barr5150

OK, last night I checked out the balsa wood I bought awhile back. The packing slip doesn't show what density I purchased but I'm guessing it's more in the 6 lbs/cu range. The stuff is super light. Anyway, I cut a couple patterns out of it and now I understand why you would need to seal it, or make it harder. It almost acts like foam board as opposed to wood. I can't imagine being able to cast a plug made from balsa? It's not for me. With that said, I'm sticking to poplar for now. After work yesterday I stopped by Sherwin Williams and talked to the sales guy. I left with this - http://www.sherwin-williams.com/home-builders/products/catalog/multipurpose-waterbased-acrylicalkyd-primer/ Last night I dipped a few raw, sanded poplar blanks. This morning they were dry and ready to scuff up. The product is pretty thick but runs off the blank well and really soaks into the wood and levels out nicely. They may need another coat but I won't know until after work tonight when I get a chance to mess with them again. I will say, I was using a oil based enamel (like in the video) and it works, but takes forever to dry. This stuff might make my life a little easier? I plan to set a couple of the blanks in a bucket of water tonight also to see if they want to swell up or not after a couple days.

I'm probably somewhere in the 200 bait per year range. I'm hoping with some luck and the shows I have scheduled this upcoming winter to double that quantity. As you guys know, building lures from scratch is very time consuming and making a profit can be difficult. I guess I basically asked the original question to make sure I wasn't doing extra steps that I didn't need too. Anyway to speed the process up without sacrificing quality is a plus. For a year or so now I only use poplar but I'd like to try a few of my production lure designs in balsa just to see if the action is any better. I didn't realize balsa would hold hook hangers without the support of a harder wood dowel. I think I'll set a couple and do some pull tests just to confirm. Sealing/priming is another question. I have been using 3 coats of minwax sanding sealer and scuffing the lure between each coat. That takes alot of time. I have heard of guys using epoxy or solarez and such as a sealer but to me you still have to sand it to get a bit of a "scratch" on the surface so the primer would stick. After sanding how much is still left on the lure? I mean how much actually soaks into the wood? The video I posted got my wheels turning. Sherwin Williams recently put a store up real close to my house. I've looked around on their website and I think they make a few products that would work as a sealer/primer in one. I'm going to stop in there and see if they have any suggestions?

Thanks for the input. I bought some balsa awhile back and have yet to use it. Think I'm gonna give it a go.

Curious if anyone has seen this video? I came across it yesterday and now I have a few questions. 1st he's epoxies his screw hangers directly into the balsa without using a harder wood dowel. I thought that was a no, no? It's one of the reasons I use poplar instead of balsa just to get around making plugs for the hook hangers and line tie. 2nd he doesn't seal the wood prior to priming. He mentiones in the video that the enamel acts like a sealer and a primer. I seal, depending on the product, at least 2-3 times before priming. Am I wasting to much time? Just curious what everyone thinks.

A little better pic - http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/media/gallery/category_8/gallery_24539_8_77041.jpg This lure uses one of the large round bill precut lips.

I make a deep diver (10'+) with the large precut coffin bill lip available from most of the suppliers. If you look at the pic the line tie is in the lip but I run the wire back into the lure so the lip doesn't actually carry any of the load. So far the guys who have bought them love them. I haven't had any issues. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/media/gallery/category_8/gallery_24539_8_37614.jpg

I'm not a big guy either but for my bass cranks I only use circuit board lips now. I buy the pre-cut ones and they are extremely easy to use, cheap and always perfectly square. Like Hawgfan I use my scroll saw to cut the slot, the perfect size is about 1 & 1/2 blade widths.

Holding up fine on wood lures so far.

Unpaintedlures.com has little jon's. The model without rattles will float with a thin clear coat and #6 trebles.

Got mine over the weekend. They look great! Thank you Jim!

I was hoping the low voc was same just without the fumes?

The link BobP posted doesn't work for me. Is this the correct stuff? http://www.solarez.com/productsnew/lowvocquart.html I want to give this stuff a shot. Thank you.

Bought a bottle a year or so ago at Jewel.

Ordered 40 this morning. Can't wait to see them!

Thanks for all the info. The decals at mudhole are perfect but each decal is $4.95 x 2 (each side of the lure) plus shipping. Might try printing my own? I watched a youtube video and it doesn't look too hard.

A family member has asked me to make a few sports related lures. Just novelty items as gifts. I've seen these types of lures done before but after searching around online I'm not finding what I'm looking for. I basically just need a few small logos around 1" in diameter. Anyone here done this before? Where did you get the decals? Thanks in advance!

I used it straight out of the can. This stuff is pretty thin already.

There are some fumes but nothing compared to the concrete sealer I've been using. I'd still recommend reading the label on the can and taking the appropriate measures while applying it. Once dry the smell is basically gone. It gases off allot quicker then some of the other stuff I've used. The shine is pretty good after 4-5 coats. I goes on very thin so weight isn't an issue. The only things I can't speak about are the longevity or uv resistance. Time will tell.

Gotcha. I've tried a few different sealers with varied results. My guess is this stuff would be fine. I think it would penetrate into the wood more like GST does. Better then say, minwax sanding sealer would anyway. I think the biggest thing with whatever you choose is to make sure it's dry before moving on. I have rushed some stuff in the past thinking I'd be OK and had it backfire. I tried minwax wood hardner at one point and primed it before it was thoroughly dry. I though everything was good until I tried to heat set the first coat of createx and it bubbled under the primer! There's no way to fix that!

What are you having a reaction problem with?

It's a concrete sealer. GST is the manufacturer and the brand that menards carries.

That's what I do. Currently I'm still using GST as sealer only cause I have a bunch of it but I wouldn't be scared to use this stuff. Once dry I lightly sand, hit it with some rustoleum, createx then the minwax clear. No problems so far. I had a tournament over the weekend and threw the hell out of a crank that hadn't even sat 24hrs after it's last coat of minwax and it still looks like brand new. Hardest thing it got bounced off of though were a few logs and downed trees. Rocks or rip-rap might be a different story??

The cost was like $10 per quart. It's good but I wouldn't say perfect. Epoxies and MCU's I'm sure are more durable. If it helps I will say this stuff seems better then some of the factory clear coats I've seen.