Anglinarcher

POP is Plaster of Parris. Tube is self explanatory. I really would suggest as Toadfrog suggested that you look into dipping. You make or obtain a rod, metal normally, with the dimensions equal to the internal dimension of the tube you want to make. You coat the rod with a mold release (I like plain old vegetable oil) then you heat the Plastisol to normal pouring temperature. You dip the rod into the plastic and hang it. Preferably have several rods to do this with. After the first rod has cooled you dip it again, and you follow the process with each until they have tube walls thick enough for you. Once you are done, you carefully peal the plastic off of the rod (helps if the rod is slightly tapered). This gives you a tube with solid tails. You then take a cutter and spilt the tails. I have seen pre-made rods on hangers, seen tail splitters, etc., for this process. Or, you can do this with a silicone mold if you take your time and either have a good prototype to copy or a good blank you made up.

I don't do it personally, but it is done quite often. Larry Dahlberg created the Mr. Wiggley, just now becoming available through River2sea. He used a single treble hook with a through line design so the bait slides on the line after the hook-up. He has shown several videos on how he created the bait and shown us how to create our own version of it. Mike Faupel of Alumilite has been doing some with imbedded hooks. He too has provided these videos. The commercially produced Bull Dawg uses imbedded hook harness. A lot of factors are involved in determining how to place and size hooks and I don't propose to even know how to cover all options. But.....I can provide you a link to where the videos are located so you can look at them at your leisure. http://www.makelure.com/HowTos.cfm I hope that some of what you can find in the huge video library can help you. I have complete confidence you can make your lure for Pike or Muskie and find a way to install proper hooks for your target species. Good luck and great pouring.

I look at it this way, what species of fish do you plan on paint for, are you painting to sell or use, and what depth. For example, in clear water, red disappears in the top 10' of water, the yellow, then green, then blue, then violet. But in muddy water, depending on the water color, how muddy, etc., red may disappear at 5', but the others are blocked at maybe 2 feet. So, if you are fishing deeper then 10', red may not be a color you want. Still, I mentioned species didn't I. Walleye have rods and cones like our eyes have, but their cones only see red and green. If red is truly lost in 10' like we are told, then why do their eyes see red, unless ........ OK, for another post. (They take microscopic samples of the cones and expose them to different wavelengths of light and then test for any chemicals created. No chemicals, no see, chemicals, they are assumed to see). If they only see red and green, then why do they get caught on even purple? OK, for another post. Still, my theory is to start out with a limited range of colors, following the color wheel. Red, yellow, green, blue, purple. Toss in the ever effective black and white. Then, if you can figure it out add some silver and gold........ Assuming that you won't use purple much, you can get away with 6 colors and a couple of metallic colors. Because you have the primary colors, you can mix up what you need. OR, you can do what I have done and buy way way way too many colors, then find alternates so you hardly use your airbrush....... Did you know you can buy decal wet transfer sheets and print photos on them, trim them to your lure, transfer the photo to your lure, clear coat, touch up a little at the belly and back, and be done......?

Ben, I quite agree, Vacuum plating is THE way to go. I am familiar with the procedure, but have not done it myself with Chrome. With Silver and Nickel, you get a less then smooth result that requires polishing. With the Vacuum plating method, or any electrically deposited method, you need an electrically conductive material, something that wood and plastic are not. To overcome this problem, I have previously located the following: http://www.caswellplating.com/copper-conductive-paint-4oz.html Nevertheless, this is only part way there. We also need a relatively inexpensive way to deposit the chrome metal safely. Preferably we need to deposit it smooth. I believe that the following items will solve that: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plug-N-Plate-Copy-Chrome-Kit-/291002107736?hash=item43c113c758&item=291002107736&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr While I am going to tackle the auto wrap procedure, I could use some help with the above method, or even another method. I think that we can solve the problem, but …….. like Edison, I sure know several ways that do not work.

So far the clear coat test have not been good at all. I have some on the turner now so I will photo and update later, but so far the Solar Res UV that I use was a complete bust. It actually ate the AlClad 2 and the Krylon Metallic paints, leaving a dull finish and black from the undercoating showing through. When I tested it on a sample of AlClad 2 without backing, it turned the paint white. I have some UV Cure from Alumilite that I am testing (thanks MIke) and it did not eat the paints, but it did kill the gloss. Still, it was fast, much better then the Solar Res and EnviroTec that I also used. On part of the same test spoon I put EnviroTec Lite on it and it hazed bad. I also coated part with plain old future wax and it still hazed. Needles to say, when I used Duplicolor Automotive Clear Coat, it hazed as well. The chrome color from the paint worked, but no coat is possible that I have found. I am going to try some Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast in the next couple of days. The good news is that I had some Chrome Mylar that I applied to a spoon, but the bad news is that I cannot get the wrinkles out. Nevertheless, I coated it with the Duplicoat Automotive Clear Coat and it came out excellent. It got me thinking, and that can be a bad thing. I have not tried this yet, but have some on order. What is this???? See attached: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390800191760?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.com/itm/111165507427?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.com/itm/190805363590?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT http://alsacorp.com/strechchrome/showcase.html I think that this automotive wrap, in Chrome options, will work. Will get back with you in a couple of months on that.......I hope. I sure hope this helps those that want chrome, even though I am not there yet.

