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Pardon my ignorance but what's "frisket film".pete

Bassmaster - how about a picture of that . pete

I have just got into stenciling, saves heaps of time and beats the old "shaky hand" look. I picked up on someones suggestion of using old Blister pack plastic sheet, works well. I think you can buy hot stencil irons there, but I have a small soldering iron, so just wrapped a piece of thin wire around it (spring or stainless wire is best) and turned it on and stenciled away. Want a wider line pattern- use thicker wire!! Because they are hand "cut" , you get a more realistic pattern without sharp difined edges. After burning your patern you may have to sand it on a flat plate to knock off the beads of plastic around the edges , works well so far. Pete

I dont know about you guys , but I have 2 or 3 (failed battery) cordless drills around the shed. If you remove the motor from the drill case, there is a plastic planetary gearbox attached to the end - you could run 12V into it (from battery of transformer-battery charger), tape the trigger in until you get the right speed or the gear box can be seperated from motor and connected to another 110 V -12 motor shaft- I think they gear down to about 50 :1 rpm- May need to run 2 gearboxes togeather!!. It's getting more and more complicated-Oh well check them out - if they handle the torque of a drill they should be able to handle a couple of baits. Pete

How would you like to catch this on a squid jig- Washed up on the West coast of Tasmania- Has been a few of these caught in nets etc down here in the last couple of years. Pete http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070711-squid-picture.html

Just finished this 3" froggy. Big browns seem to like this color here. Cant wait to try it out, just need rain to fill the dams up, has been a drought for the last 5-6 years here. Pete

The Eyes Have It!! Here they are- easy!! #### = ######### http://stores.#########/JNCSHOP pete

Looks pretty good to me Kevin, love the finish coat, great work. pete

Actionbaits- Never heard of Poly being melted, although it must have been a liquid at some stage in manufacture. If you heat it to the right temp, it becomes very pliable and limp, it can be twisted or molded to any shape as long as it is hot. The trouble with heating it past this state is that poly contains small amounts of water, the water becomes steam and then spalls and cracks the poly. Very thick poly needs to be heated and dried for hours before it can be worked. I think with a bit of lateral thinking you would be able to use poly to mould flats, curves to incorporate weights etc. Good luck in your quest, there must be something out there, but if it was, I think it would allready be on this amazing forum somewhere. pete

"Actionbaits"- Go here http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9435 and read whole post- This may be simpler than casting resins, which are too brittle for lips- Polycarbonate is much more durable. Also if you are interested in cutting your own Polycarbonate lips go here http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9255 Pete

"Actionbaits" -Just tried bending "Stamina" pre cut Polycarbonate lip (32mm x 21mm x 1.5 mm) may be a bit simpler than trying to cast resins- see picture. Pete

Heaps of ingenious ways of getting lead in here-I like the one with the screw. I only make smaller lures and rarely need weight, only for bigger 3" ones, if they do need weighting, I get some lead shot from the gun shop, weigh out what I want, mix it with a bit of resin (just wet) and pour that in, leaving it a bit proud of the lure and file it off when it's set- the resin holds it solid- never get any movment. Pete

"Doomart"-Just tried the tweezers and pliers thing- works pretty good and leaves maks from the jaws so the glue should grip better. If you don't want marks, maybe use two small blocks of wood or smooth jawed vice grips etc.Pete

Yep, I think you are right, but the poly I am using is only 1mm thick and with that hole punched in it , bends into the slot pretty easily- would not like to try it with balsa though. All my baits are wood, some balsa and cedar but mainly I like a local timber "Hoop Pine", it seems to be a better weight, hard and less grainy then cedar. To be honest I have more trouble with the sealer/paint etc filling up the slot, they're a pain to clean out.I'm thinking you could, after forming them, hold the lip in a pair of tweezers (or something) and re-dip the side you want flat - when its up to temperature pull it out and squeeze it flat with a pair of pliers or 2 pieces of wood etc!!! Sounds like a lot of stuffing around, but for me, flat bibs are "common" and the more parts I can make on a lure, the more I can say they mine, only need to work out how to make hooks and eyes now!!.Let me know how you get on wit it. Pete

Thanks Doomart- hope you can get something out of it. I can't believe it's so easy, all the blistered poly laying around the place- once even tried my daughters electric hair streightner- now that has some promice for bending poly, but have not got to that yet. Pete

