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P/B, didn't work for me- HLS try this one http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/5548-a-better-clear-coat/page__hl__Propionate__fromsearch__1 Pete

Hi B-H , wade in and enjoy. Pete

Angus - welcome aboard, I think you will enjoy your time here, no-one is too busy to answer your queries - BUT - do a search first, because just about every conceivable question has been asked before. Some of (maybe all of) the best builders are here - you name it, they tame it. Pete

Mo- the silence is deafening - from my limited experience, no this can not be done, but if you take a close look at the dates in the gallery new pictures are added virtually every day.pete

Thanks Tom, looks pretty good to me, and I use w/b acrylics, so this should be easy compared to auto paint. Thanks again.Pete

How about shovel or rake hoe handles, some of these are quite fat and are turned round, just dock them off to length????Pete

Jamie- yes after a couple of the soft plastic caps collapsed I used the solid plastic caps, and filled them with epoxy.Pete

Dan- yes there are two types, the plastic ones Janie is using which are flexible, and a much harder type, they look the same in the packs so you have to squeeze them and see. I suspect it's the same as the Tax ones but @ about $5 for 50, not $3.50 a pair. Jamie I have been using a 60 watt reflector lamp to heat the epoxy to get air bubbles out, it is not that hot but it softened the plastic eyes and then they collapsed.Pete

I have been away for nearly a week and was just loaded something to the Gallery (Hard Baits) - I only looked at the first page, but it struck me on how many great creations were just on that one page, so much talent on here and every one should be congratulated on their work but it would take me all night to type the 'comments', so I decided to put it up here. Do yourself a favour and have a look, I don't think you will find so many different baits (weather they be wire, wood, plastic or rubber) of such high quality on any other forum. ALSO, while you are at it, have a look in “TU EVENTS”, the annual 'Clinton Meet' is on again in April, be there or be square. Oh yeah, a big thanks to 'the team' for providing and maintaining what has to be the best collection of lure, fly, and wire pictures around.Pete

Yep, I have been waiting for this, I'm 95% in (again), just have to clear the decks a bit here - better let the goils at the Hampton know!!!! I am not sure what Phil is doing - Anyway hope to see all you guys again, also looking forward to meeting anyone else who makes the effort. I am looking at some flight prices NOW, and it's my shout for breakfast. Pete

Jamie- I tried the soft 'google eye' caps last week and when heated a little (to get rid of bubbles and set epoxy) they melted- I also tried the same in hard caps (1/4"), they performed much better, are more round , and appear to be the same as those offered for $3.50 a pair on the taxidermy site. The lure pictured has a set which worked OK, but I think the paint still need's a little more refinement!!!!!. pete

Good reply John and great info/knowledge. Thanks .Pete

WOW all these ideas, and along the lines of what John (JRhopkins) is saying, it's one thing thinking and talking about it, but with swim baits, it's another thing doing it, and you are going to have to do some !! The fine S/S leader cable works and would work even better on a multiple jointer like the one pictured - to hold it in the blank use some crimps normally used with this stuff (one in each joint worked for me) - also try 'Velcro' strap, just shave the fuzz off it, it's very strong and does not fray, just epoxy it in flat. As stated with wood capiliary action is a real problem with some of the options, but use PVC foam and these problems disappear, but what reappears is the buoyancy problem, but the more junk you add to the blank, the less buoyancy there will be - from what I have seen, getting the lure near neutral saves a lot of frustration and they seem to swim better, mine did anyway. There is some pictures of these two types of hinging in my gallery somewhere - also if you do a search there is a thread with about 8 pages of more hinge ideas, it was posted about the middle of last year (I think). pete

Go and see your plastics supplier, for Plexy and Poly there are special clear glues which actually weld rather then just stick them together - if you are not worried about the appearance, try some blue poly pipe glue, just a SMALL amount on the edge though.Pete

John I was playing around with this when I dabbled in 'swim baits' and had them down to about 1/16" thick - although I never had a fish chomp on the tail, it turned out to be pretty durable. There are silicone's and silicone's though, and I was just lucky to pick what I think was a really stretchy tough one at the time, plus I reinforced it a bit, as you appear to have.Pete

With local commercial builders here, depth seems to have been an obsession for the past 25 years and I suppose they are only catering for some of the depth obsessed Murray Cod/ Barramundi anglers here. Here is a few lip shapes (called 'Bib's' here) , some of which which are claimed to go as deep as 35' trolled but @ what speed I don't know!! Note the one with the upturned lip end 'Tempest Super Deep'. Hope you get a few ideas from these. pete http://www.kingfishe...ml/tempest.html Another good site with a lot of variety - Just lick on the squares or the lure name at the bottom: http://www.predatek.com/1.htm

I have seen this happen a lot with Propionate and to a lesser extent Epoxy - I think it is a surface tension issue, where the coating is flowing away from the nose where there is also a concave curve (if hung by the nose) giving a near perfect coat as it is stretched and dries, the excess runoff then pools towards the rear - the coating flowing down the lure reactivates (wetting) this lower coating which is beginning to dry, so you get this ripple effect. What is giving it away for me is that all the upper curves are smooth, which indicates the coating is running away from these surfaces and 'over coating' or dragging the coating lower down the lure. I would try putting it on a drying wheel so the coating tends to stay where it is put and try not to heat too much – the wheel should spin at 6 rpm or faster – For what it's worth with epoxy, I'm up to 20Rpm now and runs /pooling on the flat sides is virtually non existent. I know these things drive you crazy but hang in there.Pete