A-Mac

dang, i wasn't expecting that process to look that good... nice job.

i've been pushing down the wood filler around the wire eye with a flat razor or flathead screwdriver. however, i'm sure there is a better way to clean it up.... if thats what you mean anyway.

nice mold! I think I might try some hollow lead wire and crimp it around my wire.

Its not off topic! As long as you haggled on the price! i have something very similar that I used primarily before. I still use it to do the finer sanding now. Belt sanders are great for knocking off angles, not so good for fine sanding... on balsa anyway. Having a round sanding object is nice for under the tail of cranks. I'm still pretty scared of this belt sander, I've had a couple lures get ripped out of my hands and thrown across the room already. As long as its not a finger

Thanks man... Wiss tin snips are the only way to go! Very little dust, no waste, and nice straight cuts.

Well I had to pick one up the other day.... I have a good size lure order and my hands were starting to cramp... AT LEAST THATS WHAT I KEPT TELLING MYSELF! Anyway, I got one... AND GOT 50 BUCKS KNOCKED OFF IT! perhaps this is a bit wrong , but all I had to do is flirt with a fat chik at the register. i'd say she was a 2-3 on the 10 scale... after knocking $50 off and perhaps a few of these so next time your in the big HD, pick out the big girls for big discounts... and give them a

perhaps mixing the flake with something like createx clear top coat first would work better? I've been thinking about trying this and brushing it on.... OR doing as you are saying and shoot it through a cheaper gun. since it's sparkle, i'm not really trying to do any details with it. Plus, this should help make the final clear coat smoother too since the flake will be underneath instead of within... just thinkin. I figure it would shoot better with the createx clear than with a urethane, and hopefully be easier to clean too.

I made my first lure when I was 11, 15 years ago! I'm glad to say that I still have it. It looks very similar to a chili pepper! From then, I wanted to make baits that caught fish... add about 5 more years to get something decent and consistent... and then another 3 years to find tackleunderground and to learn what really makes a crankbait and swimbait work... wooohooo, VORTICES baby! ... thanks vodkaman... and tequila! Oh, TU def helped me make mine look a lot pertier too! I've become a better woodworker, airbrusher, and general "what can I make this do" type tinkerer. Thanks everyone who's helped me become better! On the flip side, I hoard every piece of junk now thinking that it will come in handy in making "the perfect lure" one day. My ultimate goal, win the bassmaster classic. If I can't do it personally, than I want my lure to do it. I guess the tournaments fuel me whether I'm on the water or in the shop.

bingo... i had punched in lureparts.com instead of lurepartsonline.com but holy crap are they proud of them! hmm... 2.90 for 10 of them, I'll keep looking. Thats a crazy price. I might get some 1/4" hollow lead wire and crimp it on my eye screws then.

I was drilling 4 holes around the screw and inserting split shot weiths... but this just adds 4X the risk of screwing up. Its also harder to put larger weight in. I figure 1 big hole with 1 big weight will be best. i've seen some cylindrical weights that appeared to have a stainless eye screw attached that looked ideal. Ben, the only thing I saw on the Lure Parts.com was the "bass casting weights"... Is this what you meant? These were under the "terminal tackle" heading. These look like they have brass wire.

i used to pour jigs... i'm really not into pouring lead anymore though. just too hazardous.

I tried looking in the search for this, but some of the links I found no longer worked (or the websites didn't exist anymore). I'm looking for the weights that would have the hook hanger built in. Any info on where I could find these would be great.

From the baits I've made, I would disagree about the action. If it does actually deaden the action, it must be a very small difference... OR people are really putting a bunch of epoxy on. D2T is very thick, but I normally thinned it when I did use it. I used Etex mostly, which is much thinner and don't recall seeing any difference between the epoxy and DN. I would go as far as saying that the wood within a single plank varies the action more than epoxy (etex) vs DN. Some of my smaller cranks I used Epoxy because it did add weight to the bait, but not for the intention of changing the action. I will say epoxy has a more attractive finish initially, but in the long run DN will look better longer. just my 2 cents

i've been putting some on my finger (latex glove) and sprinkling it over the bait after my DN stops drippings as much. I normally put a 2nd coat on over this when the DN is ready. However, I've done baits w/ 1 coat where I sprinkled over top and never re-cleared and the sparkle stayed just fine. I like 2 coats on balsa is all.

haha... i think your loosing me on your suggestions! I'm sure such a thought out process must be used on the "perfect lure." Please show an example of this beast of the water world! Either an illustration or a rare pic of just one of your many lures with this design would certainly help! As for the helicopter devil horse, you must be on a heck of a prescription to be experiencing this! You told the doc you had glaucoma didn't you!

yeah, Dick said he sprays. I wasn't able to get the desired finish though. I brushed for a long time, but finally gave it up because I could never get rid of the bubbles. Dipping is easy, and I just wait to do a batch at a time now to avoid exposing the DN more than necessary. Plus, I think dipping provides a much thicker coat than spraying... which to me is more important on wooden lures.

Thanks musky glenn. I haven't tried the braid yet, but I've heard from a couple people that it helps on some topwaters As for mine, cedar version test went well. there was no diving and the lure walked much easier. I think the pvc had a wider side to side distance than the cedar. But the cedar still had a wider walk than a spook. the lure did weigh much less (it was just sealed... no paint or clear). Nevertheless, I'm happy with the results. I will try tinkering with a couple other woods, perhaps more dense than cedar. it is reassuring that i don't have to chuck my design into the POS failed lure designs box.

haven't quite got all the bugs out yet... hoping to do some testing with a cedar version tomorrow

+1

thats wicked. Wish I would have seen this vid before I made mine. i made a "copy carver"... from some instructions I got from copycarver.com I had the intension of being able to quickly make wooded swimbaits. Though the machine worked well, it was not suited for detailed swimbaits. The lures still required lots of sanding, BUT it knocked out the general shape of the lure and did save a little time. I think mine would work much better on larger projects, just not lures. These vidz show a machine that looks much more appropriate. Reminds me of the vid with the circular saw, only this one looks WAY safer! thanks for sharing these.

Good news mark! The solution to the lure was glue, paint, clear coat, and especially quality hooks!. Oh, eye screws were a no no, simply shove the sharp side of a safety pin (emphasis on NO glue!) in for best action! Oh, use about 15grams of weight too.

good suggestions. Bad thing is this Texas drought has the nearest ponds all dried up! I'm building a couple different variations of the lure to try out again. One of which is to not narrow the tail (caudal peduncle for you fish headz!) as much because you guys may be absolutely right with the rudder action. The end of the tail does flair out to hold the plastic fin. I like the tail, and its my main reason for doing a topwater, so it will be the last thing I modify. I'm thinking by making the rear section more cone shaped (like a spook) may help. Hopefully more testing tomorrow.

if it is a resin poured lure, there is a good chance the screws were poured in. I've done this before, but my mold wasn't set up to really hold the eyes screws properly. However, you can do exactly what you mentioned by doing this (if you plan for it before you make the mold)... you can get the screws in a tight place. Also, pouring the resin around the screws is probably the toughest structure aside from a true through-wire.

good vidz for sure