JD_mudbug

It's a trade off between how easy it is the to get it to spin right away and thump. The quickest to start will be the French, then Indiana, olympic, then Hildebrant, last would be Royal. I seemed to have difficulty getting the royal to spin on an inline (great on a spinnerbait though). Unfortunately, the least thump follows the same order. If I had to pick just one for overall fishability, I would still take the French. If you cast right next to a target, the French will start immediately. Other blades may take up to a foot or two to get spinning and be out of the strike zone. If you throw the spinner into weeds, the French will restart quicker if it hits a weed. Even though a French doesn't thump as hard as a Hildebrandt, the French spins faster which throws off alot of water especially in a 5 or 6. I guess it's more like very fast mini thumps as opposed to the slower whomp-whomp thump of a Hildebrandt. Now, if I had to pick 2, I would take a french spinner and a Hildebrant. The size 5 colorado spinner I keep using is a copper 5 Hildebrant blade with maybe 1/8-1/4 weight on the shaft (.040"). I don't know the body weight. The body came from a spinner I found in a tree. Attached to the shaft by split ring is a 5/0 - 1/4 oz swimbait hook with corkscrew. Painted the keel weight metallic red with nail polish. I usually run a thinner style trailer on it like a Yum pulse paddletail, a 5" grub, or a ribbon tail worm with most of the head section cut off. I like the thinner type baits on this setup for the best chance of hooking-up. The weight on the hook acts as keel and keeps line twist down. Overall for inlines, I throw french spinners from sz 0-6, 0-3 for trout and 4-6 for bass. I just have had more luck with French blades. The 4-6 will also catch northern pike. I use swing blades from sz 1-4 usually for trout (especially when trolling) but frequently catch smallies on sizes 3&4. I have a couple of Indianas in sz 6 & 7 which are really more like a 4 & 5 because Indiana blades run small for their number. A 7 Indiana is about the size of a 5 Colorado. Indiana blades are sort of splitting the difference between French and Colorado. Plus the one Colorado 5. If I want to max out vibration for night fishing or muddy water, I just go with a single Colorado blade spinnerbait. The sz 5 Hildebrandt blade as the sole blade on a 1/2 oz spinnerbait gives of a ton of vibration.

I personally don’t like the heavy .040 blades on inline spinners unless the lure is a big musky bucktail type lure (size 7 and up blades). The .040 blades are harder to get spinning at the start of a retrieve. The heavy blade is much easier to get spinning on a spinnerbait than an inline spinner. You need the extra thickness of a .040 blade for musky bucktails because they are far more likely to bend a .025 blade. The .025 blades are fine for bass inlines and easier to start on the retrieve. An inline will not get the same vibration as a spinnerbait. On a spinnerbait, a blade is at the end of the wire with body (weight) far away at the opposite end, so the whole wire can vibrate and flex. A single Colorado on a spinnerbait will vibrate more than on an inline spinner. I think the flatter type Colorado vibrates more than the deep cup. Hildebrandt makes a flat Colorado with just a slight cup that vibrates the most I have felt from a Colorado blade. Both the flatter and deep Colorado can be difficult to get spinning in the smaller sizes 0-3. The small ones tend to just lie against the shaft like a saucer sled. They get easier to start the bigger they get. With an inline, my top concern is making sure the blade spin easily. It is annoying to have to make a pump or 2 each cast to get the blade spinning. On my bass spinners and smaller trout spinners, blades sizes 0-6, I have had much better luck with French (Mepps style), swing (Roostertail style), and Indiana blades. These 3 types spin easy and fast and give off a great mix of flash and vibration. I think I only have one bass sized Colorado inline (size 5) left in my rotation. The French blade is my favorite for inlines. Bassdozer's article on blades may be of some use. It mostly pertains to blade use in regards to spinnerbaits, but the general info applies to inlines as well. http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/spinnerbait-blades.shtml

You could also try double hooks on the belly like a Mustad 7982 or 7825. Owner and Gamakatsu make a double hook too. It seems like they would cause very little if any rash. I have seen them in sizes up to 5/0. I don't think heavy musky rings like Wolverines or Rasco XH or XXH would slide out. But if it looks like they might, you could use a piece of heat shrink tube on the shank. I have not tried them yet on hard baits.

