JRammit

Man did i look funny walking through Walmart! Well... Now i can stop harassing the animals

This has been a verry informative thread But my space situation is about to change.... Even though i just built my new bench, its about to be packed away Due to escalating circumstances, i have reached the breaking point with my current living situation... A #1 priority is now house shopping Looking on line, ive already found 2 options within a few miles of my current location... One has a detatched garage, and the other what looks to be a 20' x 10' wooden shed....... Of course both of these properties have houses on them as well

I had thought about "cutting and patching" rather than drilling... All the while keeping the molding idea locked away in my head...... Im with you on this one Travis, the satisfaction of a finished hand carved wooden (or PVC) bait invokes a sense of pride in the builder that can not be matched by a product of a mold (i quickly learned this after expanding from soft to hard baits) But the reality that im starting to accept, is that molding this particular bait opens up more possibilities (many of which im not ready to share yet).... I still have topwaters to carve (and a few other things im not ready to share yet) so i can get my rocks off

Thanks for all this tool info... Ive always made it by on hand tools, so pardon my ignorance of bench tools 2 to 3 inches doesnt leave me many options... Maybe im going about my style of cranks the wrong way... Perhaps molding is a more versatile method..... But thats a whole nother subject

Im a sucker for a good analogy... But in my time here i don't think I've read any advice bad enough to fit the roofing nail story above The closest i can recall was a thread of my own... I thought i had a good idea cause it worked great twice.. But the third time was not a charm.. And Travis was quick to point it out.... Had he not, i would still be pumping a dry well I usually dissagree with you Travis, but i still like having you around..... When everyone else is trying to be nice, i can always count on you to be honest Like when you have a big booger hanging out of your nose.. Most of your friends are to shy to say anything.. But thankfully you have that one friend who will always tell you

I meant hole depth, not diameter The main need for a drill press is my inline crank bait... The through hole has to be centered perfectly in order for the bait to perform correctly I mentioned above how i do it now, it works, but a drill press would save me ALOT of time! Just looking for my limitation on lure length with spindle travel

This is a tackle building forum, a place people come to discuss different techniques and meathods for building tackle Everyone has their own way of doing things, if their way didn't work, they wouldn't be doing it At the bottom of the forum page it says we have over 21,000 members... That means there are over 21,000 ways to do over 21,000 things... To think only a handful of them are worthy is narrow minded There are plenty of good videos and articles on Google and YouTube about lure making.... But I believe you learn more here on TU because of the interaction.... I say post away!.... Without discussions, it would not be a forum

Fatman.... Ive got a ziplock bag stuffed with tiny body feathers from a few gadwall and widgeons Was wondering if/how i could use them... Example: in the place of maribou.... They are small feathers, not quite as tiny as maribou......... But i believe small enough to do the trick Have you (or anyone) tried this?... Would it be worth the effort??..... Ive never tied a fly, more intested in crappie jigs Also, as far as dye... Ive read kool-aid is an option... Thoughts??

Thanks Ben... Hard to imagine myself in the same boat as you... Ive seen your stuff in the gallery and read many of your informative posts... Just lends proof to the complexity of this obsession.... So many branches on this tree... So many fruits to taste..... And so many birds to ask about the flavor

Ben, you got me thinking... First about cutting hair off my dog... But that lead to remembering i have several frozen duck wings and a bag of body feathers that i use to get her fired up before duck season every year Did a quick search, found a little info on using duck quill feathers, but nothing about the body feathers.... I wonder if they could substitute for maribou? Also read something about dying bucktail in kool-aid... Should work for feathers too??

In the specs, the Skill says to have a 10" spindle travel.... Does this mean with a 5" bit i could drill a 5" hole?

Not worth risking my fingers, i need those for lots of things! Just wondered if anyone had tried it.. Plenty of reasons not to! So... Drill press #1... Scroll saw #2 Btw, that dremel scroll saw comes apart and doubles as a coping saw

Since ive never tied anything else, maybe learning trebles first will make jigs seem easy....??

Dave, i liked the way you did the bawal crank in your video... Your cut out lines were larger than the body itself... So that the sander does the detailed work Thats why i mention the rotary cutter... Wouldnt have to be an exact cut if i let the sander pick up the slack

I think i know the answer to this question... But ill ask anyway... Has anyone tried the rotary cutting bits for cutting out blanks?? Ive never done carpentry for a living, but i did install home theater systems for a while several years ago... My company bought us a roto-zip for cutting speaker holes.... It was just next to worthless, hardly any control over where the bit wanted to go... Too many round speakers in oval holes, so we went back to the jig saw But i wonder if it would be of any use on a stationary tool.. Like say.. A drill press??..... I would figure it to be more of a hazard than anything.. But if it worked.. I would have 3 tools in 1

Eh... That'll buff out Ha! Nice set up!.... Funny how easy we are to please... All we need is our own space... And several hundred dollars worth of tools and supplies..... Then were grinnin like a opossum eatin trash!

Well since the drill press can double as a sander (like Travis said), i can afford the space for a full sized bench top model....... Plus the mini press would limit the length of bait to drill through (like clemmy said) So i got my eye on this now http://m.homedepot.com/p/Skil-10-in-Drill-Press-with-Laser-3320-01/204504289?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cG%7cBase%7cPLA%7cD25T%7cPowerTools&gclid=CjwKEAjwovytBRCdxtyKqfL5nUISJACaugG1VP8GV_WhFVqE8fLT3-o4Hk_8VDOaMOGBXPzMLPVMlhoCCcjw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds But i like the craigslist idea too!... Ill look into that (like Bob said)

Thanks nugene!... I decided on the drill press first... But it wont be purchaced right away, u know, bills and what not

If its worth the effort to you, this would be my solution: Cut a tail you like off another bait.. Cut the paddle off the body you like.. Connect the desired tail and body together with a piece of thin wire.. Then mold the contraption in plaster Of course then the nice aluminum mold you bought becomes worthless So a more complex solution would be to block off the body of the aluminum mold (likely with the body of the bait).. And use the tail portion as a mold box.. Fill the tail cavity with RTV, and mold the desired tail within... The RTV mold would stay in the aluminum mold when injecting the bait......

Hand carving balsa baits is truely a form of art... One in which a steady hand and keen eye are the most valuable tools But im far from an artist... More of a designer There are ALOT of things im anxious to build just to see if they work... If they do, id like the ability to duplicate them as accurately as possible... If they dont, then the less time i invest, the better Ive been capable without the tools.. But cant wait to see my capabilities with them!

I see now... You're stacking the tail end I had it backwards.. Thought it was for evening the tie on end, instead of cutting Ill need to fashion one of them for myself now