem to take the same joy in sharing what they know. So let's not lose what makes this forum different and special. No elitist cliches, no attitudes, no egos, just info and learning and fun. And friendship. When I came on here less than a year ago, all I was looking for was how to replace a friend's lure that I had borrowed and broken. Instead, I found a great bunch of people. Over the short time I've been visiting here, I've learned so much and made some great online friends. And I spend a lot more time in the garage, working with wood, instead of in the house, working with beer. Oh well, I guess everything has it's tradeoffs! ) Seriously, I hope we don't lose that great attitude, and let this site degenerate into a "whose right" type of situation that turns people, old and new, completely off.

I use twist wires in epoxy for my wood baits. I use douglas fir, pine, or poplar, which are all strong woods. For jointed baits, the same. I think that if I put enough stress on the bait for either the joints, hook hangers, or the eye tie to fail, I don't have the right tackle. I use 8' heavy action rods, but with a soft enough tip to make casting easier. Even with 25lb mono, there's enough stretch in my setup to act as a shock absorber. I horse big bass on swim baits, getting them to the boat and net before they have a chance to use the lure's weight as leverage to throw it. But I've never fished for muskie, so I don't know if that would work for them, or if my baits would hold up to that kind of stress. I've yet to hook a really big striper on one of my lures, which will, I've been told by all my fishing buddies, be the ultimate test of my lures' strength.

Assuming the lower part of the bait is heavier than the upper part due to ballast and hardware, I think the line tie might be too high. If the center of gravity of the bait is lower, I'd want the line tie to be lower so I would be pulling the heavier part of the bait with each stroke, not the upper, lighter part. I'd think that pulling higher would lead to roll over, due to inertia. The heavier lower part would lag behind the lighter upper part, instead of moving at the same time.

capnsully gave me a tip that works. Cut the joints while the lure block is still rectangular almost through, but leave about 1/8" in the middle uncut. Then, while the lure's still square, drill the hinge holes. Someone else here posted another tip about using a center pin on the drill press to make sure your holes line up, drilling 1/2 way from each side, slowly. While the lure's still square, drill your hook hanger and ballast holes. Use your lure outline on the block to gauge the depth you need for these. If you don't got deep enough, but have the holes started, they're not hard to deepen after the lure is shaped. And, if they're too deep, you can wad up some newspaper and jam it into the hole before you add the hangers or ballast, to get rid of the extra depth. It's all sealed, anyway, so the paper isn't a problem. Then you can shape your lure, finish your joint cuts (I use a dovetail saw, a little, fine toothed handsaw), and you're good to go. Remember, you can drill your pin holes a little farther from the finished joint if you want to, since you're probably going to steepen the angle of the joint on the hinge pin pieces anyway, to get a free swinging joint.

B&B, That's a serious paint shop. My Mother used to work for an outfit, Photo Chemical, that did a lot of painting for the govt., and your booth would be right at home there. I see you use what looks like an airless gun. What do you spray with it? I have an old cup gun in the garage that I used to spray lacquer with, back when I made furniture. I never thought about using it for spraying lures. Hmmmm......

I think maybe we all misread Loco's original post. He asked how to make the tails, and how they're attached, not how to make crankbaits. At least, that's what I got when I reread his post. The original maker of the first lure posted a "how I did it" thread a while back, so it's not a secret. The other lure clearly has pins. I don't know anything about pouring plastics, except what I've read here, but it seems to me that, once you decide on the shape of the tail you want, it should be pretty straight forward. Make a mold, and pour.

Long story short, epoxy is denser that wood, so it adds to the overall weight and affects buoyancy. It makes the bait heavier, so it floats less. How much depends on the bait, which epoxy/clear coat, and how many coats you put on. That you can only learn by experience, that is, trying it yourself on the lures you make.

loco, People here are very helpful. They just don't like to step on each other's toes when it comes to original ideas, me included. But I do remember the first lure's maker did post how he did it, so I feel comfortable sharing it. If you pm the guys who made the lures you like, you'd probably get your answer. Or do a search for attaching tails. If my memory serves me correctly, the first one you liked had a slot ending in a drilled hole top to bottom. The maker poured tails with a cylinder on the end, slid them down into the slot, with the cylinder on the end keeping it from pulling out, and super glued it in. The other lure's tail is in a slot, with pins holding it in.

Snax, I just went on you website and saw you work. I'm going out and burn down my Garage! You're incredible.