Very nice!

jettsonlures, good luck on getting the Mylar to lie flat. Been working that as well. The Chrome Mylar can be found in balloons, Hydroponic reflective walls, portable gym mirrors, as well as the space blanket. I too am working on it, but I am not pleased with the results yet. woodieb8, the topcoat seems to be the problem. I have tried EnviroTech lite, Solar Res UV, DupliColor clear coat automotive, even Future floor wax. In every case, the results are hazy. One side note is that even though I don't have the Mylar laying flat on curved surfaces, I did test the same top coats on them. Sure enough the ETech, the DupliColor and the Future all came out extremely good, with the Solar Res was only slightly less quality. Is the Vacuum material as non-reactive as Mylar? I have seen the fingernail Chrome polish and the results I saw were that it does not last well, does not hold up to repeated hand washing. My lures get washed a lot more then my hands. LOL It would love to see photos that someone else did with it. I checked it out on EBay, and it runs about $10 per just a quarter of an ounce......... OUCH! I am still working other options, but ......... a piece of foil is not a bad idea, a lot of lures use it. I prefer a better presentation, but maybe nothing else will work.... only time will tell. In the mean time, would love to see someone post the fingernail polish applied or even the Mylar.

Just wanted to chime in on this whole chrome thing. I really like chrome but getting commercial lures in chrome is chancy at best and doing it yourself has been questionable. I offer the following for your use...... for whatever it is worth. http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o62 ... _04692.jpg The above link is to a photo of what I have been able to do so far with chrome paint. I do not promise that it will work underwater, but I do promise that I have tried many time to get it right. I also do not yet have the "clear coat" mastered. I have found that you should have as much of a gloss black base coat as you can, and as smooth as possible. I have found that Krylon Fusion does not give me a smooth, or a high gloss, coat on many plastics, but it adheres very well to plastics. Nevertheless, it pairs well with Krylon Metallic when used as a base. The use of Krylon Metallic, with the Chrome lid, seems to work very well. My wife considers this the best result. I have found that Rustoleum Gloss Black yields the most smooth and the most gloss of the base coats I used. This base yields the best results for Alcad 2 Chrome (Lacquer Airbrush paint), and I find this to be the best result. I also find that Alcad 2 without a Black base coat works very well, as long as it is painted on a smooth plastic. Still, I find that Rustoleum Gloss Black is not as resistant to other paints eating through it. Spray light coats and more of them. I have tried many options, taken pictures and given results on most of it, and I show it in the links below if you want to follow them. Enter the web site and look at the album and sub albums called "Chrome studies for lures". http://s1151.photobucket.com/user/aka-a ... t=3&page=1 What I can tell you is that it is a Lacquer or enamel paint. It is as resistant to scratches and teeth as a paint can be. It is NOT as good as a clear coated lure, but my first test with a clear coat were not promising. I will not give up but ............ I can tell you that chrome is difficult to achieve. I looked into a company that uses the new applications where you apply a sensitizing solution, a silvering solution, and a clear coat. Brands like HydroMist, Spectra Chrome, Reprochrome, etc., come to mind. You can find them on YouTube and even Jay Leno showed one of them. The results are and were incredible, but the process is expensive for the small guy to do. I know, it is at least too expensive for me. Nevertheless, I got an interesting response from one of them..... "This process is UV resistant, we have UV inhibitors in the clear coat. All the rules apply to regular painting. With this process you are putting a real layer of silver in between two layers of paint. The color of chrome is in the clear coat. There is a 200 degree heat tolerance, so it is not meant for an exhaust or engine block. This process is as durable as a painted finish on a car." Sooo, "the color of chrome is in the clear coat" and "is as durable as a painted finish on a car". I have tested several of my commercial lures, purchased as chrome, and they are no more durable then the chrome paint used above. There is a way to actually use chrome to plate plastic, but I can only test so many things at a time. More will follow, in time, if I come up with more results. But for now........ well look how long it took to get back to everyone on this one.

Yes, you have missed one key thing, the delivery address. Call me and I will give you mine.

A lot of thoughts have been expressed on why the WW was such a great fish catcher. Some proposed that it was the lip design, but the Rapala versions are the same. Some say it is the version of the rattle that caused a different sound, but a lot of other older lures had a very similar sound (lead thud). I suppose you might have just stumbled on shy they are/were so effective, and so much more then Rapala's new version. The erratic and unique swim may be due to the corroded (lead does not rust - but the oxide is formed the same way) rattles stick on the swim and changes the action before they release and allow the lure to go back the other way. Hmmmmmm, how do we recreate that intentionally?

