Anglinarcher

Well DGagner, at least you and I know our houses are COVID-19 free and clear. Our UV lights are supposed to kill it so maybe I should let it shine longer. LOL

I try not to chime in much on this one anymore, but ...... I don't see 20 to 30 minutes to cure my UV. The Solerez cured in 3 to 5 minutes with my fingernail cure light setup and the AlumiUV was only slightly slower. AlumiUV is abailable again and it does not have much smell. My wife is sensitive to oders so Solerez was kicked out a long time ago, plus it tends to leave a very slight surface fog that can be polished off, but it not a super clear as others. One coat of AlumiUV was all that I ever needed to protect from Pike and Muskie teeth, two coats gives a super deep look. But, if you go to the search feature and look for top coats or best top coats, you will find this discussion going back at least 15 years. PS, I do use the Krylon rattle can clear, but only for a quick seal before testing. It is NOT completly waterproof. I had planned on making a larger, more complete, cure chamber and never got around to it. The third link below will show what I found that would work great for any length of lure, up to the length of a pool cure (LOL). The others provide the lights and ballest options. I have heard it said it does not take much power to set UV cure off, and that is true, but more power, in the right wave length, does it faster. If starting out, the fingernail cure light is a great way to go. When you get serious, then look into the materials I have found below. https://www.solacure.com/365.html http://www.tanninglamps4less.com/uvcuring.html https://www.solacure.com/poolcue.html http://www.tanninglamps4less.com/wo8ba.html

Ya, PAM or a spray cooking non-stick spray works well, but the residue can and usually does impact painting later. You have got to get the lure cleaned well. UMR does not do that.....don't know how, but no cleaning necessary.

Sorry, UMR is a mold release from Alumilite. I think it stands for Ultamite mold relase, or something like that. It is an spray can material, and it does not need to be cleaned off the lure before painting. Good stuff.

Don't put a bead on top. Put a small bead after the spinner. Size the wire so it is about half the diameter of the opening in the blade. Put a larger bead, about half the diameter of the body on next. Then put the body on last. Mark is correct about the balance and the extra bead to push the body back will help. Toad is correct about the blade tilt being impacted by a bead on top, but that is why I said no bead on top at all. It is impossible for me to draw in the forum and I don't have a sketch to give you, but the blade angle when it spins can't hit the body or it will either prevent it from spinning alltogether, or it will tangle like you say you are getting. Adding extra beads, not too small but not too big, pushing the body back, is the only I know that will fix it.

I second what Larry told you, with one minor addition. If you keep the master in the original mold so the Alumifoam can't expand and deform the cavity, it will work. The only problem will be what to do with the overexpansion. That stuff is tough. I made some floating jigs from Alumifoam and poured some bodies only so a friend could cut his own slits and glue in his own hooks. It didn't work so well for him, the Alumifoam is so tough it was almost impossible to cut. LOL Figure out how to remove the excess foam before it fully cures if you go that route.

Thanks Les. One other thing, something my wife pointed out. The only thing that sticks to silicone is silicone so I didn't use to use mold releases. Still, I have noticed that some things still adhere some. To improve wear and tear, I now shoot the mold with UMR. It only takes a quick shot and it seems to make the mold last longer.

I coat my molds with liquid Silicone I get from Alumilite when I am done and won't be using them for more then a week. It seems to keep them fresh and they last longer.

Saw the same thing last night. I was doing some searching myself so I hope others have found "good" sources already that they have vetted.

Northwest? Like Washington? I lived in Spokane for 20+ years and found that the high humidity in outbuildings caused issues. I did my clearcoat in my bedroom/mancave. I also found that higher heat caused the epoxy to cure faster before it "waved" on me. Next, epoxy does not react with very many impurities, so I seriously don't think that is it. But, lsome plastics do cause issues because nothing sticks well to them. Still, your paint is sticking so I doubt that is it. You might consider something like a UV cure. I use Alumilite UV, have used Solerez, and the fast cure means it does not have time to fish eye or wave on you. I know others will have perspective on this as well.

Hillbilly, I don't think you will need more than one coat if it is as hard as the Alumilite. Try your test baits with one coat, then two, then .......

Many, if not most, Salmon and Steelhead fishing Rivers in Alaska requires the single hook spinners and many Spinners, like the Blue Fox, come with the single hooks as a replacement in the sizes normally used for Salmon or Steelhead. I made some single hook for trout myself but for 14" to 30" Browns, not pond stocked rainbows. I found that a Kahle style hook, with barb bent down, works very well and there was no "brain hooking". A Siwash style hook did cause problems on smaller fish. Replacing the treble with a single hook of similar, or slightly smaller, diameter is fine. If I recall correctly, there are some fly spinners made as well using a single hook.

