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One of the things wrong with our country these days is that there are entirely too many people willing to jump on the bandwagon without doing any research into the topic of the day. And then there are those that hide behind lies and half-truths for the simple reason that they don't like something and since they don't like it they don't want anyone to be allowed to do something they disagree with. They just want to raise cane and force their will on others and to heck with the facts. Like my grandpa used to say, "They'd gripe if you hung them with a new rope". just my Ben

Some dye in the glue also works well, food colouring works in PVA wood glue, or specific epoxy pigments if you're so inclined. Personally, I just hold a fine felt tipped pen/textar in my hand and use one finger as the stop but I'm not after super repeatability.

Most mass produced baits I've seen with circuit board lips are a translucent white. Not completely transparent, but not opaque either. I've bought a couple sheets from McMaster-Carr that were not at all what I was hoping for. One was an opaque white and the other was a yellowish, pukey green. I'm just tired of spending money on stuff I'm not sure of. Ben

My first dip I hit with a hair dryer to just give a quick thin coat. It seems to help with wrinkles. After about 20-30 minutes I will dip again. Wait 30 minutes and dip the last time. Let hang over night to gas and let the smell good away. Hooks and ready to fish in morning.

The G10 FR4 from ePlastics varies in color from batch to batch. The "natural" can be almost colorless, to a very slight green tint, to a very slight yellow tint. I've been buying the material from them for at least 10 years, and probably longer, but the color of the "natural" has never been an issue. If you stack a few sheets together and hold them up to a light they will show the color fairly well. However, if you hold a single sheet up to a light, the color will hardly be noticeable. It's never been a problem... Yeah, "natural" and "black" are pretty much standard from ePlastics. There are some manufacturers who make other colors but there is no true "transparent". This stuff is heat and pressure-built glass/resin. The glass fibers give it some color, but the resin is usually the colorant. When you work with the material you will see the glass fibers. As an aside, if you are allergic to fiberglass, you probably want to avoid G10 FR4. Don't breathe the dust, and wear something you don't mind getting really dirty. The dust produced when sanding this stuff will cause itching, and I'm sure it's not great for your lungs. I'd just suggest that you use common sense when working with it. Also, when machining the material, you might want to use medium to slow speeds on sanders or Dremel tools. That way you don't throw the dust all over the place. And, don't sand or machine it inside your house. Take it outside your living area. (Either machine it in the garage, or you'll find yourself sleeping in the garage!) Now I have go figure out what happened when I sawed the lip slots in my last 6 baits. Four of them run great and the other two look like they're in some type of death spiral!!! All six were cut at the same time (stacked bodies) and after looking REALLY closely, two of the slots are skewed... I've only been building baits for 40 years, and I still manage to screw them up. Lee Sisson I am not!

Honestly, to avoid frustration, you are so much better off to build a batch of baits that are as close to identical as you can manage. PVC board is good for this because you can at least control for density, as one PVC board is more like another than one wooden board is like another wooden board, even from the same tree. Also, PVC need not be sealed or treated prior to testing, and the solid white color makes testing easy, as you are able to see it in the water better. The real trick is to not spend all the time on making a pretty lure until you know your bait is going to perform to your requirements, THEN spend time on the looks of it. So make a dozen identical baits, but vary the angle of the cut for the lip. Find the angle that works best, then try different shapes of bill. And so forth. Once you have a good stable bait to work with, doll it up to your heart's content. Your bait looks really nice, I don't think that will be a problem for you. If you are planning on using it with a downrigger anyway, I would go with a smaller bill in a cut that is more diagonal to the centerline. Such a configuration will not dive well on its own, but will have a good side to side action, and since the downrigger is taking it to depth, extra diving will not be needed anyway. Keep posting results. Cheers! SS