Big Jig Rangler Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 Hey Guys, I posted this in the hard baits forum and only received one response. Im gonna repost it here to see if anyone else has an opinion on the matter. Actually I've yet talked to anyone who has a clue on this matter. I mainly post on the BBC BOARDS but since I've read up on this site and the information that is here I might as well post here also. I've been doing custom lures for a little while now and a question has been on my mind for a while about scale masking. Does anyone know how major manufacturers apply their scale designs for mass production? I just don't see them having people in an assembly line wrapping then unwrapping masking all day. That's a lot of waste in material and would start costing a lot of money in the end. Are they stamping them or do they have a tool for it, what? I've talked to Norman lure rep about some of their process but that was one thing he didn't go over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskat Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 They shoot it through a screen as it passes by. My wife does needle point from time to time and I stole one of her hoops. Went to Wally world and bought a piece of material and stretched it through it. Just hold the bait under it and spray away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted August 10, 2013 Report Share Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) B-J-R---From what I have seen here they use 'Pad Printing' to do scales, dark patches, or signatures etc. Pad Printing uses a very soft (in this case) silicone pad which picks up the image and then stamps onto object. With this process you can get very fine lines onto a curved or flat object. Pete Edited August 10, 2013 by hazmail 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 10, 2013 Report Share Posted August 10, 2013 Neat video Pete. Thanks for sharing. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jig Rangler Posted August 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2013 That's awesome....thanks for sharing the vid. Now I just gotta buy one...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted August 10, 2013 Report Share Posted August 10, 2013 'Google Images' shows any number of ways to do it -- I first saw this being done on lures about 25 years ago here, so it has probably been used over there for about 50. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoMtnGuy Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 I did a quick search.... go to YouTube and search on "scale masking on fishing lures"... lots of videos. I saw a Chinese factory video a year back and there wasn't any special machines or tooling... just a lot of people with airbrushes doing it the way we do it! They did use cardboard masking shapes, think curves cut on cardboard. Airbrush books show you how to create "masks" from cardboard. I have a few I made myself, they give a clean line on one side while allowing the paint to fade away from the mask. They can also be used to block or protect areas. For scales I use door screen material, plastic orange bags like they use for the little oranges, look in your produce market! Many veges and fruits are packaged in nylon bags... all can make scales if you stretch them one way or another. Another good scale pattern can be made from women's lace stockings. Think outside the box! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 (edited) Yeah I've seen it done with a homemade tool that looks like a big tuning fork with the netting clamped in between and they just press it up against the lure body and it has enough slack that it wraps around half the bait to get the result needed, so there is no wrapping if you will just a quick hold on the bait and spray. Oh and I forgot I use a knitting loop with the same great results it just takes a little getting used to as it's round without a handle, but works great. Edited April 6, 2014 by Gon2long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Go buy 2 cheap and large picture frames and a couple small hinges. Hinge them together so they open like a hard shell book Strech scale material over each inner portion of picture frame so basically the mesh touches when closed. Glue or staple it down. Do not make very tight you want the material to go around the lure/s place lures on mesh and close the frames so they are in the middle Use magnets and place then around the baits so they stay in place and the mesh covers every where Now depending on how big you go with the picture frames you can essentially paint scales on a bunch of baits at once 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Go buy 2 cheap and large picture frames and a couple small hinges. Hinge them together so they open like a hard shell book Strech scale material over each inner portion of picture frame so basically the mesh touches when closed. Glue or staple it down. Do not make very tight you want the material to go around the lure/s place lures on mesh and close the frames so they are in the middle Use magnets and place then around the baits so they stay in place and the mesh covers every where Now depending on how big you go with the picture frames you can essentially paint scales on a bunch of baits at once I posted that senario here several years ago. I even included a drawing on how to make it. I don't know if the post still exists(probably not with all the changes over the years). I called it "the book". When I was painting lures in the early 90"s I used that to speed up production. Once you get into a rythem the clean up of your spray gun takes longer than it takes to paint 100 baits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
