A-Mac

Impressive! If only I could keep my work surface that tidy

True, based on the lures I've thrown with it... I'm satisfied. They seem to hold up quite well and I haven't had any appear to take on any water. I would like to ask them more about curing for the glossiest finish. What I have started doing is the following: I suspend the lure into the nail light. 1Light on- 30 seconds 2Rotate lure- light on- 30 seconds 3No light- ~30 seconds Repeat 2 more times, I then let it cure for about 4 more minutes on each side. I'm sure there is still an even better way.

Ok, it must be the resin. However, this brings up an interesting point. Does this mean that Solarez is actually porous if it allows the resin to sweat through?

hair dryer... even the UV lamp makes it sweat. I think I figured out the problem... I think its the resin I used for the bait body. I did a couple pours while I was painting, and I noticed my pours weren't developing right... as well having a very wet surface. We're having some funky weather down here in Texas right now, so maybe it's messing up stuff.

I'm still working on the learning curve to getting the best clear. The biggest issue I've had though has been the lure "sweating" when heat setting the paint. I am using solarez as a sealer coat first, then painting, then clearing. However, when the lure "sweats" from heat setting, it ruins the paint. Has anyone else had this issue? Thanks.

Yup, I've been happy with the aeromarine. I just recently tried the transparent stuff. However, the purple stuff smells like grape soda!

Multiple molds for multiple pieces is the way to go. I tried 3 and 4 piece molds interlinked. The main problem that occurs is gas venting as the resin cures. You notice that after you pour the resin is pushed out of the mold. With multi-piece molds, each piece pushes into the next piece. I documented each lure section for my swimbaits on excel, weighing each piece out and I also mixed my resins methodically and precisely. I measured the resin using 20ml syringes and measured the filler with a good scale. I never could get my pieces to have consistent weights, and the trends for each pieces consistency didn't correlate with the other pieces within the same mold. So yeah, its much better to just make multiple molds from my experience and mix a batch of resin for each piece for the most consistency.

I haven't tried this, but if I were I would go about it as follows: 1) white base 2) make a stencil and shoot black bars where you want the cross hatch 3) cover with scale mesh pattern and shoot white, then maybe a pearl white over the lure. This should leave the black cross pattern. I can see where the 3m trick would work very nicely for this.

great thread... I'm loving the thought of trying out the spray adhesive idea.

surfs up man . So what is the benefit of the wax in the coating to begin with???

Thanks. Another tip for adding the resin: I use a 20ml syringe with a huge needle (a large animal needle) and inject into the mold through the pour spout. I think it helps force air bubbles out of the mold, let alone being a much cleaner process than pouring. The 20ml syringes are very nice for measuring out smaller quantities of each resin part too. Just remember to rinse your new syringe with acetone to remove any oils/lubricants.

I've had good success paint directly on the stuff without sanding. Do make sure that you wipe the surface down. I have noticed (with the light) that the finish will sometimes sweat??? Either way, I wiped down the lure with alcohol, just in case, and haven't had any issues. Ha! My girlfriend is excited for once about the lure making mess. She wants her nails airbrushed now that I have a UV light. What irks me, she has known about this UV coat stuff for God only knows how long and never told me!

Position the lure so that it is just off of the bottom of the cup (this is more of a reference point for when the lure is submerged in rtv) I recommend brushing rtv on the lure before completely submerging. This eliminates any chance of air bubbles getting trapped against the lure. Draw a reference line to cut with the exacto (I actually recommend marking the cup if you are not using a clear rtv). I try to cut down the back of the lure. I set up this pour with a lip that I leave in the rtv to make my slot (I just coat it with petroleum jelly in between pours). I also do not cut more than necessary to avoid as many seam lines. Rub some petroleum jelly on the outside of the mold and press back into the solo cup. Pour your resin of choice. Pop out the finished product and trim. Hope this helps. I haven't made a 2 piece mold since trying this method. Also, I must give credit, if it were not for the slip mold tutorial I probably would have never tried this.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing! I'm anxious to try this on some of my resin cranks. Perhaps drilling 2 holes into an angled "V" shape into the bait would still allow the ball to move, but not hit the sides with such momentum. I presume a "U" shape may be even better, but I have no idea how you could drill a curve hole. However, it sounds like you've got this figured out pretty darn good already!

I'm using the exact same light as Cougarftd. It works great! I'm thinking about getting another and and removing the plates to have a little more room for larger lures. Though I haven't really experimented a lot yet, shorter light periods (shorter than the 120 second timer) definately made the finish glossier. I'm thinking a few 20-30 second lightings with about the same amount of non-lighted timings are the ticket, followed by a longer hard finishing cure. Just a guess for now.

if balsa smelled like cedar, I would have never even considered pvc!

My bad guys on getting pics on here. I've been very busy lately. I plan to make a new mold over thanksgiving and will take pics of the solo cup mold making process as I go.