Re: Fluorescent Alumidyes by Mike - Alumilite » Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:42 pm The Flo dyes we sell are probably more technically defined as a pigment as they have physical particles in them that help brighten the color and would add opacity to a clear part. They are definitely not as potent as the regular colored dyes because of the particles in the Flo colors which also aid in them being so much brighter.My recommendation ... first, cut the tip of the dye bottle if you haven't already. If you have, hold the bottle with one hand and using a paper towel push the tip sideways and the entire tip will pop off (in the paper towel). Then you can use a popsicle stick or whatever you need to get more dye out or perhaps mix the Flo dye up if the particles have settled out. Then simply try to add more to your resin and achieve the color you are looking for. Please let us know your results. Mike Hope the above helps.

Looks like the foam is an expanded polystyrene. Take your thumb nail and press it into one and see if it indents. If so, this stuff is not tuff at all, but it is a pretty light material. Next, JimP is correct about gently sanding off the flashing. Still, if it does open pockets, you can get water based wood filler at any hardware store that will fill it in, seal it up, and work just find. He is also correct about working with one bait to make sure you don't damage them all at one time......... small steps to learn the material. If it is expanded Polystyrene, avoid any solvent except water unless you test it first. I suggest just avoiding anything other then water. Use Createx or other water based acrylic as a base coat and for the actual painting. Then a clear coat will need to be an epoxy style top coat like Devcon 2 Ton or ETec. These two clear coats will not eat the Styrene. IF I am totally wrong, if it is NOT exmanded polystyrene, then Kyrlon Fusion (rattle can spray paint) will adhere to and seal the foam just fine. Then just proceed as normal. Hope this helps some.

Cadman, unfortunately I guess that is my point. psilvers started the thread and I just wanted to point out that, well I will refer to your post. Thanks for the clarification.

I almost did not post here, so I will just ask up front for your understanding and forgiveness. I love the jigs, and the colors, but ...... NOT CHROME. This is kind of a sore spot with me because I want a true chrome sooooo very bad. In the middle 80's I read an article about how chrome took on an almost translucent look underwater, but also created one of the strongest flashes. I purchased every lure I could find that claimed to be chrome colored, and some actually were. I found that the true chrome were awesome fish catchers in many many different conditions. In fact, it became one of my favorite colors. Just recently I had a fishing condition where the water had only about a foot of visibility, and it was cold. The chrome was the only color that would work that day. Polished silver did not work, silver painted lures did not work, polished or silver lures, clear coated, did not work; if you were not fishing chrome, you were just washing lures one cast at a time. I have looked for chrome options now for some time, and there are some expensive kits for auto restoration that do not require the expensive and dangerous chemicals, but they are very expensive, and most are from Europe so I don't know if they are importable. I think that maybe some are because one of them was shown on YouTube by Jay Leno. Again, I love the jigs, would like to have a few done by you myself, but ............. I sure wish the chrome thing could be solved.

LOL, I love this post. It is soooooo true, and for reasons we will never know. It is also true of fishing flies. I remember a fly my dad was using back in the 60's one day for trout, a whet fly, called cow dung. Now he had a dozen in his fly box and they all looked just the same to me. Dad was catching the heck out of fish one day on it, so I tied one on my rod. Nothing, not a fish, and yet dad continued catching fish until there was almost nothing left of his fly. Finally he removed and changed the fly and NOTHING. He changed back to that fly that had only a few fibers left on it and the catch was on. So, why was THAT fly so good? Factor whatever answer you have into the above questions and maybe you will have an answer. Then tell me, cause I am sooooo confused. LOL

Additionally, the Epoxy style requires a lure turner or the top coat will sag as it cures. I made one using instructions I found on this and other sites, and it was cheep, but it took time. Some of us are using UV cure top coats, but some complain that the Solar Res is a little hazy. I don't get that, but ...... Use the search feature and check out the top coats on the hard bait section and you will see that there are hundreds of post on the question. Dick Nite, concrete sealer, lacquers, automotive clear coats......... each with their advantage and disadvantage. I prefer a product by Alumilte, either their Amazing Clear Cast (needs a lure turner but not as long), or a UV cure that has not been put on the market yet. If you are making them for you self, and you are new to it, consider a rattle can clear material until you have researched out what you want to use.

LOL, me too. I still remember the child hood kits you could buy in the 60's and always wanted a mold for "fishing" items.

