aulrich

I have not done it but it is possible to plate 3d prints,

or a belt sander

this sort of stuff is great for twisted eyes it work hardens as it is twisted there are various diameters. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01FVQVNCQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I never did like aluminum tape for lures, too thick and chunky. I prefer nail transfer foil it's much thinner and it's designed to take top coat.

As always things take more time funny how free time and free budget impact time lines, but it's finally moving on purpose, now I need to learn CAM.

No I have not bought anything yet for the scanning, building my cnc(just about done) has given me a bit of a bug for electro mechanical tom foolery. Yes Fusion, but there are other options. For now I 3d print my lures, I had not thought of CNC'ing lures a whole lot. That said A rotary Y axis has been stewing in the back burner of my mind, I can swap out the router for a laser module and etching mugs and stuff is on my kids etsy radar. But that is a future thing right now I have built my cnc as short as possible since the goal is to cut aluminum molds for soft plastics. Just typing this reply out it comes to mind I could just cut out lure halves. Get a nice flat piece of something cut the exterior shape out leaving it in the plank with tabs. flip the whole plank and cut the internals.

Some of the new phones have 3d scanning function(anything with facial recognition) or something like photo grammy (A collection of photos processed into a stl. 3d scanning standard lure bodies and making 3d printed stencils has been on my radar for a while but the price of entry is pretty steep and the market for product pretty small. A while back I did run into an Arduino based scanning system, but at this point I am in the middle of a CNC router build so making this has been pushed to the maybe someday list. Sort of depends if the CNC router build works out. if I can actually make stepper motors work then maybe I swing buy this project again. this is the scanner project link https://en.openscan.eu/openscan-classic

I worry a little less about lead while pouring, (I do do the basic well ventilated and a fan), then if I have to file or saw the lead vapors go away lead dust will stay on your work bench and other places so you can pick it up months later. if I am stuck filing i do it right over the lead pot or at least over a paper to capture the bits. For the most part I avoid the issue by using pre-made shapes lead shot either bird shot or buckshot

Thanks for the name, as it turns out there is local suppliers and I might be able to hit up cabinet guys for cutoffs. Got the steel yesterday, I have something like 200 hours of printing ahead of me so first step is to really dial in the printer so it has the best dimensional accuracy I know I am reasonably close so this is just due diligence.

So my DIY bug is needing a scratch and I am planning on making a simple CNC router. So obviously mold making must be tried. In theory it should be able to mill aluminum but if I could figure out what material that bait molt are using and how to source it it would probably be easier to machine. Any ideas? my initial guess is some sort of countertop material but that is only a guess. and just for the curious this is the CNC build https://docs.v1e.com/mpcnc/intro/

One other thing to consider is the line tie position, I have increased action by dropping the line tie. I tend to start at the centerline but it seems to end up under the center line

I am a pretty unimaganative painter, probably has to do with primarily fishing for pike. It's scarry how fast they can ruin a lure. So I have a standard set of colors ranging from "natural" to loud Perch Blue/Perl Silver/white (Moving towards Silver Foil) Pike Rainbow Trout (sometimes) Walleye Green/Gold/white (sometimes depending on the lure) Flo Purple/Pearl Gold/ Flo Orange (Moving towards Gold Foil) Fire tiger Flo Green/ Flo Yellow/ Flo Orange - Black stripes Tiger Tiger Black/Flow Orange/white - black stripes (Sometimes) Pink Lady Flo Purple/Flo Pink/White - black stripes (Sometimes) I 3d print most of my lure now so anything that is a pattern is painted with a stencil

This just hit my Youtube feed a company that will do custom metal 3d printing. just thought I would post it here so folks know what is possible.

I use CA glue on my 3d printed lures as well, it buys me a couple of things, FDM prints are not water tight, it hides most of the layer lines and it make the plastic easier to sand. I think it also affects the temp where it the lure should warp, but I think the top coat of epoxy plays a part too.

Just came back from the swim test. it worked like a charm, the action went a bit down the tail, but I can work it much faster without blowing out. The top line tie was a bit of a gamble I was hoping it would work for ice fishing giving a horizontal presentation and a quick test off the dock I got pretty much what I wanted I suspect it will kick butt through the ice. just need a real field test to see if I have heavy enough eye hardware good thing I have a trip coming up