A-Mac

I did it once as a gift for a friend... and to see how its done. If I recall, I took an actual photo, cut out my picture, and soaked it for like 5 minutes in water. Then I gently removed the paper part of the photo leaving the thing plastic membrane. I then used spray adhesive to glue it on both sides of the lure... FYI, you start off with a picture for each side. After you get the image on the lure I put my first clear coat on. I then paint the top and the bottom to blend in with the images. Clear coat and your done. Ok, its a little trickier than it sounds! I wish I had a picture, I was really happy with the turn out. The hardest part was working the image dimensions to fit the lure. I had a buddy stretch certain parts of the image to cover the lure well.

Yeah, I don't know if its just me or if something has changed but my searches have been coming up pretty vague recently. I'm with BobP on the paint. I've put D2T on right after painting... and I actually try to get it on with as little delay as possible to avoid particle contamination.

...SOLD! Thanks Dean. So are these posts the waiting list for the new stuff???

Never done this before... But I would say #3 would fit the best and have the least impact on the soft plastic portion of the bait. I use super glue religiously on all my soft plastic tackle because it holds like a champ. I would avoid the corkscrew... ur right, that sounds difficult to get everything lined up (even though it would hold the best). I really don't think you have a problem with the soft plastic pulling off before its ruined using normal super glue (gel). But like I said, I've never done this before... good luck.

Sorry, that post was a bit everywhere, and I should have made a new topic. I was just curious how DN holds up in the joints of swimbaits (assuming the new DN has similar results).

um... if it makes you feel any better the gold one looks pretty cool First guess to my mind would be that you didn't heat set enough.

Maybe its the fact that wasn't available anymore or that e-tex is really really tickin me off, but I decided that I have to get some DN. I'm sick of epoxies chipping on edge regardless of the # of coats. Plus, I want to keep the detail. Its time I converted. I can't wait to try this stuff (assuming everything works as planned). I know this is off topic, but I do have one question for DN users: How does this hold up with swimbaits... the joints in particular. Thats my biggest issue with epoxy is that I have to layer it up to take the beating (and the edges still eventually chip). It doesn't seem to matter whether it's D2t or e-tex. I'm using resin, so the thickness for durability isn't an issue like balsa. Thanks guys!

I would recommend pouring a lure that doesn't have weight first. This way, you can add a little weight at a time until you find out the right amount. The big thing is that you won't have to cast several baits that may not even work; thus, wasting you time and $. Thats my anyways. Once you know how much you need then I would totally recommend pouring it in. better to sacrifice the first born.. i mean molded... lure for the sake of many!

I was hoping to do something similar to what Lary Dalbherg did in his lure making episode and roll pure resin around in the lure to form a shell. I've never used foam before so I would probably just fill the void up with resin and microballoons. I remember someone mentioning this before to potentially reduce the number of pin holes in the surface. I figure that this could also strengthen the lure that much more (since fillers weaken the resin). I actually don't install any hardware except the line tie until later in the process too. It is still a few weeks off before I can try anything like this, but I'm sure it will take time to figure out how to map out my channels properly. Thanks for posting that tutorial! I don't think I looked at that one since I first joined!

Hey pikeman really appreciate the info (sorry for hijacking the post)! Your pics have encouraged me to try a one-piece mold. You think something similar to your mold could be done with a 3-piece swimbait?

Hmmm... I use my oil heater for that too! I lay some foil over the top have my lures on one side and scrambled eggs on the other. The oven thing is brilliant! I've just found a use for pre-heat!

I had similar problems with divers that were intended to reach about the 10ft zone. There are two things I concluded with my lures. You must use planks for each side from the same piece of wood... Its amazing how much difference a slight density difference can make. The other big one was line tie placement. I had lure doing exactly what you were saying. I actually started to have the line tie with a little more "slack" so that I could adjust it forward and backward to find the "sweet spot". Several lures I've made had the same issue and by have the line tie a little longer I was able to have nice lures. Each lure required a a different tuning too, so I couldn't declare that the line tie needed to be 1/16th set back or forth even if the several lures were made from the same plank at the same time. So I'd say its a tuning problem vs. a lure problem in your case (because the lure looks perfect). Gotta find the sweet spot! FYI, I was also using hardened stainless steel so that the lure stayed tuned with the added slack. I'm sure there are guys here that have made hundreds more of these than me. But this info is just based upon my experience.

I have never done a one-piece. I currently have a 3 piece swimbait set up in one 2-piece mold. I've made about 10 different molds so far and having all the pieces in one is definitely the way to go... not sure how this would work with a 1-piece though. For the 2-piece, arrange the pieces side-by-side only have each part configured to have the desired pour vent vertical. In other words, don't just put your pieces side-by-side as they would normally puzzle together. Look at each piece, figure out where you want the pour spout coming in (I try to hide mine in the joint section of the lure). Be sure to add vents for air bubbles too! Put your vents in the areas of the lure that could potentiall trap air as it fills with resin. Don't be afraid of putting several vents in your mold, because its better to have to spend a minute trimming a nice lure than wasting time, money, and effort on a bad pour. Silicon isn't cheap stuff either so pour as little as necessary. My final mold is rectangular in shape. The reason for this shape is so that the mold sits level when you pour. I put a 2x4 block on each side of the mold and place a clamp on it. I don't actually put much pressure on the sides with the clamp... just enough to keep resin from seeping out. I'm not saying this is the way you have to do this (like I said, I've never done a one piece)... but its a system that works really well for me. If you have release agent your mold will definitely last longer. The more detail, cuts, curves in your mold the faster it will wear. I'm sure its even harder on the silicon with a one-piece.

Is the compressor your looking at the pancake style? I've been eyeballing that one myself. I've had a normal airbrush compressor for a long time... I keep waiting for it to die. It would be sooo nice to have one that didn't run all the time. I would check to see if there is a pressure regulator of some sort too. I figure you could set it at 40-50 and have the luxury of constant pressure (which is something you definitely don't get with an airbrush compressor). Make sure to get a moisture trap too! Let me know how it works out!