Yet another experiment...

[fatfingers]

Yesterday I purchased some plastic in bulk form, meaning small planks and blocks. I'm now trying to "carve" bodies out of plastic instead of wood.

My first attempt was a knock-off of a Cobb's 6 inch glider. Worked out pretty well. I used a small band saw to cut out the body and I shaped it on my ancient drill/disc sander combo.

I found it very difficult to sand the stuff by hand but a dremel with a wire brush attachment was helpful in smoothing it down enough to a point where it should paint okay.

I'll post a photo or two if I get a chance later today or this weekend.

I know there are quite a few salty dogs on this board when it comes to lure-making. Anyone else use hard plastic for bodies? Any tips? Suggestions?

[fatfingers]

Been quite some time since I hung pictures and in the meantime, I've changed ISP's and need to rebuild a webpage and cannot remember the HTML code....

.....?

hELp!!!!!!

[SeminoleFan]

[fatfingers]

I am familiar with the code necessary to post a picture on the message board, but I am having trouble producing the proper code to place an image on my website prior to posting it on a given message board.

The isn't the code that I am failing to remember.

Its goes something like

[RiverMan]

FatFingers,

After you choose reply and just below the message box is an icon next to the word "options" that says "add an attachment", choose that, then browse for the file. The only problem I have had is for some reason it stores images after you add them and at some point they must be removed. Why this is I have no idea since it seems the images would simply go on to the server space once posted. ??

Jed

[SeminoleFan]

I think your looking for html

[fatfingers]

Here's a test. Not the bait I wanted to show, but I'm gettin' closer!

[RiverMan]

Beautiful bait, great job!

When you say "plastic", what are you referring to?

Jed

[fatfingers]

...still struggling with the comcast webpage that I'm using to host these photos...getting weird messages after I upload and "publish."

Not the best photo, but you get the idea.

Its solid plastic that I've found in block form. I cut it out on a bandsaw and shape it with a sanding disc.

Its a lot easier to weight than wood because its seems to drill out more uniformly.

After sanding it must be clearcoated before painting because its a bit tough to sand it smooth enough to paint...tends to have a little "grain" left no matter how much you sand it, but thats a minor problem.

It would seem that this solid plastic would be less prone to changing size with temperature changes such as you experience on a hot day and of course it will absorb virtually no water.

All in all, its about as easy to work with as a hardwood.

[fatfingers]

Oh, and thanks for the compliment Riverman; I'm very, very new at this, having owned an airbrush for only about 5 or 6 weeks.

[fatfingers]

Here's another that I finished recently. The muskies are interested...one strike and one follow so far.

[kellure]

Interesting side note: I have a friend on the NC coast that buys the same plastic material in huge sheets and makes small canoes/flat bottom boats out of the material. I grabbed some leftover scraps and shaped some trap type baits, worked pretty well. That was 15 yrs ago though when I was the "starving college student" and all I had was a dremel back then. From what I recall Mr. Dremel's high RPMs seemed to melt the material moreso than shape it. Its a pretty solid plastic. I'm sure with some experimenting it can be perfected. Good luck and let us see the finished product when complete.

[fatfingers]

Thanks for the reply, Kellure.

It sounds like the same material. It is a white solid plastic material, bouyant in nature, easily weighted and drilled.

I've been cutting the stuff with a bandsaw and shaping it with a disc sander, using 60 grit to start, followed up with 100 grit.

It cannot be painted without first clear coating to fill in the rather porous surface left after sanding. It seems that no amount of sanding will smooth down the "grain" raised by the sanding process.

However...one coat of devcon leaves a glassy smooth surface suitable for airbrushing.

I am lucky to have a plastics supplier within easy driving distance where I can pick up both the plastic material and Lexan scraps for a most reasonable price.

I also purchased some of the white plastic material in "dowel rod" form (cylinders) and I'm going to try shaping it on a lathe, which I have to borrow from a friend. I'm hoping to be able to make additional glide baits from the stuff.

[Husky]

...still struggling with the comcast webpage that I'm using to host these photos...getting weird messages after I upload and "publish."

Not the best photo' date=' but you get the idea.

Its solid plastic that I've found in block form. I cut it out on a bandsaw and shape it with a sanding disc.

Its a lot easier to weight than wood because its seems to drill out more uniformly.

After sanding it must be clearcoated before painting because its a bit tough to sand it smooth enough to paint...tends to have a little "grain" left no matter how much you sand it, but thats a minor problem.

It would seem that this solid plastic would be less prone to changing size with temperature changes such as you experience on a hot day and of course it will absorb virtually no water.

All in all, its about as easy to work with as a hardwood.[/quote']

Try dipping it in Plasticoat. The Info is on Tally's tutorial ibn the KB under How to. That should smooth it out.

