Seeking 56

I use etex, it works well for me as I too build musky lures. I brush it on and let it hang overnight. The next day I will put another coat of etex and hang it from the opposite end. I wait a couple of days, then wet sand with 120 grit to get all the imperfections out. I then apply a final thin coat. I'm really happy with the end result. s54

Thanks Nathan, I clued in. I was editing when you were replying LoL!

Will check that link out Sonny! Thanks for the input guys. s54

This is exactly what I needed to hear guys!! Thanks so much! As a result, I will experiment on some Leopardwood scraps and see the results. If it works I will build another one. But for now, I have a theory on to waterproof the wood prior to etex. Let me know if I'm in left field on this one. I plan on progressively sanding it up to 2000 grit sandpaper, to achieve a mirror shine. I believe this would thighten the grain and not easily absorb water if the wood gets punctured. Your thoughts on this? s54

Before priming I would seal it with a waterproof glue to hopefully prevent it from cracking again. I use Titebond 3. I found using a razor blade or exacto knife works well to scrape paint off small lures. s54

I've recently finished a Leopard wood lure. I chose this wood because of it's unique grain pattern and desire to clear coat it with etex. Fearing that the clearcoat would eventually get punctured, I thought about waterproofing it with boiled linseed oil. I've never worked with linseed oil but from what I've read it seems to be the best waterproofer for wood. Does anyone know first off, if linseed oil will darken the wood and wether or not it will allow etex to adhere to it. Thanks s54

You can do a dissertation just on how to make stencils, yet alone on how to paint lures with an airbrush.... How can you expect someone to take the time to answer open ended questions like that? Read the " Observation rant " thread and you'll understand what ROWINGADUBAY and I are talking about. s54

Ok, it's just that when I read your first post you mentioned that you poked it with a piece of wire and it still managed to move. If you're using epoxy again, wiggle whatever it is you're inserting to remove the air bubble. It works good for me when I'm inserting ballast. Thx S54

Can you post a picture of the lure? I can't seem to visualize how a hook hanger can pop out if it's standing upright. I can see if you were using gorilla glue which expands and could've pushed the hanger out, but epoxy? I'm baffled!

As quoted from the internet: " Plain Sawing: The most simple method for milling a log into planks, plain sawing, involves making a series of parallel cuts through the log. This method is quick and leaves the least amount of waste. Because of the directional tension across the grain as the wood dries, ages and wears, flat sawn boards can be subject to cupping, twisting and bowing. Often, dry boards will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and will become distorted. Plain sawn lumber has a large variety of appearances based on the angle of the growth rings relative to the surface of the board. Often, these rings can be nearly parallel to the board, creating large, open patterns. When the angle of the growth rings nears perpendicular to the surface of the board, there are tighter stripes across the face of the plank. Quarter Sawing: To create quarter sawn lumber, the log is first cut radially into four quarters. Once quartered, there are two different ways in which boards are extracted from the log as shown in the photo below. The upper method is more complex and labor intensive, but leaves far less waste from the log. The method on the right hand side can be executed quickly, simply plain sawing the quartered log. However, this technique leaves large amounts of waste wood. In a quarter sawn board, the growth rings of the tree are closer to perpendicular to the surface of the board than in most plain sawn boards. In certain species of wood, most notably Oak, this creates a beautiful visual effect. These boards are more stable than plain sawn, being less susceptible to distortion that comes with expansion and contraction from absorbing and releasing atmostpheric moisture. Stable quarter sawn lumber is often recommended for flooring in high moisture, high traffic areas like restaurants, bars and home kitchens. Rift Sawing: The most stable boards, and also the most wasteful to produce, are rift sawn planks. Each of these boards is cut radially perpendicular to the growth rings of the tree. There are large triangles of waste left from between each board. As a result, rift sawn lumber is costly to produce and therefore, the most expensive type of planks available from a log. "

The top one has speckles in it which probably indicates it's been quarter sawn. s54

............misread. Could you not drill it out?

I usually cover the eyes on repaints with painter's tape.

Dot 3 brake fluid. Do a search. I've discussed this a few years ago. I've tried it. It works. It doesn't weaken the plastic at all but it will discolor the lip. It is messy though. Unless you have some intricate embossed pattern on your lure that you want to save or that you think sanding would ruin it, use brake fluid. Personally, I haven't had to repaint lures that have scale patterns but if I did I would definetely use it. Now I just wet sand with 80grit and finish off with 200. s54

What are these woods that have failed you Mark?

Try a cobalt bit, they're used to drill in stainless steel. s54

Get yourself some of these: Google " Safety wire twister " there's a video on how to use them. I've tried them with .059'' spring tempered stainless wire...it was hard at first but I got it to work pretty good after a few tries. s54

The 3rd pic has a 1/8'' gash on it's belly. I'd be hard pressed to believe that any type of sealer could / would penetrate anywhere near that depth to protect the wood..... but that's another topic. There is no adhesion problem here, just exposed wood due to the hooks and teeth factor and jointed parts contacting each other. Sure, the natural oils in the cedar definitely play a factor in the lures not swelling up, has it would naturally repel the water. I was hoping someone would chime in with pics and show the results of what a swollen lure looks like as a result of improper wood selection, sealing, topcoating, etc and discuss their experience... s54

Thanks George. I didn't get too fancy with that one. Built it late in the season last year and just needed to give it some contrast to try it out. Here's another one. This one's been to hell and back. Someone asked me to repair this one but I declined as it wouldn't be cost effective. Other than the battle scars it still runs fine. s54

Just for arguments sake. Here are a couple of pics of a red cedar lumber crankbait I've made. It has hook rash and teeth marks. I've read here on TU that wood swells up and ruins the lure when it's exposed to water. I don't believe this to be true. This lure has held up for almost a year now in this condition. This lure has been sealed with Titebond 3 waterproof glue, primed with C-I-L Smart 3 primer and cleared with 3 thin coats of E-tex, So, what woods should you not use to avoid swelling? s54

All great ideas guys! Much appreciated! s54

I forgot to mention that if the whole chamber was filled and due to the it's size, it wouldn't affect the action. I just don't want to use this expensive putty epoxy for this purpose. s54

This bait is over 10'' long. It has sectional chambers in the body and the BBs don't run through out the whole lure. Now that I think about it, the question I should've asked is with what would you plug the hole with? The rattles in this crankbait are the size of BBs. It produces a high pitch sound. Don't get me wrong I love rattles but not the small ones. I repainted two of these baits with identical patterns and the one without rattles catches fish. I also have a different crankbait that produces a similar sound as this one to which has never caught anything either. Most of my fish this year have come on silent baits. The hole is 1/4'' in diameter. So now, I will rephrase my question to, what would you plug the hole with? Thanks s54