The Owner ST35 come in size 6 up to 2/0 at TW which fit a good range of baits. The ST35 in 2/0 are bit bit bigger than other 2/0 hooks I have. The 2/0 is really somewhere between a 2/0 and 3/0. I think the Decoy T-S21 come in sizes 8 to 1/0 but they can be hard to find. They used to make up to 3/0 but I haven't seen any 2/0 or 3/0 in a while. I knew someone who used to travel to Japan who was able to get them for me. Mustad short shank KVDs EWG come in sizes up to 3/0. The Mustad 3X Triple grip go up to 7/0. Proberos 35647 trebles come in 8 to 3/0 (and maybe larger sizes) but you have to T them with pliers. Even though it may weaken them some, I have not had any failures in 1/0, 2/0 or 3/0. They are cheap. I have only made a few baits that needed a 4/0 or 5/0. It looks like I used bronze Mustads or VMCs that I T'eed in a vice. I usually only put the T hooks on the belly (or on the back if the lure has hooks on top). I use a regular treble for the tail hook.

Your welcome. Google the Aquasonic Chatterbox and Rogers Vib-R-Fin for a couple of other similar lures. You may want to make one with multiple line ties to offer different actions, one down low and one up high, like the Drifter Believer. I haven't made many lipless baits of the typical tight swimming vibrating kind. I have made some Bass Oreno and AC Plug type baits and changing where the line tie is on the sloped face changes the running depth and tightness of the wobble.

Hook points will wear through D2T eventually. D2T is one of the hardest and thickest topcoats out there. The only real solution I have found is to minimize the hook points scraping against the the lure. I will sometimes use nail polish or thinned epoxy to fill in a hook rash groove. That only extends the longevity some. Best to do that before it gets through to the paint. I have been switching over to T-type trebles (Owner St-35, Decoy T trebles) for belly mounted hooks. Those type of hooks reduce hook rash. When you put the hook on, make sure the flat side is against the lure. You can bend some trebles into a T with pliers. Some trebles like Owner St-36 are too stiff to bend and will break if attempted. So, be careful when attempting to do this (gloves, safety glasses). KVD triple grip trebles also reduce hook rash a little as the points are tipped in towards the shank a bit.

There are a bunch of different types of lipless crankbaits. A flatfish is just one type of many different types of lipless cranks. The one in your pic was a common style years ago similar to the Heddon Bayou Boogie, Pico Chico, Storm Whiz Bang, Buckeye Shad Lipless Crank. Poe's also made a lipless back in the day similar to your pic. Although some of the older style baits are still being sold, that older style seems to have fallen out of favor since the Rattle Trap type baits gained in popularity. Your pic does have the line tie lower than most of the older baits. The pictured lure's shape is somewhat like Strike King's Red Eye Shad with a steeper vertical face and lower line tie.

Another vote for strip the whole bait in that situation. The paint is lifting from your bait. It is better to strip it, allow some drying time, and restart. Paint lifting could be caused by several things: water got in the wood and it swelled, the seal coat wasn't dry or didn't off gas, something on the lure prevented the paint form bonding. Whatever the cause of the lifting, it won't get better by a touch up. I do a touch up where the paint and clear coat are bonded well but got chipped from say a rock impact, fish teeth, or a hook point. Once the chip occurs, I try not to use the lure anymore to prevent water from soaking in through the chip. If everything is still bonded around the chip (no lifting around the chip), it can be touched up with paint and slightly thinned epoxy. If I am going on an fishing trip away from home, I usually pack super glue and clear nail polish. That way if I am at a remote place without a replacement or back up lure, I can temporarily patch a bait to stop water penetration.

There is a pinned post with a long list of suppliers. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/34165-crankbait-blank-suppliers/ In no particular order, I have had the best luck with Predator, Dinger, Shelts, and LPO.

I made the stencil box based on info in past posts on TU. Basically it's a wooden box. Mine is about a foot long on each side. The seams are sealed with duct tape/wood glue/silicone or whatever you have to prevent air leakage. The top has a bunch of small holes drilled through it around the center around a half inch apart. One side of the box has a hole cut out to fit a shop vac hose. You put a lure on the top over the holes, put a plastic sheet over the lure that a extends around the lure by a couple inches and heat the plastic sheet with heat gun. Make sure to remove any protective film from the plastic sheet before heating. Some plastic has film some doesn't. The film can be hard to see. Keep the heat gun moving over the plastic. As the sheet heats and gets a bit soft, turn on the shop vac, and the shop vac sucks the plastic around the lure. This gives a one half stencil of the side. Flip the lure and repeat for the other side. Cut what pattern you want out of the stencil with an Xacto knife or dremel tool. If you want to sacrifice a lure, you can cut the lure in half down the center-line before and put both halves on the box to make stencils for both sides at the same time. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/30214-vacuum-box-question/?tab=comments#comment-241333 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1H7uuNIOeg You can also make a stencil box out of a popcorn or cookie tin or a coffee can. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/36561-easy-stencil-making/?tab=comments#comment-298696 Post on plastic material: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/26172-help-with-vaccuum-box-clear-plastic-film/?tab=comments#comment-198913

