DGagner

Thanks for this bit of info. I wasn't aware of that issue. Good point.

In my experience if you're going to repaint the entire lure then a light roughing up can be done although I've painted over clearcoat without doing this with no problem. The common thing is to wipe it down with alcohol to get any hand oils off of it. I don't know of any airbrushing clearcoats that are suitable for final finish. There are many other options and the epoxy you have is one good one.

I think the OP's question was about materials to acquire. The theory and actually how to make the bait, i.e. forming by carving, how to airbrush, how to weight it properly will have to be researched to know. But, I'm sure any information would be helpful.

I started making lures several months ago. I have a website with all the stuff I acquired and how I got started. I also spent 30 yrs teaching jr. high science. I kinda know this age. That being said, in your situation this is what I'd do. Get some pine or some balsa wood. Cut the wood to size - Hopefully you have a power or small hand saw that can cut a piece of wood down to rectangular lure size. Carve it to shape - Get a decent razor knife. Like the ones in woodworking not the plastic ones from the dollar store. Supervision... dangerous but pretty much unavoidable. Sand the shape and smooth it - Get some course 80 grit and some 120 or so grit sand paper to take down the wood after the carving is done. I work with white pine and it sands down very easily. Drill weight hole and eyeloop holes - I'll assume you have a drill. You can purchase some steel ball bearings for a small amount. It will suffice instead of a lead pot and lead. If you have some small pieces of metal around it would work too. Fill weight holes and glue in eyeloops - You'll need some epoxy. The 5 or 30 minute stuff in the double syringe from a big box store will work. (gluing in line/hook ties and covering the weight holes). A little sanding sealer varnish sort of substance to brush on and seal the wood. (superglue can be used too) Clearcoat - The epoxy will work for that too and is not expensive for a few lures. Be sure to get the 'clear' one. It will say on the package. You can buy a rotisserie motor but if you put the epoxy on thin and it's the quick dry one, it will set fast and will suffice without rotating it. The eyes you seem to have. And a small amount of polycarbonate plastic from box store if you make a bill. ----------------------------------- All the stuff above is the small dollar amount total. The airbrush and what it needs is the expensive item. Unless you want to just make monotone or dual tone lures like you made above then an airbrush is really needed. An inexpensive one will work but it will be frustrating. The iwatas are sort of a standard and about $150. Then there is opaque and transparent airbrush paint. Createx is sort of a standard They come in sets for lower cost. Then it needs a compressor. A dedicated airbrush compressor is fine, or with an adjustable regulator valve to cut it down to 0-40 psi, a construction one if you have one around. It's what I use. Hooks, split rings, eyeloops Take a look at some lure making vids, Marling baits is a good one, Bejan lures is another among many possibilities. Or you can look at one of mine. They use some more sophisticated (expensive) equipment sometimes but you will see those places where you can get by without it. After making a few and if you think you'll stick with it you can upgrade to better tools over time. My take on it... hope it helps. I miss teaching....so, don't get me going.

Hm... spraygun not airbrush. Well, I've got an inexpensive gravity feed one that I've had for years from Amazon. Similar to the harbor freight ones mentioned earlier. It's always worked and worked well. I never put thick stuff in it but for poly and think paints I haven't had any issues with it at all. In this case, inexpensive doesn't see to mean low performance.

I love simple green. Also, I've begun using blue windshield washer fluid (it doesn't have ammonia in it like windex) It seems to work as good as the airbrush cleaner you buy. It has alcohol, detergents, and water in it. Rumor has it that it won't hurt the chrome finish on the brush. I hope that's true. $2.99 for triple the amount of expensive airbrush cleaner that costs much, much more. Fingers crossed on this one.

When they work they're pretty nice. When they don't... ugh. I've had situations like this. For some reason it just won't work all of a sudden, even if you've kept it clean. Then you take it all apart and use all the cleaners and cleaning tools and it still has issues. I've found that I keep small wire brush wires in the drawer. The very tiny holes in the front end nozzle that nothing else will fit into if cleaned with one of those small wires often fixes a head scratcher issue.

No clue but with those blades it would seem that the entire lure spins. And with that hook seems like it would fling out as it does. A strange lure action indeed if it does this action. I've never seen anything like this and wonder it it's just an experiment done by someone. Have ypu put it in the water?

A graduated cylinder that a lure would just fit in with a ml scale can be reasonably accurate.

