Don-Art

I also cut bonding slots in my crank bait lips. I'm in this for myself/family and friends.So I am never in a big hurry to get them done. There's a fine line between enjoying something and not.I don't really want to cross that line and lose something along the way. Last night I took a pliers to the lip of one of prototypes made from Cedar that had been bonded in with D2T and after a bit of a struggle it broke free. But it took the cedar base material with it. I should also mention that I make all of my own lips from poly carbonate sheet stock,not sure if that would have anything to do with it or not? I will continue to watch to see if I have any of the issues appear on any of my baits. I never keep a large amount of D2T around so if I decided to change it wouldn't be a real big deal.

For reasons unknown to me I have not encountered this problem. I believe that it probably revolve around the hardener portion.I would believe that an epoxy with a 2:1 ratio,might be a better fit when bonding Poly carbonate.Also thinning the epoxy with solvents could potentially cause issues with Poly carbonate.

For small runs' I use a hand held shear and if additional shaping is required. I disc or belt sand. I have a manual operated sheet metal shear that works nicely for straight cuts coffin shaped lips. If I use a scroll or band saw I stack saw them. The general rule of thumb is that three saw teeth must contact the thickness of what your cutting.The glass fibers quickly dull the blades,so in most cases I don't use this method. Water jet cutting or die cutting would be good for large runs.I cut my Poly carbonate/Lexan lips on a laser. I have also CNC routed G10 with a solid carbide bit with a diamond pattern with a drill point.

Happy Fathers day to all the Dads out there. I went out for breakfast with the family. I also got some time on the water with my son,testing some crank baits. Today I picked up a Bass on the second cast. This is my first post here. I have been making baits on and off for over 30 years. Thanks for such a fine site.