RiverSmallieGuy

Including a link here in case somebody would want context or anything else:

That's a smart idea. This topic would get wayyy off topic if we went down that rabbit hole haha

Yep. Buoyancy and strength.

I know that, but you know what I mean though? I was referring to it's effects on action of lures.

Haha, yeah catching fish on your own lures is amazing! Funny thing is, I am a bass fisherman and I was throwing a wooden lipless bait I made and I lost 3 bass and missed 2 and then I was fishing in a small pocket and I get this huge thump while slow rolling it, I set the hook and its heavy and I thought it was a good bass, then I saw the dorsal fin and I knew it wasn't a bass... It was a channel cat! My first fish on one of my baits wasn't even a bass!

Don't over complicate the weighting of a resin lure. The only differences from a resin lure to a wooden lure is buoyancy and the need for sealing. Yes, you can absolutely drop bird shot into your molds, and you will often succeed but when in doubt you can always just drill a lead hole into your lure and fill it with lead and a filler. Don't worry too much about having to drill your pilot holes through lead, you just have to be careful and take your time and clear your drill bits, even though drilling in lead is not ideal. Be careful while working with microballoons, resin, and lead. In particular, microballoons and lead are very bad for you. If you can, wear a respirator or ensure that you have very good ventilation.

That's good, because I happen to have a lot of isopropyl alcohol, thats very convenient!

That would make sense. Would using isopropyl alcohol work as a solvent for epoxy or do I have to use acetone.

I do. That's kinda what I had been doing, but after I let my epoxy cure overnight it was still a little tacky. That is probably my fault for not mixing well enough, but advice taken! Thanks!

Alright. I feel that if the clear coat is just a little rough around the edges after one thick coat, I could go over the whole bait with a very thin second coat just to smooth everything out. Thanks Travis!

Other words, one thick, non-thinned coat of BSI would be just fine. I don't have a turner, though, but I am perfectly fine with turning it in my hand for like an hour then hang it up and flip it over every 15-20 minutes.

Me neither hahaha, would it be way to much though? I mean would it yellow too much?

Would it be overkill to do 2 coats on a 3.5" basswood topwater that I would be fishing in rocky creeks with aggressive smallmouth and gar because the gar really beat up my ABS plastic baits.

I am just getting into using 30 minute epoxy for lure clear coats, and I am wondering if there is any way to tell if your epoxy is fully mixed just by looking at it rather than mixing it for a long time. Also, how much denatured alcohol should I add to thin it? I generally mix about 4 grams of it at a time to clear coat small cranks and topwaters. I use a 1:1 ratio of the resin to hardener, and occasionally a tiny bit more hardener to ensure it fully cures. If it helps, I use the BSI 30 minute epoxy.

I wasn't talking about the swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. I was talking about the water spitting that that style mouth can facilitate. That swoosh, swoosh, swoosh sound brings so many good memories while throwing topwaters haha

One other thing that I know, is that if you have a lure with a straight, flat belly, your lure will not have a forward-backward rock. If you have a lure with a curved belly, it will rock front to back and will possibly even walk better.

I think that to amplify the spitting swoosh sound, you would give it a cupped face, or a face in the style of the Roman Made gliders (such as the Mother or Negotiator.)