For some reason, I could not post to this thread until now. I was getting Error code: 1S160/2 I have had some failures that should make any lure maker feel better about themselves: 1. I made a one piece glide/jerk bait out of a piece of wood. It looked like oak. I only put in a couple of small ballast weights. I did not test it before finishing. The lure sinks faster than a piece of lead. I drilled most of the lead out, touched up the paint, and it still sinks fast. In an attempt to re-purpose it, I added a line tie a third of the way down the back to vertically jig it, like a big blade bait. I have yet to catch a fish on it. The damn wood was so hard. I spent a lot of time carving it. That’s how I learned to test before finishing. I keep it on my boat in case I need something to cast at annoying jet-skiers (just kidding). If I am sight fishing, maybe I can make a real accurate cast and knock out the fish. It sinks so fast I might convert it to a plug knocker. 2. I was testing a 2 section bait. I had sealed the bait with superglue but had not put any glue in the screw eye holes for the joint so I could adjust the gap before permanent installation. I just had some hot glue where the joint screws went into the body. I was only making short easy casts. Somehow, I hooked a pickerel on bent-in trebles with no points. The tail hook must have got wedged in the corner of its mouth. The fish pulled off the back section off the bait. 3. (Mentioned in the flat parallel wood post) – I made a swimbait with my best paint job to date. I usually don't do detailed paint jobs. I took alot of time on this paint job. The lure fell off the curing rack and cracked the lip. 4. I had just built a stencil making box. I was making my first stencil with a piece of semi-flexible plastic I found in my father's shed that he was cleaning out. I didn’t realize there was some sort of protective film on it. I heated the plastic and did not see it conforming to the lure with the shop vac on. So, I kept on heating the plastic, and kept on heating the plastic. Eventually, the shop vac blew a circuit breaker and started smoking. The film that was facing the heat gun was not melting or even bending much. The plastic on the other side got so hot it liquefied and some globs got sucked into the shop-vac and killed the motor. I wrecked a fairly new shop vac. 5. I made a rat lure and gave it to a friend. He catches a lot of fish on it. Now, I get to listen to him yelling about slaunches, pigs, big uns, toads, footballs, corkers, and other stupid nick names for fish. Every fish to him is at least 5 pounds, even if the scale says 1 pound. It's a topwater so he will never get snagged. Maybe a fish will break it off. The one time I want a lure failure and it won’t happen. I know, not really a failure, but I am still not happy about it. The only thing I consider a failure is a safety failure. Those are the true painful failures. I have drilled into my hand holding a lure, for that real blood scent. I took some rotary tool cut-off disc fragments to the arm while cutting a lip slot. That was really painful because I also have a band saw that could have done the job easily.

My purpose in explaining 304 v 304L was merely to show the basic difference as it applies to lure building. I did not want to see a lure builder pay more or even the same for 304L, when its performance is a bit less than 304 in lure building. I was not trying to give a tutorial on welding let alone annealing a weld. Hence, 'the heating the crap out of it' non-technical term. I guess I should have put that in my post. My apologies. Dave, you are correct. Anyone doing welding should do their own research and not attempt to learn skills like that on a lure building forum. I didn't even have metal shop in school, just wood shop. But fortunately, unlike my father, I did not have to walk uphill both ways to school. To fully correct my post, 304L is weaker than 304 by 6.67% by minimum tensile strength (70 ksi / 75 ksi = .9333), weaker by 5.56% by ultimate tensile strength (85 ksi / 90 ksi = .9444), weaker by 16.67% by minimum yield strength ( min 25 ksi / 30 ksi = .8333), and weaker by 16.67% on 0.2% yield strength (35 ksi / 42 ksi = .8333). Judge for yourself which metric is most applicable to lure building. By whatever metric you chose, 304L is at least more than 5% weaker than 304. I like big words like austenitic but i have not been to Texas yet. As for martensitic ...