Sorry -ran out of space- Here's 2 more Pics

O.K , I have got some pics, but first let me try and explain how it can be done. I read somewhere that Poly immersed in boiling water will allow you to bend it, This is probably right, but to form poly you need higher temperatures and it does not matter how much you boil water it is allways going to be about 100 C. I then started thinking "liquid and higher temps", thought deep frying and here we are "cooking oil". As I have a chelestrol problem (who doesnt) I used olive oil, but I think any cooking oil would do. Get a small can, I used a SMALL discarded, chopped tomato can, anyway something you can heat on the stove and is narrow and tall. Put about 2" of cooking oil in it, I used olive oil, but any cooking oil should do. Place the oil on a very low heat gas or electric burner and SLOWLY heat to 100 C or 212 F. If you have a thermometer all the better, but if not , put a drop of water in the oil and when it hits 100 C the oil will crackle as this water boils. 100 C is not hot enough to form poly so keep SLOWLY heating for a few minutes to get it around 120 C to 130C (not sure what F is). Get 2 spoons of exactly the same shape, the lips I use are about 3/4", I used 2 teaspoons, but if yours are bigger use dessert spoons or plough discs, whatever your size-whatever your former is, make sure they fit neatly togeather!! Place the poly blank on the spoon (A little cold oil on the spoon helps keep it in place) and then place the other spoon on top (see PICS) and then clamp them togeather, as you can see I used a paper clamp. Stand the spoons in the hot oil, making sure the actual spoon ends and poly are immersed in the oil, leave for about 30 sec to 1 min and remove. Place the spoons on a damp wash cloth and wrap the cloth over the top, then press the spoons togeather (another spoon is handy). Hold in position for about 30 sec's so the damp cloth can cool things a bit, remove the paper clamp, seperate the spoons and flick the new lip into a glass of water/detergent mix to cool and clean, then do another one - sometimes the poly is formed so well it sticks to the spoon (suction) so you may need to slide it off the spoon into the water, be carefull as the poly is still hot and you may push it out of shape. This sound pretty labourious but once you get the oil to the right temp, you could probably do 10 in 10 mins, get a few sets of spoons and god knows how many you can do. You may see one lip in the photo is a bit cloudy looking, this one was placed in the oil when the temp was too low and bought up to temp, it did not form properly. Allow the oil to get up to temp before you place the poly/spoons in it and they will come out crystal clear as in photos. These lips have not been sanded etc, they went streight from the die punch to the oil, the poly is 1 mm thick (or 0.040" I think!!). I ahve not tried it, but 1/8" should bend just as easily, maybe have to heat the poly for a few more seconds though. Beware of over heating the oil and effects of water, hot oil and flame. Dry spoons before immercing again in the hot oil. Hope this is of some use to some one. Have fun >Pete

I think I have finally got it, so simple, as usual we think of all the high tech ways to do things and don't see the obvious. I'm Excited! ! I have been trying to "concave" circular "lexan" bibs for ages, as I think they get a bit more grip on the water and can really make a lure shake. Always had trouble with the heat and could never get it spot on, so you finish up with either blisters, melted or bloom all over them. Made six tonight and all bar one are crystal clear, and I am pretty sure I know why (see pics). Heres a site with heaps of info on working Poly. http://www.auf.asn.au/scratchbuilder/makrolon_fabrication.pdf Just checked out the Pictures and the lighting is crap, I will take some more tomorrow in the daylight (16 hrs time) and post them with a bit more "how to" info. Stand by-sorry about that .pete

Swede + -I dipped a lure in Prop and of course the paint (W/Base acrylic) ran everywhere. Can you tell me what paints are compatable with Prop/acetone top coat - If any?? - Pete

Great stuff, I have just started using this Propionate, shame it can't be used as a finish coat.pete

Longball- no I have only cut discs. If you want to square parts of it off, maybe you could cut a larger disc and square it up (or whatever) with a small gillotine or a large pair of sidecutters work well. I have all ways assumed Polycarbonate and Lexan were the same material, you said in a previous post you had problems with it cracking, have never seen that happen- maybe it's not polycarbonate (Laxan) after all. They say polycarbonate does not crack?? although recently I saw a sheet that had been hit by hail stones in a storm here and it was full of 1/2" holes, no real cracking though ! !pete

Some very big toothy fish-Looks like Northern Territory (Australia) or Papua New Guinea. If only I could read Japanese- the pics are good though. http://wind.ap.teacup.com/applet/fishing/msgcate3/archivehttp://wind.ap.teacup.com/applet/fishing/200705/archive Check out the "Archive" lower left

Hi again "Longball"-If you look at Pic 1020178, that's how they come out-except for the small hole , which is punched later with a paper punch (for ring binders), I need to do this so the brass hook hanger frame can pass through the lip (see new pics). The lips in the picture are Aluminum @.5mm (about 1/50th inch in your measurements) and as you can see from the die I have ground a few angles and a centre mark to get curve and a reference point for when gluing the lips into the lure. I have used brass as well, with same result and just yesterday cut a couple of Polycarbonate ones @ 1mm (about 1/25") , no problem, except you will not get the curves etc, just comes out a flat disc. I have been using this for about 15 years on and off, the press has only been added in the last couple of years as I needed to cut them in the hundreds and I got sick of holding everything and trying to whack the punch with a hammer, sometimes missing. You and your mate, one feeding a 6' strip of Al or Poly in and one punching can make something like 100/ hr, if you paint the lips, just sand the strip before punching them and they are ready to go. I think this may cut "stainless steel" but would maybe need a longer lever, as you would know, staino is hard and "work hardens" as you cut it, also you need to have quality hard steel in punch and die, that's why I originally went for the truck shock absorber shaft, it's chromed and nice and hard. If you want to make just a few, don't worry about the press part, just make the punch/die part put it in a vice, use a hammer and watch your knuckles. Pete

Love your efforts "Vodkaman", have one for me. As you say, most of us have toiled away on a "dream lure" only to find no matter where you bend the eye, weight the back hooks, we get the death spiral. I have read your post twice now and much of it has sunk in and confirmed a lot of what I have thought, but was too P'd off to try. I admire your tenacity and lateral thinking, but wait until the mathmaticians get hold of it and minutley anaylise it- there are so many grey areas in this "Science" and most of us have not the brainpower or time to study the pure hydro dynamics of lures or submarines. If we can tweek a lip, drill a weight or move a hook eye and it works consistantly (and catches fish), that's enough proof for me, but if you get some reasoning behind doing all these things, so much the better. Look forward to seeing your drawings, "a picture paints a thousand words". Thanks again, have another one on me and pardon the spelling. Pete