capt mike

i use it to make duck decoy bodies. Its very messy and fragile and leaves a pourous surface that would have to be sealed with something.

I am making my own diving lips for swimbaits out of lexan. I am cutting a slot in the bait carefully with a band saw and epoxying the lip in. I'd like to hear a better idea for this with more consistent results. Any suggestions on how to get an even slot/ cut every time?

A-Mac, i'm totally lost on that process. I'd have to see a pic. Are you pouring silicone into a solo cup and embeddding half the lure in it, letting it cure, then pouring the remaining silicone over the remaining part of the lure? Does the lure go in the cup head first? If all that can work, it sounds a hell of a lot easier than making a clay bed and building a box around it all.

That sounds like what my situation was. Age and humidity= failure. I just recieved a couple of trial size containers of resin. The featherlite is in quart cans. Do you think I should pour some of that in a smaller jar or something? I guess it depends on how long it takes me to use it. I poured a bait in the house last night (no humidity in there) and the bait came out very consistent with no bubbles and no swelling. Also the two resins joined together seamlessly. Bait floats upright and straight. So far so good. I am using tape to hold the mold together before i pour the resin. Anyone have a better idea?

I'm out of the old stuff now. Getting some new featherlite and smooth cast 300. I plan to use them both to cover all bases, ballast and bouyancy. Has anyone else tried this combination?

I used some old featherlite yesterday in a new mold. The castings bubbled up and expanded out of the mold. The castings were full of air bubbles and the insides looked like swiss cheese. Also the casted baits were about 30% bigger due to swelling. The humidity was bad last night and the featherlite was about a year old. Any experience with this situation. What causes this to happen?

made a smaller one yesterday and poured it tonight. I see that some of my pours have a hard line where the colors meet. How long should I wait between pours?

the tail would work but over all shape of it would not. The top of the bait or bottom is flat. No way around that with an open pour. You would make a 2 part mold to do something like a huddleston.

Left the clay soft and picked it out of the hard putty with an ice pick. I saw it in a post a while back. Works pretty good. Easy to do. Cheap as heck. Beats the heck out of silicone..pricewise.

I made this bait out of clay and durhams RHWP. My first bait was not so successful. It had a square paddle tail that was pretty thick. The tail section was pretty thin and long and the tail just sort of blew out and was all over the place. This latest bait is thicker in the body, the tail section shorter and the paddle is very thin. Huge difference. This bait wiggles perfect and wiggles on the fall as well. I made a hook slot in it and used an owner 5/0 weighted superline hook. Also has eye sockets, and scale detail. I did the whole project this afternoon start to finish. That's why the bait is dull. I have not sealed it yet. Very happy, see what you think.

I created a big lizard and made a pop mold of it. It measures nearly 12-inches and is a really big bait. I poured a few and like the way they look and perform. Yesterday I tried fishing them for the first time and caught 3 bass in an hour. Great. Problem is, they tore up pretty easily. I am using Lurecraft medium plastic. As you can see from the photo, the tail is slim with a forked tail. The bait has a nice action on the fall. The tail doesn't swim obviously, but it does undulate nicely. My question is, since this is such a big bait, does its own weight tend to cause it to rip easier in the thin areas? Can I laminate stiffer plastic into the head and body and softer plastic in the tail and legs etc. Do any of you pour a big lizard and what plastic works best..med. soft, hard, mixed? [imghttp://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz46/moonlighter69/DSC_4812.jpg[/img]

I poured a few baits today with my new mold. I used the Owner Beast hooks casted in the bait and corkscrew removed. Works pretty good. I also used some 7/0 hooks I ordered from Lurecraft and dropped a piece of lead in the bottom of the mold. The bait swims but I know the weight wont stay there since it is not covered at the bottom. Maybe I can wire the weight to the back of the hook. The sample bait that tore apart..I have no idea how old it was. I t looked old though, since it was pretty bent up. I didn't know there was a cure time with soft plastic. I'm pretty new to this. Thanks for the input Mark, i'll check out the gallery.

I got a sample of lurecrafts 6.5 inch swimbait 5 x 879. It looks like one of the Osprey Baits and has no hook slot in it. I used a Owner Monster weighted hook with the corkscrew on it. I cut a hook slot in the bait with a sharp knife for lack of experience with this type of bait. I made two casts with the bait and caught a 6 lb bass. The problem is that the corkscrew ripped out of the nose and took a chunk of plastic with it. I guess this is the wrong hook setup. Also, the weighted hook was a 1/4 oz and it pulled the bait straight nose down like a jig. I'm looking for info on what to do. Should I cast the hook in the bait? Where do I put weight or should I leave weight off in some cases? I ordered some 7/0 jig type hooks to cast in the bait. What do you think?

Blades, thanks very much for the detailed response on using clear coats. I appreciate your willingness to share your experience. I will print this out and use it as a guide. One more thing. What about jointed swimbaits? Do you disassemble them and hang each part to spray them?

This is good info. I am frustrated with D2T and Etex, lure turners, chipping topcoats, added weight, etc. About how long does the tack coat take to get right, on average. What items does a person need to safely use 2 part urethane clearcoat?

Sounds like the paint was not cured or dry enough to put the clear on. I usually wait 24 hrs to let the paint dry before applying clear. Your paint crinkling on some and not others could be the result of applying the paint in heavier coats than the others requiring more time to dry. I'm no expert, but those are some of my mistakes i've already performed. Still trying to workout my own clearcoat issues.

When I was a kid, the Sassy shad came out with a paddle tail. That was over 30 years ago. Remember that lure?

I just poured 2 baits with featherlite and 1 bait with some left over alumilite and M/B's. They seem to float the same as far as I can see. However, the Featherlite takes much longer to set up. I was able to pour two sections in one batch with no problem. I think I could have done more. It stays fluid for a long time compared to the alumilite. The Featherlite is weird stuff. It comes in 2 metal paint cans. When you open it, the top half is solid material. You have to push through it to the liquid and stir it. It dissolves pretty fast. I thought it was a bad batch at first, till I spoke with someone at Reynolds Plastics. Seems to be pretty good for me so far.

In Louisiana, Cypress is very popular for cabinets, fireplaces and such. I've been using some 1" thick planks with a lot of success. Don't really know how it compares to basswood and cedar..never used any. I have used some cypress root (similar to Balsa) and Tupelo Gum from the swamp and that stuff is too soft for me..hardware does not stay in well on bigger baits and it is hard to carve fine details. I use it for duck decoys instead.

Well I just ordered some featherlite. hope I don't regret it. Been using Alumilte white with MB. I agree with you in that I make a mold for each section (2 vents and pour hole) and I only mix enough resin for one section at a time. Stuff cures way too fast. So far, my few baits have casted pretty consistent. Can't be in a hurry with this. Nitro, regarding your resin pouring, how long do you wait between the bottom pour and the upper pour?

That's what I meant. Did you find it?

Thanks guys. Gonna try some of that Jonestones foil over it. I want to make scale tips on the surface of the scales with the contrasting color in between. See how that goes..

I was using the plastic dividers from a tackle box for tails. No good. Break after a while. Doing better with Lexan. What about a tail joint with 2 connections ( 2 eyescrews, 2 split rings, 2 holes in the edge of the tail). The tail will flap freely. I have one that has held up with bass. No 20 #lbers mind you.

If you are near New Orleans, Hub Hobby on Jefferson HWY.