The Malin stainless safety wire is 304 annealed. The link I gave above for Wire Specialties is also 304 annealed. Malin color codes their canisters for different safety/locking wire types. Blue is 304 annealed stainless. I believe other major manufacturers have followed Malin's lead in color coding. Always check the company's website for specs to be sure, but blue canister safety/locking wire is most likely going to be 304 annealed from a major wire manufacturer. 304L (L= extra low carbon) is a bit weaker than 304, roughly 5% weaker in tensile strength. Both will work for lures. All things being equal (price, availability), regular 304 is better for lure making unless you are doing some welding in your lure builds. You might as well get the extra 5%. Low carbon wires are used for welding. 304L will be more corrosion resistant when welded, which is of no benefit in typical lure making. Unless the weld joint itself is annealed (aka heating the crap out of it and cooling slowly), welded 304 will corrode at the weld much faster than 304L. The L wire is used to skip having to anneal the weld to save time and money.

If you are going to make a lure like a bucktail, whopper plopper, tallywhacker, globe, anything that will have a spinning/rotating part, use shaft wire as it is straight right out of the pack. It's hard stainless so it will resist bending and keep the parts rotating better. Shaft wire is also good if you are going to straight wire through a bait from line tie to tail loop with dropper wires or swivels for the belly hook hangers. Mark provided the link above. If you are looking to bend wire to make a non-straight internal wire harness or if you are looking to make twist wire eye screws, use annealed safety locking wire. Annealed wire will hold a bend better and not spring back. It comes off the spool in a loose curl. You can get this close to straight with some work. I use each type, which one will depend on the lure type. Saftey wire .051 annealed 304 stainless: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FVQVNCQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Pliers for making twist wire eye (wear gloves, the knurled knob can grate your skin): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082SX8D4G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I always prefer 2 hooks. 3-hook baits do a lot of damage to fish and can be tough get out of a net. 2 hooks are safer when de-hooking a fish. You can go with two hooks and up-size the hooks. I think your hanger loop positions look good. My baits in the 7-9 inch range typically have a 3/0 or 2/0 on the belly and a 2/0 on the tail, unless it is a thin bait. Your bait looks like an inch and change diameter at the belly hanger. If the bait is round, I would see what 3/0 looks like on the belly. If the bait is a thin and flat bait maybe a 2/0 on the belly and 1/0 tail. On some of the 3-hook baits I have purchased since I can't move the hanger loops, I have taken off the middle hook. Then, I add an extra split ring to the front hook split ring (2 split rings in a chain). Sometimes, I will add a barrel swivel and split ring to the front hook split ring.

Both lexan and metal props will work. Both make a lot of commotion. The metal will spin faster and make more noise. But, the metal does stand out more and may get bit less in clear or calm water or slow retrieves. I have not tried thinner lexan yet. Nothing wrong with the white one except that it weighs a lot. It gets tiring to cast. The white one had the body cut straight across. The chart/orange/black had the edges of the cut sanded to round them over and the tail end is more tapered which I think looks better. I guess the looks are a personal preference and confidence thing. I like the look of the slender shape and taper of the chart/orange/black one. If you make it too fat, the front may plow through the water more and you could get less plop/chop from the prop. The hooks are Owner ST36. They are sharp but give bad hook rash on the lure body. I have been switching my big bait hooks over to Owner ST35 which are T-type trebles and cause less rash. Unfortunately, ST35 are pricey, even more pricey than ST36. I also buy Proberos model 35647 treble hooks off Aliexpress. They are sharp, a bit behind the Owner hooks in quality. You may get 2 to 5 blunt hooks in a 100 pack. But, the 35647s are way more affordable and can be bent with pliers into a T for less rash. Just be careful when doing that. You can't bend Owner ST36 hooks into a T they will break. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000529491583.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4ba04c4dB9wy6J

The white one is 7 inches. The chartreuse and orange with black back is 9 inches. Prop is lexan 1/8th inch thick, heated and bent. These are my first 2 attempts at a globe. Both work. I like the taper and shape of the 9 inch one better. I just wish it was 6 inches with a smaller prop. The 7" is ok on length but I made it a bit too thick. They both need to weigh a bit less to make it easier to cast.

