gordon
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Everything posted by gordon
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This 5lber was my first bass ever on a homemade swimbait that I had only finished the night before. Nothing like the feeling of catching a nice fish on something you have created yourself :-) -
I use stainless everything for my Swimbaits, that way I know I have the best possible items in terms of quality, as mentioned previously SS Steel is very strong for it's diameter. Helen and Rollies Musky Shop is a very good source ofr stainless wire and large stainless screw eyes.
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Caught my first ever Bass (5lb) on Saturday on one of these homemade 7 inch swimbaits. Don't look too close as you will notice some plagerism and a not so professional finish. All ok as these are purely for my own use anyway. This bait making is very addictive :-) -
I cut my fins from Lexan and shape them on the sanding drum, I also sand a key on the whole surface of the fin. Next I mix up some 5 min epoxy with some soft plastic bait dye to color the fin, I coat the whole fin in the epoxy. When the epoxy begins to set I use a small hard bristle brush or even a toothpick to add in fin/bone texture. I then epoxy this to slots previously made in my swimbaits before giving a final total coat of epoxt to the body and fins.
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I too have been using the HVAC Aluminum tape for my swimbaits. I have found much better photo-foil results by polishing the tape with some metal polish before adding the tissue photo print. With a little time it is possible to get the tape really shiny.
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I pour my soft plastics in the garage near the open door, I place 2 standup fans between the table I am working on and the open garge door, with the fans blowing outwards into the open. This works very well to extract any nasty fumes, it also stops strong air currents being blown onto your molten plastic which could cause pouring/melting issues whilst you are working.
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I use lexan for fins, I cut and shape it using the sanding drum. I then dye some 5 min epoxy adhesive with my chosen color of soft plastic dye, I then mix in the hardener. This is applied to the fin. Once the epoxy begins to set use a small tooth brush or toothpick to add bone texture to your fin. I then epoxy these in place on my swimbaits just be fore I apply the final coat of finishing epoxy, this way the fins get a coat too.
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I posed the question of coloring epoxy too. The feedback was that you should use soft plastic colors mixed with the adhesive and then mix with the hardener.
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Thanks for the info. Looks like plastic worm coloring works, I have tons of that.
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I find it strange that I cannot search these forums for the word "Color"??? My question is - Is it possible to add a color tint to epoxy before you apply it? If yes, what do you use?
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That is a work of Art!! -
great eyes, how do you make them? I would like to learn to make my own eyes. -
I got a Badger 150 for Christmas. Used it for the first time last night, it was great. My wife is an Artist and has a gold mine of acryllic colors which I used with some acryllic airbrush base. I have not used createx yet, but I believe it is an acryllic base too. I need to get a compressor next, used an aerosol propellant can last night - not very good at all, thing kept freezing up.
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Thanks to Father Christmas sending me an Airbrush and drill stand, I have been able to finally create my first hard bodied swimbait. This is a 3 sectioned 7 Inch Gizzard Shad Photo over foil epoxy finish, carved from PVC baseboard, all componentry is stainless steel. It swims well and is a slow sink with 1 1/4oz of ballast in the belly of the first and second setions. The top and tail fins are made from Lexan. The photo over foil job is from a gizzard shad photo I found on the internet, the finish is ok, it is certainly not commercial quality, which does not matter as these baits are for my own use anyway. This first one was more about me working out all the processes invloved so I can now create enough to last me the season. I will create a fast sink plus a number of lipped surface baits for night fishing along with some Alewife and a Blueback. I Can't help also thinking about some Mullet and Pogy baits for fishing in Florida too :-) Having worked through this, I now understand why a good swimbait costs what it does, there is a lot of time and effort involved in getting things just right. -
I got one from Northern tool, $64.99, works fine for making swimbaits. It's not the best drill press but it allows me to produce a swimbait that works ok for me, all I want is to make swimbaits for my own use so they don't have to be of a commercial quality. I also bought a cross slide vise and a set of sanding drums for it too, I have learned that a drill press is a very handy hardbait making tool. Thanks for all the info on this forum, I will post my first effort soon. http://www.northernt...65427_200365427 http://www.northernt...99274_200199274 http://www.harborfre...-set-35455.html
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I was considering buying one of these for making Poppers ect. Does anyone have any experience/comments? http://www.grizzly.com/products/Hobby-Lathe/H2669
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Superb! :-) -
Time to go and have a play at doing this, I will report my findings.
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Nice Jerkbait - you will get bit
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Hi, been posting a bit already, did not realize there was a spot to say hello. I'm a Brit living in Atlanata, GA for the past 8 years and loving Bass fishing, along with lots of other fishing. Been bit by the swimbait bug but can't find what I am looking for, looking forward to finishing some 6 - 8 inch swimbaits. This is all I plan to throw in 2012. Great website, hoping to post some results soon.
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I think KVD will probably do it, he has just got better and better over the last couple of years. Doubtless he will be doing his homework, with a new Strike King bait of choice (think Red Eye shad, then KVD 1.5/2.5), that will completely sell out in the shops. The man is a marketing machine for the tackle world. I also really like Edwin Evers, he is such a versatile angler. It is a shame for Skeet Reese, it seems like it all got too hot in the kitchen for him since he lost the classic on the Alabama river. Seems he has burned out, which is a shame, I hope he can come back when the regular season starts.
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I can get this in rattle cans down the auto store, can I use this? Or do I have to go down the road of spray guns, 2/3 parts, ect...?
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I just finished wrapping Christmas pressies for the Missus, the easy way - stick it in a bag and stuff some fancy tissue over it :-) We have a huge box full of gift wrapping and tissue including a lot of different metallic thin mylar type tissue, a lot is also holographic and looks really cool. Has anyone had any success using this in place of foil on hardbaits?
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Thanks for the info, roll on Christmas.
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I have successfully made a couple of "Bathtub" prototype PVC swimbaits that swam well using SS screweyes and some galvanized nails for the hinge pins. Hopefully, Father Christmas will deliver me a Drill Press along with an Air brush, so I can begin construction proper. I am happy with the hinge system and I will of course use stainless for the pins too. My question surrounds finishing the lure - How do you do this without totally gunking up the hinges - given that the design I have in mind will have the pins fixed in place and never to be removed? My other follow on question is - how can you make a hinge system where you can remove the hinges for painting and put it together afterwards? I know there are commercial swimbaits that do this. How can I do this and ensure that the pins will stay in place when the lure is put back together? I am thinking some kind of friction/interference fit where you slightly bend the end of the pins, but I am not sure whther this would work loose? Thanks for your help, this is a great website, I will post my efforts, once I have an effort worth posting