Anglinarcher

That is correct, so if you do weld it, it needs to be re-tempered. You would heat the hook, and whatever it was attached to unfortunately, to a medium red color and quench in oil. Most of the time the process used is soldering which uses a much much lower temperature and will not soften or anneal the metal. With this, you do not need to reheat and quench. To remove a soldered hook, a small soldering pen or iron used for electrical circuits will work well. Just heat the solder and remove it. They use to be available at all Radio Shacks (I don't even know if this store survived). Replacing is done the same way; heat the hook and item, place the hook and item together, use a low temperature solder to fill and attach. PS, use to do this on some ice jigs I made out of small blades.

I don't know about outlaw, but versatile for sure. Most of us don't have the time, space, or ability to obtain random scrap lead. But, for those that do, and for those that pour in molds that will accept different quality of lead, your method will save lots and lots of money for sure. I use to use wheel weights as well, straight, (the lead portion of course), and for some of my molds it worked just fine. I prefered plumbers sheet lead, which I got from contractors that were remodeling old houses. It was often on roofs around vents and it was soft, perfect. It is tough to find now. All of the reclaimed lead needed more flux, left a lot of garbage on top when I melted it down, but it was workable, for most molds. But, if someone is new enough to the hoby that they are asking the question, I think we owe it to them to give them the advice that will be easiest for them to use. But, in the future, once they have mastered the craft, then recycled lead is something to be embraced, not feared.

If I understand correctly, yes, the Alumilite HS2 would work great for this application. Smooth-on also has products that might work.

I will get this started, but obviously a photo of the misshapen ring would help. 1) Sounds like if you are having troubles getting the ring open enough, you need a larger split ring pliers. They make different sizes. 2) Sounds if you need a larger split ring for your eyes if they are misshapen. It could be the small pliers are the problem, but a larger ring may also help. I hope this helps. I am sure others will chime in soon.

http://www.lurebuilding.nl/indexeng.html The above site is a European site, translated into English, that I think may give some help. Rattle can paint jobs are pretty common in some parts of the world.

I always did the Pure Soft Lead. Depending on the mold you might get away with some of the others, but the Pure Soft will work on pretty much everything.

Most likely will need to go the epoxy, or other clear, option.

OK, just to make things clear. There is a Glow Powder Paint. I have some and it melts at the same temperature at the other Powder Paint. It can be mixed with it but it is not that strong. Glonation powder is NOT a Powder Paint, so it must be mixed with some other carrier to be applied. Glonation powder is much stronger. So, is your glow in the dark powder a Powder Paint, or a pigment like Glonation?

ROFLOL I love to make lures, but I still buy lures as well. I tell people that is is tough to save money on lures by making them yourself. It can be done, but you need to be very disciplined and not buy anymore items them you absolutely need. If you can buy what you want, making them yourself seldom makes "Cents". On the other hand, I make lures to provide myself with something I cannot get over the counter or by ordering it. For example, the Mudpuppy Travis shows is awesome and I would consider making that myself, but now I see I can contact Travis to try and buy one. Hehe Travis, be prepared this spring. Travis talks about $20 aluminum molds on Ebay. If they are what you want, and you are happy with them, get them and don't make your own. Ebay, or Craigslist, or ..... can be a great way to save some money. But, if you cannot find what you want, especially for a less expensive price, then making them is your only option. I have some soft plastic swimbaits that are on the smallish side, something I could not get over the counter or off line, so I made my own Silicone molds (RTV - Room Temperature Vulcanization). For me, getting what I wanted was more important than the fact that the cost of the mold material, the plastisol, the colorants, the glitters, etc., could never be recovered. After all, I might use 20 or 30 in the next few years but I could make hundreds from the material I bought. Ugggg On the other hand, I think I have a new design I want to try, I better go out and buy some more stuff.

rui asked a similar question yesterday of pine. A lot of these questions take me back to my youth. Yes, it is suitable, but not prefered. Most of what we talked about with pine is the same for Doug Fir, except Doug Fir is a little stronger. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/34002-select-pine/

I think that most of the rattle can products, most of the urethanes and lacquers, indeed most all clears would get a similar response. Most have been used for lures anyway, but if they were left submerged for long periods I doubt they would hold up. Even 5 minute epoxies have the same issue. Sometimes I think we are chasing rabbits down the rabbit hole looking for the holy grail of clears.