And that, sadly, is entirely possible. Density calculations are actually simple but can tell us a lot. And, as the need arose your were able to manage on your own. A very good sign indeed.

When I taught science we did a very thorough series of activities to learn exactly why things float in water and in different density liquids. After students got an intimate understanding of the real reason things float, they could explain how a multi million lb block of steel could be turned into an aircraft carrier that floated (and that it has nothing to do with the amount of air in it which is what everyone thinks), why weather happens, how the continents move on the planet and a plethora of other physical happenings in the universe. I'm reminiscing how they could also apply this to lures if they had a mind to. Another interesting point is that science just doesn't work in our standard system here in the United States. The metric system is designed to be able to explain the world mathematically. I'll bet you had good science teachers.....

ya, only if that were true wouldn't it be a breakthrough.... UV-A.... doesn't do much UV-B... The sunburn type and the type in UV lights to cure resin and tanning beds. Takes 4 hrs of contact (which would be burning) to kill the virus UV-C... Kills the virus but no human contact. Only in sterilizing cabinets. It destroys human tissue in a short time. So, Using UV light on the outside (or inside as recently suggested?!?) isn't an option. Science.....

Hey, I'm DGagner.... The UV light chamber I made will handle up to about a 10" lure. But 3-5" it fit's best. The lights really work well in that I set the timer for 30 minutes but I think they harden in 10-20 minutes. I've never checked. Solarez hardens in a few minutes but like Eastman said it stinks and it will harden in the container over time just from the random light hitting it when opening and closing it. The Alumi-UV has no odor and takes about 20 minutes to harden. So, a bottle of it doesn't seem to get thicker over time. Alumi-UV is great. Thing is they've not had any for months now. I think it comes from China and they rebrand it and sell it to us that's why. But.... the Chinese UV resins on Amazon are much less expensive, seem to be exactly like Alumi-UV and work great. I've been using them for a few months now with great results. And you can get them unlike Alumi-UV His is a video of how I made my UV tank from a couple of fingernail hardening lights. It's been great.

Hindsight..... How many times have I said that. Would take up lots of room but why not right? Just the turner would have been good saving. I purchased a cuptisserie when I made my turner. Like a BBQ turner but with an already attached rod and a mounting plate with screws. They've got them on Amazon for about $25. These days I've got a UV curing chamber made with fingernail hardening lights and I use UV resin. The epoxy worked good but I do love the UV resin. I tried opening my mouth over the UV light for awhile after that corona task force briefing and now my tongue burns. Must be working right???? Stay well over there on the west coast. I'm in Maine myself....... sittin' tight.

I've had good luck with a two part epoxy. You've got to mix them right for good results. Very doable though. Lately I'm using a UV resin and curing it with fingernail polish hardener devices. Not expensive. The resin hardens really nicely and smoothly and can be used as a base coat to smooth the lure before painting too. I carve wood lures. I'll be sticking with UV resin from now on.

No snow here in Maine but it's having a hard time getting above 45 degrees and we've had a lot of steady, fairly strong wind. Feels like 30. I hesitate going out on the water when that happens thinking.... just wait a bit, it will warm up.

Or what looks like a very similar item, but not exactly the same, for less than half the price. (no affiliation, just google searching and came across them). https://barlowstackle.com/Round-Nose-Nesting-Pliers--P1026/

In my book there are basically two types of UV resin available. The two US common ones are Solar rez and Alumi-uv. Both are available online in less expensive imported versions from China. And the Chinese versions work exactly the same way. I actually think the western brands come from there and are simply repackaged and the price bumped up. Solar rez cures very, very fast, a couple of minutes. The drawback is that it usually thickens in the bottle or can over time just because of ambient light hitting it while opening and closing the container. Alumi-uv takes about 20-30 minutes to harden. A can of it will stay the same consistency till it's used up. You can also use the same brush for a very long time without cleaning it just by wrapping the bristles in tin foil to keep the light from them. UV resins won't yellow or cloud over time. They both work good. Solar rez stinks horribly though. The reason some people won't use it. They have different chemical makeups. I have a lure turner for epoxy. I find that the UV resin doesn't sag at all so I don't use the turner for UV. I think it sets up right away even if it's not hardened yet. I also do a clear coat of Resin to seal my lures before painting. It gives a smooth surface that hides imperfections in the wood. Being a bit syrupy it smooths out and fills gaps like the area where the plastic bill enters the wood. I love the stuff for what it does and it's ease of use.