Nice. And brass is a bit better than copper from a galvanic corrosion standpoint with stainless. I find some stuff at Grainger.com too. Between them and Mcmaster you can find lots of odds and ends. When I made a globe lure, I epoxied a coffee stirring straw through the front section. The straw was sticking out of each end of the front section so no epoxy would get in the straw. When the epoxy dried, I clipped each end of the straw flush. I installed the prop with one tiny screw on each side of the center hole after pre-drilling. After that, I epoxied a rivet into each end of the straw. The front section spins great. No fish on it yet. I made a 10 inch one with a big prop. I think it is too large. It looks like a small boat. I plan to make a smaller one.

It sounds like you are talking about a tubular conductor aka hollow conductor tubing. I think that it will be hard to find and expensive for lure building. It may have to be ordered from a specialty wire manufacturer. It is used when you need to conduct electricity and the current's heat needs to be cooled internally with air or a liquid. It's used in stuff like electrical transformers, MRI machines, generators. You might be able to find some square tubing used in making jewelry. That type of tubing is usually flexible. I don't know if that tubing comes with a round tube on the inside. As Stinky Fingers said, galvanic corrosion would definitely be a concern given the in and out of water use. Stinky Finger, welcome back and I hope you are doing well.

The only epoxies I have seen yellow have been the 5 minute types. I have not had D2T or Etex yellow. I kept my thinned spar urethane in the original can which is definitely not the best storage way. Air got in and it skinned over. I kept using it after peeling the skin off the top. It worked fine for a couple of months until it was used up. I was only using it to seal. I did have to add some extra mineral spirits as the spar did get thicker over time. If I use spar again, I would use a jar as Eastman said maybe with a piece of saran wrap under the lid for extra sealing. Just my opinion, but I would not go with a urethane over epoxy in the topcoat. Most of the urethanes will yellow or amber over time. Some of the water based urethanes say they do not yellow. I think even those yellow a bit, probably not noticeably unless on something white. KBS is one of the better urethanes for lure topcoats. But, you have to real careful with storage and it is more expensive.

Lately, once last week and today 12/6 6:34EST, the site has seemed a bit slow. It could just be the peak demand time for my ISP. When it is like that, i cannot make a response post. I get the error message below: Unread Content Mark site read Home Sorry, there is a problem The page you requested does not exist Error code: 1S160/2 Contact Us

As others have stated, some people use epoxy as a sealer. Others use it to have a smooth surface to start painting on so no sanding marks, seams (lure body or foil), or ballast hole fill-ins show through the paint. Others use it to add depth to paint schemes. You can paint your base colors, clear coat it, and then add another paint coat with mesh to give a more 3D look to scales. You can also use epoxy mid paint job before any substantial fine detail work in case you mess that up. Disadvantages: lure is bulkier and weighs more with an additional epoxy coat. It could shift how the lure sits in the water. There are too many variables to say whether it would cut down the action, change diving depth, or suspension, but it very well could. It will matter on a 110 type suspending jerkbait, ballast or hooks/rings will have to be adjusted. It probably won’t matter on a bulbous high floating 2 ounce crankbait. If joints, hook hangers, and toe point are set/mounted before sealing, multiple epoxy coats could create clearance issues. I have done a base epoxy or spar urethane coats on a few baits. I don’t see enough difference in the depth of the paint to make it worth it. I think a thinned based coat does add a lot to durability. I dipped a bait in spar urethane thinned with mineral spirits for a sealing base coat. The bait had a center-drilled shaft for through wiring that I wanted to seal. That bait has held up very well to numerous northeast bluefish which can wreck baits. I have used epoxy thinned with denatured alcohol as a sealer on salt water baits that have also held up very well. I guess if you are targeting toothy fish or want to get a good seal on a wire through shaft hole an extra coat of something durable is always a plus. Usually, I just seal with superglue for ease and convenience.

