sallystrothers

A non-practical solution for the average lure craftsman is to sand blast the surface of the bait. I do not have the ability to try this but it could help reduce paint lifting during the top coat. I noticed after a thorough coating of acetone my bait roughened up quite a bit and the paint held through the solvent top coat.

In the spirit of replying to my own response, I suspect a strong heat treatment with this top coat would significantly increase the durability. Reasoning is the heat allows (1) any solvent to escape and (2) the polymer strands can reach a more dense and aligned structure under heat, and when cooled they would stretch out (the heat in essence creates a stretched rubber band effect which contracts around your bait as it cools). This is all theory. I need to consult my polymer book...

I am testing this also. The solvent is not as strong as acetone. Pure acetone wipes my paint right off but the PVC glue does not. PVC glue is basically MEK solvent (possible blend with other solvents) with dissolved polystyrene and sometimes butadiene (natural rubber). Once the solvent evaporates you are left with the PS/ABS resin. The big question I have yet to answer is how long it takes water to penetrate the top coat.

The joke was on me. It is indeed black. I assumed it was clear since sometimes they use black lids on clear things (like spray adhesive). Oh well, my quest continues. I want to find a top coat without organic solvents that is quick by either dipping or spraying.

I just bought a spray epoxy from walmart today. It is a rustoleum appliance water proof spray epoxy. Has anyone else tried this? I will give it a shot in the coming days...

This afternoon I will be testing two different configurations of swimbaits, the first will be a 3 segment v-shape joint bait and the other will be a 4 segment solid hinge. Both baits are from the same design with very similar ballast placements so the comparison should be univariate. I will post the results in your thread if you don't mind since it seems to be relevant to the topic.

The reasoning for my hook placement was based on the premise that 90% of strikes occur from behind for my specific application. I wanted the hooks to be as far back as possible. I do not know how placing the first hook closer to the front would affect the swim, but with the hooks where they are, my heaviest ballast is right under the nose in the very front of the bait. That may influence the tail only action.

This will not help with wood, but with casting/injecting I utilize removable inserts in the molds and after the material is cast I simply remove the inserts leaving the hole. I use this technique to eliminate all post processing (drilling, cutting, etc.) for the joints on my swimbaits.

Thanks for the help everyone. I created a new casting with a lighter material and balanced each segment by adding lead. Now the bait swims perfectly. It has a really nice gait, much like the four jointed 316 trout. The fore-section does not move much but the tail oscillates at a very rapid pace.

Thanks for the input. I will try (1) balancing each segment, (2) lighter material like polypropylene (density 0.9 g/cm3) (3) remove the fins, and (4) on my next version which is an 8" I will make more of a v-profile. One thing I did notice is the bait would switch from 45 to 135 degrees and vice-versa if I drastically changed the retrieval speed. Might be interesting to perform a formal design-of-experiments, although I would rather get it swimming correct first and then begin a DOE to produce fine-tuned results. I may keep one or two with the side angle swim, they actually mimic a severely injured fish but its not the kind of swim I want all the time.

Just finished testing multiple configurations of my swimbait and they all swim at about a 45 degree angle. I've placed the eyelet in three different locations (low, middle of bait, high (above eyes). I have also tried one medium egg sinker (in the first segment as in picture) and two medium egg sinkers as ballast weights. The material is polystyrene and I was attempting to make a slow and/or fast sink bait. Length is 6.5". My thought is that the bait is too slim and for some reason generates an uneven pressure on the bait surface. Next I am going to try adding weights in the other sections to move the center of mass further back. Also may consider making a floater version by adding no weights but having balsa wood inserts along the top of the bait to decrease the specific density. The material is polystyrene with a specific density of 1.1-1.2 g/cm3. Also may consider adding a crankbait style lip on the front to see if that helps even out the swim. Any other ideas?

In response to my own post, I have considered using generic ABS glue, given its content is mostly PS. The glue is ABS dissolved in a solvent mixture but in small amounts should not damage the bait.

Haven't seen much with the search feature in terms of top coats for thermoplastics. I am making jointed baits with high impact polystyrene and am curious what top coat is best? If I wasn't using this material I would experiment with dissolved polymer in alcohol-like solvents but they would degrade the lure body I think. If possible I would like to avoid or to minimize the labor intensity of a top coat. For example, I have been experimenting with teflon photo printing that avoids the necessity of a topcoat.

Has anyone tried using spray lacquer on tiny (size 20-30) nymphs? I am thinking of taking some midge like nymphs and adding 3-4 coats of spray to see if I can get 2 things: the reduction of smell of synthetic material, and the more appropriate reflection of light that a midge would make.

I'm curious if any others have produced their own vacuum chambers in the price range? I have made a chamber with a hand pump that will pull -20"hg and seems to pull all the gas from my liquid mold material. What are other people using for vacuum chambers/pumps?