diemai

Forgot to mention , that my wife used to frequently outfish me as well , at least in a particular swim , a small river extented to a rowing race track , located a few miles southeast from the inner city of Hamburg/Germany . And she's exclusively using my homemade jigging spoons and weight-forward spinners to do it , so one more reason not to complain about my passion for lure making(or should I call it lunacy ?) Greetz , diemai

@ TEE When my 'old gal' first saw my early homemade shiny polished stainless steel spoons many years ago , she wanted something similar as earrings too , so occasional small jobs like that render my workshop worthwhile for her as well:) ! But I doubt , whether women would hang plastic worms on their ears , would they ? welcome at TU ! greetz , diemai

I have some small clambs looking exactly like laundry pegs , but they are only a bit longer than 1" . Don't ask me , where I obtained these many years ago , maybe it was some kinda "cheapies" shop , this kind selling all kind of low quality stuff for little money . You might as well check sources for RC-modelmaking . I think , for plating wings of model airplanes with that special paper foil one needs some sort of small clambs , but not too sure about that:huh: ! Greetz , diemai

@ hazmail Pete , I like this "spider" of yours , very innovative device:yay: ! Personally , I gave up upon center measuring rectangular and even round blanks for a long time now , thank God my eyeballing abilities to draw pencil center lines are quite sufficient for the job ! Greetz , Dieter

Just found this link on a German site . Many of us over here in Central Europe use special sling shots for chumming non-predatory fish , but this one really is over the edge ! Greetz , diemai

@ BEZYB One more decade through on the way to wisdom(of age)! happy birthday , diemai

!!!!!!! unbelieveable , diemai

@ woodieb8 Thanks for your info , I suspected it to be a knock-off , hope , that it would at least run like the original , when I'd be done with it:wink: ! @ mark poulson Mark , thanks once more for your help and advice , I had already accidentally found out , that heat would let the water come out of the lure . When I held it to scrape off the paint , I saw the water for the first time and figured out , that it must be the warmth of my hand causing this . After I did some more with a lighter flame , but to be sure , I'm gonna put it on the radiator for a few days , so I can be sure , all water evaporates(Guess , something you won't need in your place , lol ) . I thought about closing the holes with superglue(guess , you call it "crazy glue" over there ?) , but I also have some special plastic glue , that melts the plastic and fuses it together , maybe , I'm gonna try that one ! To detect suspected holes in plastic lures , there is a method , that I have read somewhere before , hope , I still get it straight ! Put the lure in a deep freezer for a day , after put it in warm water . As the air inside of the the lure heats up , it expands and releases small bubbles at the leak . Hope , that I remember correctly , but seems logical to me:huh: ! Greetz , Dieter

Used to paint homemade SSt blades and spoons(and still do) . I would first fine sandblast them at my work , so that the primer paint would find better grip (guess rough sandpaper or power tool steel brushing would do the trick as well , on brass blades use a brass wire brush) . I used ordinary primer paint from the tool shop , brush-painted patterns with modelmaking enamels , finally covered with 2 component clear lacquer . Turned out quite tough , once wanted to remove one pattern with a power tool steel brush , .....heck , what much I had to press the blade against it........it simply wouldn't go easily . Also chipping off at rocks or mussels has it's limits . But I guess , with acrylic paints it would work well alike , main thing is to roughen up the metallic surface and de-grease it (fingerprints)with some spirit(industrial alcohol)prior to priming ! good luck , diemai

@ Hazmail , @ mark poulson Hi Pete and Mark , thanks for your posts here and sorry for hijacking the thread a bit , but here is a pic of the two kinds of broomsticks , that I've mentioned . The lighter one is the one for topwater lures and buoyant cranks , the other , darker one is similar looking to teak and way heavier , but I guess , that the lure , that I'm presently working on , would still float up a bit without any weights added . Maybe , now you could figure out better about it ? Greetz , Dieter

Found this two at the "Alster" lake in Hamburg city yesterday ! The smaller one was obviously loosened from its snag and washed ashore , hung into overhanging branches by a storm two days ago(it wasn't there the day before) . The larger one I accidentally hooked under a bridge , must have been there for years , it was covered with small mussels all over , hardly recognizeable as a lure . After cleaning it up and scraping off all the loose paint I have found small water drops to come out of the body at two locations at the seam of the two parts , looking like sweat coming out of skin pores . I know , that this lure is a "cheapy" , but I find it disgusting , that such improper lures are sold at all , and they still cost half to two thirds the price of a brand name lure(sadly one can't choose to exclusively find quality brands , LOL !) . How could I close these leaking spots , they're not visible at all ? Would some new paint and clear coats do the job ? The smaller lure looks like a "Luhr Jensen Fingerling" , I have one of these in a larger version , this small one is about 3 3/4" in length , lip included . Can somebody tell , wether this is just a knock-off or an original "Luhr Jensen", since my larger version has a clear plastic lip set in , on this one the lip is molded onto the body . No writing on it at all . Meantime I also scraped off the paint , it was partly quite loose , a well-known problem about "Fingerlings" , also it's made of similar ivory-colored plastic like my large "Fingerling"(repainted it , too) . It has some small BB's inside , generating a very moderate sound . Would appreciate any input and help ! Greetz , diemai

@ mark poulson Mark , this lightwood broom stick , that I mentioned is a very light colored non-European wood with hardly visible grain patterns . I have turned those three small "classic style" lures , that I put in the gallery recently , from it . Even they are so small and with wire harness , lip , small trim weight and hardware added , they pop back up like a bottle cork ! This wood also holds epoxied screweyes well . I am not quite sure , but someone told me , that in German the wood was called "Brasil-Kiefer" , which would be something like "Brazil-Pine" , translated straight . Sadly they don't always state the materials on the labels of such handles . One hint : eyeball down the length of them , many are a bit curvy or even twisted , only take the straight ones with an even grain................ohh , what am I telling to a lifetime chippy ! PS : Handles for gardening tools are also an option , but these are most likely made of rigid hardwood , so better suited for sinking jerkbaits ! These are also a bit thicker in diameter compared to broom handles . But the other day I was lucky to get some of a different , lighter wood from a Polish vendor on a fleamarket , I suppose , its poplar , approx. 1 1/2" in diameter , so I have more options turning the lures shape . greetz , Dieter

@ spoopa Prior to first testing of your still unpainted lures or testing in water to determine about correct ballast and trimming you should coat them them with one or two layers of clear lacquer to prevent water sepage during the test . At first such a sepage might render the weighting inaccurate , second it might have caused your bait to crack up(as far , as I can say from a distance) . Greetz , diemai

Over here in Germany they sell replacement broom handles , a bit less than 1" in diameter , some of these are made of a really light kinda wood , best suited for topwaters ! But one has to look around , since different suppliers use different woods . Just the other day I purchased one looking like teak or similar , off course a bit too heavy for topwaters , but so far I've turned some classic style cranks from it ! Just a hint;) ! Greetz , diemai