hybrideye

OK Crank, I think I got what you are saying. I will try and move it back a little and see what happens. I also went to local paint shop and am going to have them mix me up 3 colors. Pearl white, silver/blue, and pearl black. He said I can use them in my brush just have to be thinned pretty good???

I guess it is unanimous I need to add weight! I saw the tutorial on making your own molds for ballast weights and may try that out. Thanks again guys the info you have given me is more than what I expected! I an using 3/32" Lexan for the bills, is this too thick? One problem I have ran into is when I put pressure on the bill (to test epoxy) I have broken a few of the noses on my baits. I was wandering if I need to go smaller on the lip or thicker on the nose.

thank you for the replies, I will try weighting the baits and see what happens. It is hard to go somewhere and find good help, I was at a Michael's today and they are getting rid of all but a few of their Createx paints. I have a tutaorial that I have been waiting to use on airbrushing, I will definitely need a ton of practice. I don't have a whole bunch of time to put into the baits right now so I get what I can get done and may not touch them for a couple months. Thanks again....here are the 2 that I have been able to replicate pretty good, used White Cedar for both. deeper belly same profile

I am having issues with my first bait rolling badly, if I start the retrieve slowly I can get some side to side action but once it gets to a wide wobble it wants to roll on me. I did not add weight and am wandering if this is why. Is it a trial and error process when determining where to add the weight? I am pretty happy with the look of my baits just ran into a wall when I saw it in the tank! Another area I need help is paint.....how do you decide which paint to use? Opaque, pearl, transparent, wicked.....aaah there are so many! Does anyone have a recommendation for a "starter" kit? Can I use plain automotive white to base coat the wood? I have purchased 2 airbrushes and have yet to paint because I am not sure what I need to do, and there are no places to go other than the internet to talk to anyone. My plan is to start with plain natural colors, I also saw someone adverising bottles of metal flake on Ebay, has anyone tried to use it on their baits? I would like to get my paint soon because I got some extra cash in my pocket and the hole is gettin pretty big!

Here are pics of my borrowed brush, and bait.

Well I have an airbrush, Paasche VLS, it is on loan to me from a friend. I just couldn't make up my mind on how far I wanted to go with the brush. he said he's never used it and I asked if I could break it in for him. I feel good about having the brush, I have been watching some tutorials and reading as much as I can on airbrushing. Once I got the brush in my hands I was kind of intimidated, but with practice I think I can do o.k. I also took everyones advice on slotting my baits and it is definitely the way to go. I used my scroll saw, marked my angle and width and made my cuts. I will post up the pics of the bait later, but thanks again for saving me a bunch of headache and unnecessary work! I was very pleased with my new bait, and am progressively getting better at my sanding and shaping. I am terrible at the search option, what type of wire will I need for my line tie? Also, how thick is too thick for the lip? I have lexan that is .100 thick, which would mean my slot would need to be wider to allow for the epoxy to adhere and set up. Is .125 to wide for the slot? I have a bunch of lexan in that thickness and if possible would like to use it up.

Demai, thank you for your help. I will try and post up some pics when I get the mod done for the saw blade. I am also going to use it for attaching smaller sized drum to do more detailed radii (after I get comfortable with the basics!). Just picked up some more blades for the saw, am headed to the lake tomorrow for some Walleye and Crappie then will start fresh using the tips you guys have given me.....

Demai, thanks for the advice! I sometimes get way ahead of myself, I now understand fully why it is easier with the square sides. Now you slot them with the table saw or what? I don't like the thought of that and was looking into modifying a piece of bar stock to make a chuck for a drill press, I can get a slide table with in feed and cross feed from a friend. Gene, Great links, I was on lurecraft and missed the downloads, Thanks again!

Well I finally got around to working with my piece of White Cedar. I cut out a stencil of the 3 baits I want to try. After throwing an 8" piece of the Cedar off the table saw I made my outlines and started cutting on the scroll. I marked my center, finish thickness, but was having issues figuring out how much taper and how to do it so I just guessed. I dont have any fine grit so i used a 200 grit belt and 400 (I think) paper. I am working on making a jig for this particular bait and will use it to put the bill slot in. I also tried the 5" jerk bait and completely failed on it as you will see, I ended up just goofing around with the sander until I got bored with it. Sorry for teh quality of the pics but our battery died in the digital and haven't gotten around to getting one. Is there one more important than the other as far as symmetry and taper? after cutting the blank, I broke the blade that was in my saw too! 2 of the Shad bodies and my franken-jerk

Iwata Eclipse (not sure which model yet) Paasche d500 compressor 20 bottles of paint. Your thoughts????

I have just got my first piece of Atlantic White Cedar, I was a little kid on Christmas too! 48"x 6"x13/16"..... $3.70 Anyway, I have an idea for shaping that I want to run by you. Picture a contour map, each line on the map represents a certain elevation. What if I could do that with the shape of my drawings? Has anyone done this? I can transfer the drawing to computer and re-size smaller and smaller until I reach the desired "contour", print the final out on sticker which then will be put onto a flat sided bait. The lines will then be used as visual references for sanding.

