rustyman

I use a rotiserie that i made two discs on either side stabbed through the spikes with coffee cup holders. I use metal i bent into "s" shapes with rubber bands to hold the lure. Mine has 8 bait spots.

One of my bigger baits i actually cut a slice of low density foam from hobby lobby and joined it to the wire harness before pouring the resin.

Metalworks stamping corp. i think he makes the lips for most catalogs. Cheap too.

Thanks bob, I should have specified that I was refering to muskie baits when I said "thin".

I made some shallow cranks that are 1 inch wide. They have a real good wobble. Whats the good and bad aspects of wide and skinny cranks. Skinny to me is the standard 1/2 to 3/4 in thickness.

I have a lure I'd like made out of abs plastic instead of wood. Anyone know of someone who could do it for a good price? I'd also like to keep it american and not go chinese. If you would like to PM me instead feel free. Thanks, Rusty.

Spiral bit is a no go. I've been using the disc like you have, I just thought that using a router might be faster when making a bunch the exact same. Going back to the disc. Thanks for the response.

I don't know how many of you use routers, I bought all the stuff to duplicate cranks so they were the same and got a big let down. I rough cut the baits to within an eigth inch and was doing fine till I hit the end grains. Major tearout happened. I tried going reverse but still ate it up. I'm going to try a spiral type cutter here in a bit. Didn't know if any one had a good tip. Using basswood.

stamina tackle also has lengths of wire in .051 and .062 for cheap and around the foot long lengths.

Thanks Rod, sorry I missed the sealing part before I asked, when you say sanding sealer are you refering to polyurethane,or laquer product or is sanding sealer a product on its own? I would use cedar but I want the baits to ride high in the water and I have a bunch of free basswood thats an inch thick and I don't know if cedar is as bouyant. Thanks

Thanks for posting that, I will try it. I think I can get those spiral bits through work for free.

Thanks for the replies fellas. I know muskies tear up baits, I've just never had one destroy anything the first time with such a short fight that bad. Might help to say I use basswood so its really soft. I also used a primer first then enamel paint. Do you think I should be sealing the baits with a Laquer or poyurethane spray before the priming process?

At least I caught my first fish on the second trip of the year a fat little 40"er. Too bad it cracked my new crankbait I just finished. I used something called lustre coat epoxy resin that my grandpa used on cypress clocks. I used two or three coats of the stuff. Does anyone have any preference on muskie baits or is devcon and etex the all around best? The stuff I used doesn't seem to be bonding well to the wood as I can just peel from where it cracked a chunk off. The only reason I used the stuff is it was free and the baits were for me so I didn;t care to much.

Wondering how the pros here cut out lexan lips. I've cut a few 1/8 in. lips for my baits close to size then try to use my disc sander but it heats up and makes a blob on the bottom. Wonder if it would be better to buy a few. Also does anyone have any idea on how long most epoxies like etex reach maximum hardness? Thanks, Rusty

I used smooth on urethane and they suggested using plasti kote primers for it and they seem to work the best. I still notice the paint kicks sometimes even after using alcohol wipes. Maybe an adhesion promoter might work also. I don't know if putting a coat of etex would help first. Also try dusting the mold with talc, it will give the paint something to hold on to.