sonoman

Must not be any or a well kept secret...lol

Which mold or molds is the trick setup?...preferred hook and the whole shebang if you don't mind sharing....most interested in a tournament style quality, prefer a lighter weight head so 1/4 oz and probably less...Thanks

Automotive 2 part urethane...expensive and toxic but works very well, a well done devcon job imo looks better and is more durable.

Interesting topic, lure biz is definitely challenging when you read all the posts, so it seems one must seriously control their costs, figure out to make a better fishtrap and get it out there which is the real challenge esp. before someone can copy it and produce it quicker and cheaper and just beat ya to the punch in general, personally it seems the way to succeed at this is just to produce the best quality you can, take care of the customers you have and stay small....otherwise it looks like a monster migraine and I'd be willing to bet that nothings changed down through the years

I haven't had a single issue on wood, plastic or otherwise, I just don't mix the types of paints if you do most likely you will encounter something that you don't want, you can buy very small amounts of urethane basecoats at automotive paint dealers to go with the clears, it isn't cheap and its very toxic as I'm sure you are fixing to hear about, but you eliminate all the heat setting and all that and personally I prefer the way it sprays...if your building large musky baits it will not give you the durability the the multiple coat epoxy route does...no way no how...Good luck.

I use a Nason 2k clear with the corresponding catalyst, never had any issues with it whatsoever but I only spray automotive basecoat urethanes underneath...not sure what it would it do with non compatible stuff I imagine it wouldn't do well.

LOL, c'mon now fellas...

Stan I'd love to see what you do married to some of these fellas custom tweaked balsas, I imagine those lures would be quite valuable ....

It goes back to what I originally posted....selling, post your plain natural baits on any auction site and see how they do compared to any of the fellas doing the image/paint thing and I believe it will become very clear rather quickly why they do it...The evolution of the industry is heading that direction, soon every pkg in walmart will have that type of look IMO...so at the end of the day we are still left with the niche market that will still be there of a hand built , hand tuned and tweaked bait that so many of the better anglers are actually looking for and precisely why so many are on sites like this looking for lil tidbits to make their baits even that much better...is it in the paint job?...not in my opinion but damn if ya wanna sell some...best do it...lol

Well said

Personally I think the guys in the know want and desire lures that work more so than fairground queens, yes the product sells very well on auction sites and I am quite sure guys that do this have plenty of business....I am sure soon you will see this process married to lures that are top to bottom custom built but the price will certainly reflect this, painting will never go away because at the end of the day what the majority want is stuff that works, at a price point they can afford...

I think Hughesy has done fairly well, just sayin...

I just go to his profile then to gallery from there

There are some in the gallery section, man I'm still waiting to put that to its paces....lol

I think if you have any tackle or craft shows in your area that might be a great place to start, folks that go to those things are generally the target audience imo and you may just find the contacts that will keep you busy...good luck.

Is it a western red cedar?...some of what I refer to as swamp cedar won't turn worth a crap, so it most def. could be the lumber

When I first started I used a water base minwax product for floors and just dipped the baits and they came out real nice...problem I had was durability, once the hooks rubbed through the pretty clear it often times would just come off in a sheet...so that wasn't going to cut it for me...good luck.

FATC, Florida Antique Lure Collectors....google that and I am sure someone there knows where and how to get them, I know there are guys that reproduce baits that the fellas use so that they don't destroy a valuble antique lure.

...another idea may be to contact one of the antique lure show administrators, I know here in central Florida Bernie Schultz one of the elite series pros runs one , he might be your best bet, Facebook him and I will see if I can find the website to the shows...BRB

Might contact that Kermit Adams guy who tends to reproduce a lot of those old lures I'd be willing to bet he has a source.

Definitely a nice tool , do you sell any of your blanks?

Phil that was awesome, now if Harbor freight would just sell a duplicator...lol

You could always rim the eyes...probably be easier to buy some holographic stuff at hobby lobby which would give you the flash you want...I imagine that coppers going to dull regardless of the treatment...good luck, the paint jobs pretty cool , put on 2-3 layers of DEVCON and turn it and it will be gorgeous!...good luck