Another concern is stock removal, I marked the center line of the plywood but it really didn't do a whole lot for me while I was rounding off the mid section of the bait and shaping it.

Thanks for the input guys I have learned more from reading these posts than I could have otherwise for sure. I never really thought of the ballast aspect but I will keep that stored away in my teeny tiny brain. I am hoping to hear something back from the shop in the next few days as to when and how much wood I can get. I guess on the bright side I will have plenty of test blanks to play around with. Fatfingers, I can definitely see how a flat bait will be easier to slot!!! That first attempt was merely an overly excited adult playing with a Dremel!

So I shouldn't be using the wood from the shop? It is all kiln dried wood, oak, cherry, maple, poplar, etc. The left over or "waste" is basically cubes maybe 10"x3" and I can get it at a good cost.

I definitely see your points on both sanding and the slotting. Thank you for sending me in the right direction in regards to ballast, I am in the process of obtaining a truck load of wood waste from a local shop. It will consist of a mixed bag of wood types, I actually just wanted to start on something so the plywood was available! I wasn't intending on making a finished bait from it. I am in the process of making a jig for the lip angles, I found a thread on here that gave me some ideas. Thanks again for the advice, I will keep at it and eventually come up with a finished bait.

Please comment and critique, I know I have a long way to go. I will be glad to answer any questions you have on how or why I did something. I didn't want to ramble too much initially. Thanks!

Well, I finally got a couple baits cut out and sanded. I used a piece of scrap 3/4" Plywood I had laying around as a starter piece. I have a lot of excitement about this new hobby but at the same time I am thinking how in the "bleep", what in the "bleep" "bleep" do I do now! For my first baits I chose the one piece body based on searching and a few tips from the guys on here. I think I can get the hang of the through-wire, but I think, or should I say thought the one piece would be easier to start with. I found out quickly that sanding is a whole lot of technique, as I ruined the first bait. I am a big Lucky Craft fan so I want to make something close to a pointer style bait, I love the action of the pointers. I have 2 designs I am think about that will have a larger profile from the nose past the belly. I also have a standard crankbait, which actually turned out the best of all 4. I don't want to go on and on, so without further a-do.....I present my first attempt! Oh, and to the guys who use the Dremel to slot the bill.....you guys rock! As you will see my first attempt was anything but rockin! 2.25" Crank before and after My "rockin" attempt with a Dremel....holy crap! Yes it is just a piece of poster board.... 3.5" Jerk I lost most of the belly shape while sanding.....also figured out I need to scale by factor to allow for sanding overstock:rolleyes: This is a bait I named Lulu in honor of a fishing buddy's ex! 9"...... I don't know what to call it:P

Pike, yes I have been told of Babbitt being used for casting bullets and I can see why, good read and Thank you! I work with a guy whose grandfather had Model T's and had a mold to cast the rod bearings (which according to him were a common replacement issue), pretty interesting factoid also! I poured a run of the modified mold I made, and noticed a huge difference in the bait holder rigidity (which is what I was shooting for). I was dropping 1 to 2 anchors in with each pot to harden the lead a bit, but haven't done it since my first runs last year. I will ask around the shop and friends and see what I come up with.

Thanks a bunch Grump! Guess I needed to search a little better Answered my question for sure, I am using a turkey cooker and cast pot and ladle to melt now and hopefully in the near future will be able to get a production pot. Thanks again!

DC, I posted about it.....let me know what you think about it after you melt it. It does pour very nice but I am having an issue with a gold film even after fluxing multiple times. For free I ain't complaining!! I have around 400 lbs of it so I am in the same boat as you, as was said before the paper is a pain and I kinda freaked out when it caught fire and smoked up the shop!! Figured I'd grow a couple new appendages after inhaling that........

Yeah I can get it to pour, but occasionally it sticks to the ladle and I get a flat top. I have a whole bunch of it so it will have to do, I just got another 100lbs of lead from my brother, at least he says it is. He is the one that gave me the anchors and claimed they were lead too! I will post up some pics when I can, thanks for the reply.

Hello all, I have a very large amount of hospital lead (x-ray room) that was given to me, while I was told by many that it is a very pure lead I am and have been having problems with skimming. I flux with beeswax, stir and skim. The lead remains shiny and clean for a few seconds then gets a goldish film on top. I have to keep skimming as it wants stick to the ladle (haven't bought a pot yet). I have adjusted the heat, tried fluxing again, but it keeps happening. I hope it isn't some leftover radiation or something fun like that!! I am a machinist, but not a very good metallurgist, so what is causing it? Is it too much heat? Dirty lead? combination? I have learned to work with it but if I can fix it I am all ears. As soon as I get a good melt the lead turns a purple color, I flux, skim and then get the gold film....if that helps any? I also have a very big bag of Babbitt, I believe they are some type of floor anchors. I melted them on my very first pour (thinking I was melting lead) and was dumbfounded as to why I couldn't cut it. I modified one of my molds and had some trouble with flexing and figured I could use the babbitt for those pours, worked out great just not to keen on grinding it! does anyone else use it?