Sonny.Barile

I found the HB tools to not hold an edge for very long on hard woods like maple and oak. If your using balsa or pine they will probably hold up enough. If you want to turn PVC Im not sure what you would need. People who machine plastics tend to suggest very sharp tools. As far as sharpening goes, I would avoid using a dremel like tool because it is too hard to control. I had a 3 jaw chuck and put a small sanding drum in it. I held the tool against the drum to sharpen. This was a good setup as It was easy to change grits. Put a little 3n1 oil on the sanding drum just as you would for sharpening a knife. If this is your first experience with a wood lathe you are in for a real treat. It is one of those tools that makes a man feel good when he uses it in a theraputic sort of way. Have fun and taake the following two suggestions seriously: 1. Get a face shield 2. Turn a peice of cedar at least once. It is an experience all to itself. Sonny

I had the Harbor Freight lathe. It is simply awesome for the price. The tools however, are exactly as described above. You will be sharpening every few lures. I had the same set for about $10 and through them away. The lathe is the same exact model as the one sold under the name Big Man tools for over $300. Get a drill chuck for that lathe and you will be able to drill thru using the lathe. It works great. Have fun........

A-Mac We use it to tumble parts made of 17-4 stainless steel. It takes care of light burrs and removes machining marks. Keep something in mind though......tumbling isnt really meant to do what it is your trying to do. The hard encapsulated splinters on the edge of the part may actually break off in the process leaving a void or torn rough edge. Tumbling would more so be used to maybe smooth an entire finish from gloss to matte or make a finish more visually uniform. Corn cobb media will do what the little bits of sand paper will but not as efficiently. However it gets your hands free. I have seen tumblers used for heavy large cnc machined hardwood lures but not balsa. Look up http://www.tattoostackle.com/s and watch the videos., you can see some lures going in to the tumbler. Sonny

There is a media made of corn cobb that is perfect for this application.

Mark I found your pics in the pic section. Looks pretty good as you seem to have the nack for that type of finish. I especially like the translucent finishes. I cant get finishes that good with any media. I think it is more about weather the lure maker knows how to use what it is he is using rather than what it is specifically he is using. You should post pics more often...... Sonny

water based polyurethane (ac moore and alike) mixed with a little water based acrylic paint (drops). I have done this successfully. It works as long as you mix the crap out of it.

Maybe build a mini tumbler from a bucket and an old drill. You could use sand as the medium and run your cured lures thru it for a little while. Should give a smooth satin finish without scratching them up. I would mask up the bill tho..... If you dont know what this is already I could explain it in more detail....Just ask. Sonny

Thats funny! In the salt, the tourney people usually dont care if you use an umbrella rig.

Sammy What area of Jersey are you moving to......

I have a couple of ideas I want to work on and they are very different from the satus quoe........ I just need the time to work on them. Between my family, work, trying to learn to carve, and so many other things I like to do, time is not easy to get......

Im not sure if you want to be breathing up that gasses released from the pvc as it breaks down. I know you arent supposed to let it heat up to much when machining because that will kill you instantly. (so Im told)

Highwayman I pm'd you with some hopefully useful stuff..... Sonny

Killing a bass just to get the skin is uncool!!!! If your eating the fish, then I guess there is no harm done. (as long as it is legal to take that species) DTL I mostly fish for Stipers and Blues in the salt and release 100 percent.

Im 50 percent colorblind. I couldnt copy anything if I tried.

This is in essence the same scam the government is trying to pull with the carbon credits non-sense. A non-existant product as a commodity. Wall Street will own nature................and sell it to the highest bidder..............who in turn will rape it. We started this by not fighting back when the US government put bag limits on "ocean catch" for the citizen angler. That in itself was unconstitutional and they got away with it...............

I remember seeing Ike on a commercial for a lure with led lit eyes. Not sure if it is illegal for tourney's........

are you guys carving that stuff by hand (meaning with a knife)? .....or using power to shpe?

Yup I get mine from www.njtackle.com You will need three sizes. The line tie grommet should have a hole big enough to fit double your wire dia. The tail grommet should be the size of your wire dia. The belly grommet needs to fit the eye of the swivel. Hollar if you need any help....I have made dozens of these. Sonny

Thats ironic ......I design surgical instruments for a living. Happy New Year

They are thru wired with wires that arent so flexible. So you put a hole in for the middle and put a swivel up there then pass the wire thru it. Then you do an outside wrap on the rear eye. The cups are to protect the wood from yhe heavy wire when 3 foot toothy critters are pulling on it. They put weights in the belly near the back. Most of the time it doesnt take that much because we use hard heavy woods. I make mine out of red oak. They weigh about 3 oz. I dont really do the surf anymore as I have a boat now. I have tuned it down to 1 oz. made of poplar and much smaller in length. I have been favoring the Large size Rapala Skitter Pop. It has a skinny tail and is weighted right where the skinny part starts. It runs about 1-1/2 oz.

The sad part my friend, is that someday they will want to dredge all of that out of the water, and they will make you pay to do that too.....LOL