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I am a Canadian who is getting into custom lure painting. However I am having issues finding crankbait blanks that are cost efficient. Purchasing blanks from many of the large US suppliers is quite costly right now with the Canadian dollar at .74 cents to the dollar, before the large shipping costs. I am wondering if anyone knows any cheaper routes I can take to get quality blanks delivered to Canada. I found found numerous sellers on DHgate and Alibaba, but am unsure of their quality and cant justify ordering 100units at MOQ if they're non functional. Thanks in advance

I am thinking about getting into painting my own crank baits and jerk baits but was wondering what do people usually use to seal the coats of paint and to help keep the paint from chipping the first toss into the water. I know i have seen some people using epoxy but i also heard some people say that it turns yellow after a while. Just wondering what your opinions are on this subject. Thanks!

Curious who you guys watch on YouTube to learn new patterns? I am just trying to see how others are doing it visually. I like this link for Brown Trout! I think it's a great final product for a beginner lure painter. Who do you guys watch? Do you have your own channels?

I want to build my own drying wheel. I plan on buying a BBQ Rotisserie motor kit. Anyone have pictures of theirs I can get ideas from? Thank you

I've made a decent amount of plugs and I've decided it's time to get some paint in order to paint these guys. However I'm sort of lost as to what colors I should get. In your opinion what are say 10 or 12 essential colors when painting lures? And what brands do you guys reccomend? Thanks for the help!

Hi there , folks , Just got up from the workshop having shot some pictures for another thread , .....since I'm just busy painting and topcoating another bunch of lures , I've thought that following pictures might be of interest for one or another fellow carver in here . This is a simply made frame , that I'm using to fix jointed lureblanks for painting and topcoating , .......it is important to stretch out the jointed lure real firm . If rubber bands should be too weak for bigger and heavier lures , one can also tie a simple loop of some kinda rigid twine or cord and utilize a kinked nail to twist the twine loop up to apply highest possible tension , .......the nail is then bound and secured against the dowel or one of the two long woodscrews somehow making it impossible to untwist again . Since the the timber dowel is quite narrow , one can easily access all spots with a brush , even turn the bait around a bit putting one finger on the belly hook eye . I'm painting my baits with a handbrush and modelmaking enamels , for topcoating I'm using a fast curing epoxy with only about 20 mins processing time , ......this way I do not need a rotisserie to avoid dripping , but only have to switch the bait around a few times whilst the epoxy starts to set . For the lure to dry I'd clamp the frame dowel in my vise or utilize spring-loaded or carpenter's clamps fixed on the ends of the wooden dowel to serve as a stand . But I'm sure , that it would be possible to design a rotisserie to accommodate such simple frames as well . Impossible to avoid clogging up the joining eyes with epoxy topcoat , ......after the final coat has cured , I would utilize my Dremel with a 1,0mm drill bit and a tiny cylindrical router bit to cut the eyes free very carefully , ....a finacky task , but it always worked out for me , ........the blade point of my old carpet knife with interchangeable blades takes care of the rest of glue remainders . Greetz , diemai