CL Rods Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Most home stores are selling .093 Lexan/Polycarbonate sheets. But you can find it pretty thin on web sites. I'm not fond of cutting it out due to a lack of a band saw, so I was curious as to how thin everyone is using. I think Hazmail was using some real thin stuff for some of his lips, is anyone else? OnlineMetals Order Plastic Polycarbonate Sheet in Small Quantities at OnlineMetals.com sells it fairly cheap so I was thinking of trying both .03 and .06. They also have a .04! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whittler Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) I use .040 for small baits 2" or less, on most other baits I use 1 /16" and on musky or swimbaits 1/8". Use shears to cut it to rough size then sand or file to the final shape. Edited December 8, 2008 by whittler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benton B Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 I use 1/16" thick for most lures but I also have some 1/32" lexan for the ul lures. I got the 1/16" stuff from Mcmaster carr and the 1/32" came from Micro-mark tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) Ditto what Benton says. I use 1/16" (.0625") on all bass baits. Whichever you choose, I suggest you stick with one for awhile. Changing thickness will change the lure weight and balance on subsequent baits considerably. That in turn requires changes in ballast amount and position, so you end up starting from scratch in perfecting a design through multiple prototypes. The 1/16" seems like a good median thickness. Polycarbonate is somewhat flexible so thinner stuff will flex more on long lips (good or bad, you be the judge! I think it's bad). For short lips, it won't matter much. Edited December 8, 2008 by BobP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 As BobP says on longer lips you may get a bit off flex with 'flat' thin Poly, but you could make a slight bend down the centre line and this should give it rigidity. To bend it see post #7 http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/11055-bending-lexan.html I usually use 1mm (1/24") and this stands up to being belted around on the bottom, in fact I think it's flexabilit may save them from a few dings. Having a bend down the middle, you could also glue it into the lure, concave up or down, which would change the action and depth of an identical lure. pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Rods Posted December 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Thanks everyone! I think I will checkout the .06 for now and for the Minnow style perhaps the thinner stuff later. Either one have got to be easier to cut than the .093. Will Crazy glue bond to thin layers together and remain waterproof? Or would it be better to use Epoxy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