I sure hope you are ready for this. LOL

No, I normally use Alumilite UV. The UV is faster and stronger and I need both for what I do. When I could get fusion, I would use it for base coats and sometimes highlights. I found it played well with water based paints as long as they were dry.

Paasche Talon is my choice. It is a gravity feed which I like, it came with three different sizes of needles so I can do detail work to shooting some pretty gritty paints. It is easy to use. And I believe mine was about a hundred bucks when I got it. PS, been shooting with it for years now. Got it the first year it came out.

Let's go with this one then. The following are some links that can help you out. http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx#prettyPhoto/61/ If you want to go injection in the future, check this out. http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx#prettyPhoto/43/

I don't think it is used a lot, but it is a decent material. It is a little more open grained then some more favored woods, a little more inconsistent then some more favored woods, but in my youth I made lures with it. As long as you get select pine that is well dried and lacks cracks, you should do just fine with it. It is about .71 g/cm^3 in density, so it is on the heavier side of some of the most favored woods as well.

Open pour or inject?

Everyone has their own preference. I suggest you experiment and determine yourself. The following is a great starter kit that you can use. https://www.alumilite.com/store/p/655-Soft-Bait-Kit.aspx I too prefer a softer plastic for most of my stick baits/worms. a medium for swimbaits, a firmer version for my bigger baits, but ..... I consider myself to be a Hobbyist lure maker. I have had debates online with people that want firmer plastic for durability in salt water, but I prefer soft. I don't mind changing out lures often. But, if you were selling lures, people may not like torn lures all the time. Like I said, preference. Get a medium, some softener, some hardener, some heat stabilizer, and let your imagination go free.

The answer to that question unfortunately is --- it depends. If your items to be made are plastic, soft plastic, and I assume that it is because of the forum you posted in, then it all comes down to undercuts. If your items have lots of undercuts, then a flexible mold is best. Silicone is a great option for this, and Alumilite HS2 or HS3 are good options to consider. But, because you are using soft plastic, you can still use a stiff mold in many cases. In fact, a stiffer mold is preferable if you are going to inject. So, for a firm mold, Silicone like Alumilite Plat 55 is a great option. HS1 is are also a good idea. You can get a more durable and extremely stiff mold if you make it out of VacMaster 50 which "contains over 50% aluminum". VacMaster is a resin. POP is a fair option in my opinion. It is inexpensive, but fragile, takes special treatment to seal it so the results are smooth, and I find it is not very durable. It is old school, but in many cases, it is all that is available to a lot of our international lure makers. I am not a big fan of it, but it should not be discounted. Now, if your items are hard plastic, resin lures, lead, etc., then the suggestions above may change some, but "unfortunately is --- it depends."

Mine always get cleared so I cannot help there.

Yes, they will, but they will collect paint "dust" and any wet paint. Once in a while you will need to clean the paint off the metal filter with a solvent. A disposable filter, like the cheep box store filters sold for HVAC systems, place in front of the metal filter, will keep you from needing to clean the metal filter as often. As for the fan, the metal filter should protect it just fine, but I have seen stove hoods with grease on the fan blades, so keep an eye on them to see if paint is getting past the metal filter. PS, this would be true for any booth system.

Alumilite Vacmaster 50 is an excellent option. It has no flex to it, like a CNC machined aluminum mold, so if your design has undercuts it is NOT a good idea. Alumilite HS2 works, but it is the softest I would use for a hand injection mold. Better yet would be HS1 or Quickset, or in the Platinum based silicones Trans 40 or Plat 55. With what you are showing, I suggest that the Plat 55 or VacMaster 50 would both work just fine. Here are some video links that might help. http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx#prettyPhoto/5/ http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx#prettyPhoto/23/ http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx#prettyPhoto/39/ http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx#prettyPhoto/43/ Good luck and let us know if you have more questions.

I spray my area with that stuff they use on cloth to stop static cling. On specific things, I rub a dryer sheet on it. It seems to stop the stuff from sticking to everything.

Or....... some of us are so bad at it that I just overcut it, then fill the extra with epoxy and eyeball it in place. LOL

Seems pretty inexpensive this way as well.