OK, I'll venture a little help on this. 1st, the Pro-Tec paints seem to be brighter, better quality then say a Harbor Freight paint. In general, the Pro-Tec seems to melt more uniform, cure better with post heating, etc. Still, having had lots of construction projects done with power paint, and "borrowed" some of the raw paint, I have had excellent results from Non-Pro-Tec paints as well. Summary, You don't always get what you pay for, but you might waste a lot of money finding the bulk Powder that works as well as Pro-Tec. Power Paint goes a long way so if you are "new" to pouring, stick with a powder paint made for jig painting. If you get into production, then buy one color at a time and test the alternatives.

"Anyone test I’ve resin against pike or musky yet?" I assume you meant UV resin? Yes, less damage then Devcon 2 Ton.

osutodd is correct, you are not to a stage yet where we can help you without overloading you. It is best to just get your feet wet and go from there. I use a Talon airbrush. It comes with three different needles and has the features we need. It works great, for me. Start with Createx for sure, but as Hillybilly Voodoo said, lots of other options. Auto-Air is an excellent choice, McKenzie make some awesome taxidermy paints that are awesome, but any airbrush paint will work. https://makewoodenlures.com/custom-painted-lures-2/ has a painting class available on-line that may be worth your time. I have not done this free 10 day course (I'm sure nothing is really free - LOL) but they have had some excellent directions regarding prep and paints. As for a clear coat, http://www.lurecoatings.com/index.html was a buzz for a time. I still prefer Alumilite UV (cured with UV light). I have done lots of lure with a lure turner and Devcon 2 Ton. Using the search feature on this site you will find years and years of information. We are not dedicated to patterns, colors, etc., but knowledge. So, I repeat, "get your feet wet and go from there".

Ya, thought it was the mold you were talking about. I still mix the plastisol slow to not mix in air, only enough to mix in the color. Apdriver is also correct.

You will find that the fish often care less about bubbles and color than we do. LOL

Not in some time, but I did make some once when I took some fins, cut them off, froze them, then put them in fresh Alumilite HS2. I pushed them in so they were flush with the top but not covered by HS2. Put them in a freezer and let the HS2 cure (24 hours). Next coat was to apply some mold release then poured a second layer. The fin was removed 24 hours later and the mold was allowed to warm. I then poured the fins (squish mold type) out of 1)Silicone (tough, easy, can't color), 2) Alumilite Flex 20 (can be colored but it starts out light yellow). I used mold release with every pour so that they did not stick to the silicone (silicone sticks to silicone otherwise). My results were good, but I had to make a fin out of Alumilite White (not flexible) and then used that to make a new master that had attachments. I never got the color right for me, and I changed focus on what I was developing, but, this might help some. This was several years ago, so there are some paints now that are silicone based and may stick to silicone. I have not pursed that direction.

You need to mix slower, pour in one corner and let the mold material flow from one corner to fill the mold box. I use Alumilite products now, but they concept is the same for both. But, yes, in the end, for production quality you may just need to pony up and get a vacuum chamber. Still, I have one and almost never use it.

Worse yet, they did say a lot of their suppliers are closed, so expect to find items running out. Plan on this as you consider what you will need in the near future.

Not to differ from others, but it can if you retrieve fast enough. I doubt that most of us would retrieve a chatter style bait that fast, but.... https://www.google.com/search?q=cavitation+definition&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS859US859&oq=cavatitation&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l7.10722j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

You know River2Sea once made a lure like that. It has been out of production for some time but I have a couple in storage somewhere. It is a hot lure for me so your efforts can be very rewarding.

I would get a different UV cure and verify the suggested wavelength. I use Alumilite's UV and a fingernail UV curing light and it cures in 3 to 5 minutes. I use to use Solerez and got the same results. If you are having issues with hours, then the stuff you have is either separated (mix it), bad, or your lights suck. I use Loon fly UV fly and knot cement with a small 9 LED hand held flashlight and it cures in seconds. Something seems a little, OK A LOT, weird about your problem.

To follow up and clarify, you can add whatever you want to the clear dip. Some will settle, some won't, so your process will need to be adjusted with each addition. There are highlight dyes you can get that add the iridescence, glitter made for hot plastic, .......... so many options, so little time.

I manage a fishing department for a sporting goods store and we have some packages on the wall. In my area, they sell slow, very slow, and I know I have packages well over a year old. There is no evidence of color migration when comparing the new packages to the old. After seeing the creme cut up, it must be a process similar to what Basseducer suggested. Once the production machines are set up, the results would be repeatable and completely predictable. All dyes bleed some, some more then others, so the dye used in making the worm would stain a white chip. This test would only show that a dye is used to color the worm, and we already know that.