increasing painting efficiency

[Jon P.]

Hey folks, recently I've begun discovering that my capabilities as a lure manufacturer are being undermined by the speed at which I can make lures. a batch of five baits can take nearly an entire day, which in the broad scheme of things, is unacceptable. 

I was hoping some of you could provide me with some tips to speed up the process. one of the things I'm definitely curious about is a dipping base coat that could take some of the finnicky-ness out of base coating.

[BobP]

You can tint just about anything you want to use for color basecoating and then dip baits in it.  One shop I heard used flooring glue as a "build coat", which allowed them to thickly coat a crank which might be only rough sanded and have various surface imperfections.  Of course, you have to take a thick coating like that into account when you are designing a bait's size, ballast, etc.  If you dissect a classic Rapala or Poe's bait, you'll often find such a build coat.  I don't build for production so can't recommend a specific coating but there are a few higher volume builders here on TU that may be able to help.

[ROD W]

I make and sell lures from scratch as a hobby.  If your selling 5 a day you must be making some righteous baits.

[Dauds]

Agree 100% with the aggravation of finding your "limiting factors" when trying to turn out baits quickly.  For wood baits, I've had good results using flat white Rustoleum thinned with acetone.  Ratio of thinning will depend on how thick you need that coat.  Submerge and allow to soak.  Slowly removing them from the solution should provide a drip-free coating except at the bottom.  If you're using through wires, you'll have to wipe the bottom drip away when it accumulates.  If you're using screw eyes, you can insert a small wire, or nail, where the eye will be and the bottom drip will run off your bait.  I allow them to hang and cure for about a week.  Painting too soon will most likely cause issues.  If you're making a ton of baits, keep as many batches going at a time as you need.  It may 'span' a lot of time, but it doesn't eat up a lot of your time.  Once you have a stockpile of cured white blanks, paint what you need for the day, then dip that many at days end to replenish your 'blank' stock.  I should add that a quick rig to hold multiple baits (and appropriately large container) is much quicker (and simpler) than dipping one at a time.