You have opened a can of worms here.....LOL. I have discussed this in other fishing forums but I will try to keep this emotion free. Some fish species seem to hit lighted or glowing lures or UV enhanced lures well. A prime example is the Salmon and freshwater trout species. I have seen lighted or glowing lures make all the difference, especially in deep, dark water. Burbot / eel pout, yes, it makes a huge difference. Some species are turned off by lighted or glowing lures. I do a lot of night time bass top water fishing and I always have multiple rods rigged up. I have some glow in the dark skirts I use on Buzz baits and spinnerbaits. Well, I should say I try to use them. I have been fishing on nights with I was getting hits on almost every cast, then changed over to the glow and nothing..... changed back and the hits started again. In fact, not a LMB or SMB has ever hit my glow or lighted lures at night. Some species seem to like some light, but only a little. For example, Minnesota studied this regarding Walleye and found that anything more then just a faint, very faint, glow at night was a real turn off. Larry Dahlberg once mentioned that he use to only tie in a single strand of glow in the dark material into his ice fishing jigs for crappie and perch, and he would watch the fish rush his jigs on the fish finder, then stop at point blank and then inhale the bait on the jig. Anything more and nothing, anything less and they would not "rush" but gradually swim to the jig. So, what about during the day? I see no difference on trout when the light is strong enough to penetrate the water, but the UV enhanced seems to help a lot very early and very late in the day, and in muddy water. Bass do not seem to be turned off by glow or lights during the day. Shallow water Walleye are not turned off by UV or lights, but the deeper it gets, but less I find that the Walleye tolerate it. In fact, I am repainting all of my "glow" and "UV" enhanced walleye jigs and baits a NON-glow color. That is taking time because so many of the commercial jigs are sold with glow in the paint. Now, have I covered all species? Not even close. If all I did was fish for trout with my lures, I would want a glow or UV paint on every single one. If all I did was fish for Bass or Walleye, I would NEVER want glow or UV. If all I did was fish for ....... OK that is the problem, I fish for every species I can get a chance for. And that is the problem, most of the same lures I use for one species work for the others, and I don't often remember if the specific lure is glow/UV or not during the day. texacan84, I probably muddied the waters on you. Is it worth it? YES, on some species; NO, on other species. And never mix them up. For me, I guess the answer is no. I have a bottle of glow powder paint that never gets used and I tossed my glow additives for my soft plastic.

nedyarb is sooo right if you have a Hobby Lobby in the area. I have not located any other brand in my local stores and have not tried Smooth On products.

I do a lot with Alumilite products, and I had a similar need some time ago. I made my fin using a piece of wood that I shaped to get it right. Then I made a mold using silicone - Alumilite High Strength 2. I then got their Universal Mold Release and sprayed the inside of the mold. Next I mixed up a small amount of Alumilite High Strength 3 and poured the fin (tail fin in my case). Because I used the mold release, it came right out and was perfect. The HS 3 is a bit of a light pink color, opaque, so you may want to add color to it. I also use their Alumidust and paint the fin and then hit it with a heat gun to gloss the surface, which incorporates the Alumidust into the surface. If you do this, you will come up with a fin that will do just want you want it to do. Hope this helps some. The Silicone is really the best material to give you the stiff, but flexible, consistency. Oh, by the way, it is easy, very easy.

Rapala sold the original molds to Brad's Wigglers. So if you want the original shape, Brad's Wigglers is the original. I do not know about the weights on them being different, or the plastic...... I still have my stock of the old ones.

Squirrel, totally works for me as well. Of course not all lures benefit this way. Minnow type lures can often be done this way, but I find that cranks, with a deeper diving lip, often won't work I have also found that I can pour the bottom without microballons and pour the top with alumifoam. You get the same bond, excellent adhesion, a larger balance shift, and less overall weight. Love to hear more of what you have to say Squirrel. Yes Vodkaman, pour hole(s) and air vent holes need to be on the top of the lure.

Pellet guns shoot copper or steel pellets. Stilllllll, not a bad idea, just a little lighter. I have access to lead shot for shotguns and it is available in lots of different sizes. pretty expensive to by 25 pounds if you don't use a lot of it, but...... You can get lead wire of any size from some craft suppliers as well.

Silicone molds will stand up to melted lead, at least for some time. The Silicone comes in two versions, the two part liquid and the two part putty. The two part putty sets up faster and takes the heat of the lead much longer. If your molds are pretty detailed, the two part liquid is probably better for your needs, but it does not last as long. I prefer the putty. http://www.makelure.com/ProductCats.cfm?Category=Mold Making Rubber I use the Alumilite High Strength 2 for my liquid, but the putty shown in the above link for a longer lasting mold. http://www.makelure.com/index.cfm

Etex does not harden rock hard. I think your samples have been a little soft, but even using it for craft work they warn about setting heavy things on it saying it may leave indentations. BUT, it does not get brittle, it does not shatter, and it does not yellow after about a year like D2T and other epoxies often due. I suspect the mixing you are doing now will make a huge difference.