mark poulson

I used to love the smell when we had to build something out of pine.

I use bondo. If I want to lighten a bait, I just put some doubled tissue paper over the hole, lightly packed into the hole a eighth of an inch+- with the same sized drill bit as the hole, and use a drop or two of super glue to make it rigid. After that, I use bondo to cap the hole. The super glue usually makes the tissue rigid enough to hold the bondo until it sets, and I sand the bondo to the shape of the bait, once it's set. Finally, I wipe some super glue over the bondo to strengthen it, too.

This video should give you some ideas:

Woodie, It looks like they may be coming around again, sooner than we think.

That was my experience. My spinnerbait head melted before it got hot enough for the glo powder to melt and stick. Maybe mixing the glo powder with powder coat paint would work, but I think that the powder would migrate, at the least, when the bait is being cured. I would mix up a small batch and do a test on something to see how it works before I tried it on an actual bait.

Gliders, I tried Stetcher's teflon tape idea, and it worked. I'll look for a replacement O ring if the tape fails.

And to you as well.

I tried it by mistake, and it didn't work for me. It wouldn't stick to the spinnerbait head I was trying to coat, so I kept heating the head more and more, until it melted. At that point I realized I was trying to use Glonation powder, instead of powder coat. Doh!!!

Iwata brushes are my choice. As for compressors, make sure whatever you buy has decent air storage, so you can maintain good air pressure and flow while you're painting. You can use a less expensive tool compressor and still get good results.

Found it. Thanks.

I can't find it. Can you add a link?

I bought the Ripper 3 cavity mold last week. It pours like a dream, and the baits are already fish catchers.

Probably. That seems to be my new normal lately. Hahaha

Salty, Wood is too inconsistent to get every bait the same. Even if you cut all of your blanks out of the same part of one tree, and dry them all exactly the same, there will be variations in grain and density. I am assuming you already have one of your baits that works the way you want it to. Since you already get your blanks as similar as possible, I'd suggest that you weigh one without any hardware, hook hangers, lips, or ballast, and mark down that blanks weight. Then finish that bait, with ballast, hook hangers, lip, paint and finish, and the trebles and split rings. See how much the finished bait weighs. If it s the same as your already successful bait, then you'll know what weight your blanks need to be. If it weighs less, you'll know how much more ballast to add. If it weighs more, you'll know how much ballast to remove. Most importantly, you'll know the target weight for the bait blanks, and can adjust your ballast weight based on each blanks weight before finishing.

You said it better faster.

Yes, but they will get clogged eventually with paint from the overspray, and they are very difficult to clean. Most are designed to trap grease, and be washed in a dishwasher. Solvent based paints are a whole different animal, and require soaking in solvents, which can be both hazardous to your health, and dangerous in terms of fire. Using a cheap, disposable HVAC filter in front of the metal filters will prevent lots of headaches, and extend the life of the metal filters.

If you can, find disposable HVAC filters that will fit into the hood, to keep the fan from being coated with paint. The filters are cheap, the motors aren't.

You can do multiple light layers for color matching, as long as you truly dry each coat completely before you add the next.

Dave, Is "twerk" the engineering term for the motion of a jointed rat's tail section?

Yeah, and they have more of a size selection.

Yeah, I found it on their website, and had it delivered to my local Home Depot.

Only if it is going to stay in contact with a soft plastic bait. I coat the butts of my jointed rats, where the plastic worm tail attaches, and that's fine for all day. I take the tail off after each trip, as part of my boat cleanup.

Both the AZEK Decking and Trimboard are buoyant. The decking similar to poplar, and the trimboard is like med balsa. I was actually able to order my AZEK through Home Depot. They don't stock it. Here's a link to an online supplier: http://www.vintagewoodworks.com/pvcboards.html Don't be concerned if you can't get the thicknesses you want. You can make thicker material by laminating pieces, using either PVC glue or super glue. Just be sure the mating surfaces match, and clamp it for an hour, just to play safe. I'm made lots of baits from laminated pieces, including 130 mm whopper ploppers, and none have failed.

I am prejudiced, but I'd recommend using AZEK PVC decking. It is not quite as buoyant as their trim board, but it is much stronger, and I find it's just about the same buoyancy as poplar. There is a sticky at the top of this forum page that tells why I use it. In a nutshell, it is strong, buoyant, and totally waterproof. It machines and carves like wood, and takes paint well. That's what I began using (thank you JR Hopkins) when I made jointed swimbaits, and I have never had one fail.

Is that the paint that Spike-It sells?