Possibly inspired by divine intervention or alien telepathic communication, you come up with a great idea for a lure. You spend several hours shaping the body. It comes out perfectly symmetrical. The lip slot is perfectly straight. You seal the bait and get the perfect ballast placement in your test tub. You drill the ballast hole and have no wood splintering. After installing the ballast, you re-seal the lure for added protection. You are so excited about your creation you decide to take the lure to the unfrozen portion of a small river on a cloudy dreary 30 degree day to test the action. You brave walking over slippery rocks to get to the shore, nearly face planting several times. The sun breaks through the clouds as you tie the lure on. You feel the warmth on your face as you make the first cast. The lure performs better than you imagined. As you watch the lure’s amazing action, a huge bass comes up from the depths and blasts your lure despite the lure being unpainted and the near freezing water temperature. You get no hook up because you are testing with bent over trebles to prevent a snag. You are ecstatic about all of the monsters that will fall to the lure when it is finished in all its glory. The action is so good that on the next cast a bald eagle takes a dive at the lure. You frantically reel the lure in to prevent the eagle from stealing your precious. After your lure’s lucky escape, you get back to the shop and wait for the lure to dry for painting. After resisting the urge to paint the lure too soon, you are finally able to continue your masterpiece. With great skill and effort, you apply an incredibly detailed paint job with gill plates, fins, scales, 32 different colors, perfect shading and blending, the works. It comes out flawless. The ghosts of Michelangelo and James Heddon appear before you and inspect the lure. They simultaneously say ‘sweet’ as they disappear. You wait for the paint to thoroughly dry. You put the lure on your turner. You mix the epoxy which comes out crystal clear and bubble free. You apply a nice even epoxy coat, not too thin, not too thick. You flip the switch on the rotisserie motor. The lure starts its graceful rotation. Then… Disaster. The lure turns 2 inches before it falls out of the holding clips because you did not set the clips securely. The lure bounces off the table and onto the floor. You are momentarily stunned. You pick the lure up and see that your clear coat is now a gelatinous mess encrusted with vilest shop debris. Saw dust, grit, hair, grease blobs, clipped off fishing line bits, even a small brad nail, yup, it’s all on your bait now. You start to feel grief, but you realize you can scrape off the epoxy and sand the ruined paint, repaint, and maybe salvage the situation. Then, like a lightning bolt from the sky, it hits you; the crushing weight of your own stupidity. You realize the fall also cracked the lure’s lip. Your only solace is cracking a cold beer and weeping in the corner. This is what the beer frig is for.

As Eastman03 and Vodkaman said, if you are making large quantities of flat sided lures the planer would be useful. Personally, I never used my planer. I gave it to a friend who makes furniture. I have not had a problem doing it the way you described. The most useful thing I have is a bench belt sander with a side wheel and shelf. Use a square on the sander's side shelf to make sure it is at 90 degrees to the sanding wheel. Before sanding the one side down to the correct thickness, I use a mini speed square to mark down on all sides how much I am going to take off. A lot of bait bodies have a short tapered nose section, a long tapered back section, and rounded shoulders which get rid of the sides of wood block anyways. As long a you draw a center line on the top and bottom of the body and keep the tapering even on both sides, the lure will be fine. You can also use the speed square to mark dots for the center line and complete the line with a flexible piece of plastic. I find on larger baits the there is a greater tolerance with the evenness of the tapering. I have several dozen large baits (6" and up) that I shaped by eye only that run great. The critical thing is getting the lip straight by cutting it before tapering using the flat side again the saw. A top view template is useful for doing the tapering. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-4-1-2-in-Trim-Square-MLSQ040/310363529 More tools is always better. The real question is what could you spend the $300 on that would be more useful? the planer or say - more paints (you already have a compressor/airbrush set up), a regulator/water trap mentioned in the Etex post, a UV set up (my next goal when I get around to building a curing box), forstner bits, micro files, maybe a stencil making setup, a shop beer fridge, etc.

I mostly make large baits and use D2T. It sometimes does fish eye on certain foils and decals and can make certain inks runs. In those situations, I do spray a mid-coat of polycrylic. Rustoleum 2x clear works. MinWax makes one too. I do let the mid-coat fully dry. If it is not dry, it causes problems with D2T sliding off into sags or air blisters under the D2T. I use a hair dryer or heat gun to blow off the lure before the coats. That way the lure gets a bit of heat and I don't spray any residual water vapor or brush cleaner onto the bait. Other possibilities for problems to arise could be too much humidity or temp (or low temp) in the drying area. With metallics, you have to close to optimal on the curing conditions. The spec sheets for Etex say the optimal temp is 75F, between 70-80F should be good. You have to make sure both the hardener bottle and resin bottle are at the proper temp. Put the bottles in a container of warm water up to the level of the product to get them to 70 if you have to. Etex cures best at low humidity, 50% or less. You might need a dehumidifier. The sheets also say the surface should be dry. So, I would not go the tacky mid-coat route. Keep any curing lures away from propane heaters as moisture vapor is given off when burning propane. I believe some people on here spray Createx clear as a mid-coat, but I have not used that. It's acrylic so it should work. I have never had luck with scuffing up the mid-coat. When I have scuffed up the mid-coat, the lure ends up looking cloudy or hazy. I just put the epoxy right on the spray clear once it is completely dry.