bluetickhound

Will do and thanks again for all your help! I spend a lot if time over in hard baits as I love making balsa cranks. This is my first foray into soft plastics and I'm excited to see how it's going to go. I'm prepared for a learning curve and know I'll have a some setbacks along the way but the folks at TU have always been very helpful in smoothing out the bumps!

Perfect! Thanks for posting that. Would aluminum work or should I be sure to make my divider out of tin? I ask because I actually have some sheet aluminum but I don't want to use it if it'll mess up the microwave.... Otherwise I have everything else I need to do this already....

When you say fold it in half do you mean in a sort of "V" shape with the bottom of the "V" pointing towards the spout? If you could post a picture of your cup that would be great! I really want to do this myself as the baits look fantastic...

To my knowlege, Fred Young is one of the only guys to ever make a good business deal with a lure company that resulted in $$$ AND actual recognition for his design....

Nova, the mold I have coming in tomorrow is a top pour also... If you don't mind telling (and I would totally understand you NOT wanting to!!!) how do you achieve the effect you did with those senkos? Pour all three(?) colors at the same time? My worm mold is an 8 cavity Roboworm style deal that I would LOVE to make in the type of swirls you are making!

Where's the front line tie? The rear tie appears to be some sort of (possibly UHWMPE?) plastic rod... I agree... Lets see the other side! Not much ballast other than the belly hanger and a weight right above it.... How well did the bait run before you cut it?

I see a very (as in VERY) few open pour molds on Basstackle.com FWIW... I actually just bought one myself and it should be here monday.

That's cool! Do you know exactly what you did or is it one of those "happy accidents" that couldn't be duplicated if you tried it a hundred times?

Found this picture in a search for Fred Young Big O's... This guy auctioned off three he owned and the pictures he posted are very helpful... To me, at least... Especially the bottom right.

That boy just ain't right.... DA should have been sufficient... Did you say "Hey y'all!! Watch THIS!!" before mixing the lighter fluid and acetone?

The more I play with this the more I feel like the belly weight has more to do with it than the bill but I suppose its all tied together.... Like spinning plates... Everything depends on everything else being just so or you don't get what you want....

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again Ben!!

Bumpmaster BTH strikes again!! I have been tinkering with smaller crankbaits than I usually build (1/2 oz and less size as opposed to my usual fat boy 3/4 oz and up sizes...) and have made a few (a very few...) that have what I would call a "hunting" action. I haven't used moveable ballast or funky bill shaving techniques to do it but for me, bill shape/angle and ballast placement are the keys to getting a bait to hunt. I had tried my hand at reproducing a Waddle Bat with limited success but have gone away from thise for now. I may revisit the concept later but crankbaits have been made that hunt without the rear blade so I know it can be done... Like Ben, I don't want someone to hand over hard won knowledge for free as I wouldn't feel like I had actually accomplished anything but if anyone reading this has any insights on whether I'm on the right track I would appreciate them saying so!

I know it's hard to be exact but generally speaking, what should be the shelf life of a two part epoxy like, say etex or D2T? I have a boatload of 9 oz 30 minute D2T i bought last year and have used half of the first set... i still have 3 sets left and was wondering how quickly should I plan to use the stuff up before it goes bad. I am storing it in the house so it's temperature controlled. I would imagine that would lengthen my shelf life but still... I hope none of it goes to waste....

Considering all you get with Bears system $1200.00 is at least a fair price... I'd call it a bargain and when I have the 12 hundy to throw, I plan to throw it at Bear.....

Being a Tennessee guy myself I just couldn't bring myself to do that!!!

The lure has been dipped in the Dn and now I wait.... This lure is being made for a friend who is a Notre Dame (ugh....) fan.... A perfect opportunity to try out the gold leaf! When the DN cures up I'm going over the back with a dark blue to match the gold everywhere else.... I'm kinda thinking this will be a good sunny day shallow runner that should give off a lot of sparkle from the gold... "Fish like a Champion Today" is a little wordy so I think I'll call this one "The Gipper"....

Thanks Ben! I've been wanting to do a lure with the gold leaf for a while now...

Sorry for the bump but I didn't want to start yet another thread on Dick Nite.... I have experimented with gold leaf and want to seal it before painting. Can DN S81 be painted over with createx? I tried using the search function but didn't turn up a direct answer to my question...

I wouldn't take anything for my HiLine....

Nice eyes but they sho 'nuff be in the pricey side!!!

I have an Iwata also... A High Line HP-CH... I'm sure I could spend more money on an AB but this one is so far beyond my current talent level that there's bo reason for me to get anything else... I love (as in LOVE!!!) my Iwata.

I use acetone for cleanup with all my regular bristle type brushes (it does a great job on D2T!) and for other non-luremaking tasks. Maybe I have been laboring under a false premise! My mind is pretty feeble so it's entirely possible I just misunderstood what I had read earlier. I know (from cruel experience.....) that ammonia is an airbrush killer.... I just somehow got it fixed in my mind that a hot solvent like acetone would be harmful also.... If Ben has been using it without ill effect then I feel pretty safe that its ok. I'm glad to be corrected on this because acetone will flat clean up some paint!

X3

If you are interested.... Harbor Freight sells a set of micro brushes that have been a godsend fir me to keep my AB clean... Along with almost everything Ben said. I have stayed away from using acetone in my AB due to concerns about it attacking the chrome finish inside the bowl.. I use ammonia free (make SURE it's ammonia free...for the same reason I have mentioned about acetone....) windex for my backflushing...