[fatfingers]

Thanks for the reply, Husky.

I gave it a coat of Devcon and it is now very smooth.

[RiverMan]

Some time ago on this board we got into the discussion of various plastics for bait-making. After that I did some experimenting with HDPE-high density polyethylene which is probably what you are using...just guessing since I don't know what the product is used for typically. There are a ton of different plastics on the market, many sink, some float. I built several baits from HDPE and they swam fine. I found some advantages with the product also, one being that you can get it in white which eliminates the need for a primer..cool! It also won't take on water which eliminates the need to seal it and it should be more consistent than wood in density/weight.

Some disadvantages......somewhat spendy, about the same as a good hardwood. It will melt if it gets too hot while pouring lead for example. It can be difficult to obtain for most of us, and may not provide the "life" that many guys look for in a crank and or floater. The stuff I tried didn't float real high in the water. I was told by a company rep of the stuff that most clearcoats probably wouldn't stick to it but in the limited experiments I ran (2 baits) this didn't seem to be a problem.

As far as durability is concerned it may not provide much benefit over wood because a bait is only as strong as the clear coat. Once the water gets past the clear coat it won't matter if you have a body made of steel, wood, or plastic, it will eventually begin to unravel everything.

Overall I think tho it's worth a serious look by us bait-builders and I think it's great you are using it fatfingers.

If someone finds a reasonably priced source for the stuff please let us know!

Jed

[fatfingers]

River, you've got mail.

I know what you mean about the disadvantages of plastic and the inability to overcome problems incurred when the finish is pierced regardless of the body medium.

The plastic does seem to drill nicely for inserting weights and doesn't seem to have the inconsistencies of wood which can cause the drill bit to want to move toward the softer spots when drilling.

I'm going to try to use the white translucent properties it has by applying only a fine coat of paint to certain areas, hoping that some of the light will still pass through the body causing some sort of natural illumination of the bait. I've shaped a 6 inch grandma and a Stalker glider body out of the stuff and today I'm working on a knockoff of the infamous and ever-so-pricey "Ammabama".

I'm still struggling with the software provided by Comcast as I try to host pictures to post here...but I'm slowly figuring it out. Getting messages that I've not seen previously...

I traced the Ammabama body out of a catalogue, blew it up using Dell Picture Studio (which sucks as far as photo enhancing software), then printed it, tweaked it, pasted it on the plastic and cut out the body. Now to shape it on the disc sander...

[Husky]

River' date=' you've got mail.

I'm still struggling with the software provided by Comcast as I try to host pictures to post here...but I'm slowly figuring it out. Getting messages that I've not seen previously...

.[/quote']

Go to Photobucket.com. They'll host your photos on the net for free.

Here's my new Avatar from there. They also resize to fit Blogs and most other sites.

[fatfingers]

Thanks, Husky. That worked out well...

The above photo shows the tranluscent nature of the plastic; you can even see where the weights were added to the bait. I just finished painting a 6 inch grandma copy using the same stuff and I'm tried to allow the light to pass through the belly area and bottom bait by way of using netting (under the paint) of a type that leaves a larger gap between the paint "dots".

I'll post it when its cleared.

[Skeeter]

Don't let Husky fool you. That is not an avatar that he got off of that web site. I believe that is a true picture of him when he was a wee lad. He has always been a curious sort.

Skeeter

[Husky]

Don't let Husky fool you. That is not an avatar that he got off of that web site. I believe that is a true picture of him when he was a wee lad. He has always been a curious sort.

Skeeter

True, they just host YOUR pictures. That one was moments before I developed a propensity for strange behavior. What a coincidece that they caught it on film.

[RiverMan]

Last time I saw a pic like that Fat Finger my buddy had just winged a rattle trap over my should at 60 mph.

I think all of us on this site must have had a battle at one time with an electrical outlet, thus the propensity toward "strange lure-making behavior".

jed

[fatfingers]

Heres the 6 inch bait made from the stuff. I'll try to get a photo of the finished bait put up later today. It seems to allow a certain amount of light to pass through the bait, which causes it to change colors slightly as it moves. I purposely left the bottom of the bait the natural pearl white color and did not prime the side so that the fish scale painted sides would allow the light to enter the bait from the sides.

It amuses me, but we'll have to see if it amuses the muskies as well.

[fatfingers]

Here's the 6 inch bait I just finished clearing. You can see the belly was left unpainted. The scaling on the sides is painted directly over the plastic without primer.

Held at an angle to the light, it seems to sort of "light up" and almost glow as the light passes through the plastic, although its hard to capture with the camera.

[SpoRoller]

The last picture looks like it is glowing. Interesting stuff! Please keep us informed as to how the whole thing holds up when them big toothy critters grab hold.