diemai

@ dino I know about Lakeland Incorporated: Spinner Blades, Casting Spoons, Fishing Tackle Components as a manufacturer of spoon blanks and blades and :-:-: Lure Making :-:-: The Official LureMaking.com Website | Tackle Components | Lure Components | Lure Making Information | Lure Making Supplies as a Canadian mail order store stocking a couple of these items . happy new year , diemai

@ bamabass Never heard of this molding material , that you have described , I am not into molded lures , anyway . But here is another material , that people might probably be interested in , saw it first time published in a German angling magazine in summer 2001 . The chief writer of that magazine , also an ardent lure tinkerer , has thought about it on ocassion of some dental surgery . The molding material is that stuff , that dentists use to make negative prints of jaws and teeth to furnish braces or false teeth . Anybody , that had gone through sucha procedure knows , that this putty cures within minutes . Well , I have tried to do the same with a bigger minnow , but my attempt had badly failed , since I obviously had obtained the wrong material or did not mix it well . So I asked that guy from the magazine(I know him personally)to borrow that very mold pictured here and I cast about 150 blanks with it , and it would still have made up for 150 more . Astonishing , how this stuff withstands the heat of molten lead . I have uploaded some jigging spoons made with that mold in the gallery before , named "The Real Thing" in there . Hope , that the important things are visible on those pics(sorry , don't have a printer/scanner) , the text is in German , anyway . Greetz:yay: , diemai

Thank you guys again for your (belated) birthday greetings and kind words , great , that you have remembered about me:) ! Thanks , Dieter

@ dino Please check my post in the thread "infos for painting big musky blade" by Helmout . So I won't have to write my statement two times , lol ! Do a search on term "painting spoons" , you should find it then ! Apart from painting I also cover my homemade spoons with reflective decal foil , holographic foil or glitter flakes . Spoons made of stainless steel sheet I sometimes also heat to red glow with a soldereing torch , this results into a dark blue/purple /brownish color , that particulary works well in clearer water . I have uploaded some of my spoons in the gallery here(also painted ones) , but it was quite a while ago . Still found those three pics in my file , these are showing homemade spoons decorated with metal glitter flakes(6 "shoehorn style") , holographic scale foil(3 "slim style")and SSt heated to glow(large lure on top with two beaded eyes) , the smaller one on that pic was painted black and plated with scale foil . If you should have further questions , feel free to post ! good luck , diemai

@ ring fry Loose 1 lure , build 3 new ones for it , that's my policy;) ! Welcome to TU ! greetz , diemai

@ wiredhatred smalljaw has already said it all , just melt it in a well ventilated place , preferable outdoors , maybe pour it into ingot molds , if you have too plenty to use up at a time . All dirt , paint , dust , corrosion layer , etc . will float on top of the molten lead in it's pot and you can skim it off with some old cookery spoon or similar prior to pouring . good luck , diemai

@ spoopa I usually don't put kill spots on my lures(haven't bothered about it so far) , but I still do catch fish on them ! Maybe , if I would paint on such spots , I'd catch more ? Just can't imagine , that such a little spot could make a big difference , but I am surely ready to learn........! greetz , diemai

@ Mags Really seems , that I ought to revise on my previous statement ! But happy to hear , that sandblasting crankbaits does work somehow:yes: ! Live and learn:yes: ! good luck:yay: , diemai

Happy Birthday , Bear ! I know it by own experience , having birthday during Xmas and New Year holidays always causes splitting up the gifts . I guess , having birthday at a different time of year would result into a few more presents , lol ! all the best , diemai

Hi guys , I'd just like to thank you so much for your kind words and birthday wishes , made me feel very happy ! Tried to catch a nice "birthday fish" yesterday , but it sadly did not work out like it sometimes did in past years , since it's just too slow presently , also temps have chilled down below freezing point . Gonna be predators closing time over here , anyway , as from the 1st of January until 1st of May . Its always the hardest time of year for me , lol ! Thanks a lot again , Dieter

@ Mags I don't think , that it would work out without causing too much damage to the lure . Been doing some sandblasting with a very fine media(finer than the sand in a birds cage) at my work , trying to clean off my homemade paint patterns(primer , modelmaking enamels and 2K topcoat)from spoons and spinnerblades . Had to set that thing on real high power to get the paint off , I don't think , that plastic lures would withstand that abuse . Hardwood might possibly withstand better , only its surface grain might become rather rough and "fuzzy" , might require sanding and/or even treatment with woodfiller to retain a smooth surface again . And how do you intend to mask the transparent lips ? Simply taping won't work , the sandblasting would soon shred it to pieces , you'd need a masking of maybe thin , flexible plastic or even aluminium sheet . Or you'd be OK with the lips getting to a milky , light greyish color ? What I mean to say is , that it really depends on the sandblasting power you need to remove the paint would not be too strong to damage the lure . Maybe some paints also come off easier than others ? Really a matter of trial and error ! I can't imagine it to work out , but I would surely like to be proven wrong in that way:yes: ! good luck , diemai

@ robalo01 Guess , you should make your decision after your own personal fishing demands , are you fishing deeper or more shallower waters ? But after my own experience it is easier to successfully build shallow diving and medium diving crankbaits and minnow lures rather than deep running ones ! There are a few models around , that can be turned on a lathe , but in general I'd say , that such a round , spindle shaped blank is not the very best body shape for a crankbait , it often tends to roll too much for my taste , but this also depends on lip size , location and angle , oval or flat cross-sectioned ones are superior in my opinion . If you really don't have any idea , I'd suggest to browse through the gallery and see , whether you could get some first input in there . You might also check Lurebuilding 101 , it's a Dutch site , but English version available , not quite sure , but apart from glider jerkbaits there might be some describtions on crankbaits there as well . good luck , diemai

@ Fishoey This skirt material , that you are asking for , is refered as "living rubber" or "round rubber" in the PDF-download catalog of Welcome to Moore's Lures , but you can surely obtain it through other suppliers as well , but I am most familiar with that one . These are 1" wide strips , the single skirt strands are pre-slotted , so after cutting to desired length and putting on a skirt collar , they can easily be separated for the final product , makes it far easier that way , than working all the single strands into the skirt collar(been there , done that , lol !) Dick Moore sells them in 10' long pieces per color , doesn't have the greatest choice , but I guess , good prices for smaller amounts . PS : Moores Lures has a business vacation thru February and March , I guess , check catalog enty page for this ! good luck:yay: , diemai