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Ditto on the locking head. Also, get one large enough for your mold shots.

My girlfriends grandson (8) stayed the weekend with us. He doesn't have a male figure in his life as he lives with his mother and 2 sisters, so tag I'm it. Well yesterday we spent the day prepping, painting, and clearing his first bait. I am out of any new blanks so I picked up a 110 jerk that has been painted and scrubbed off probably 4-5 times. I explained how the airbrush worked, basically telling him press down, pull back and sweep. He picked his colors, and painted every step by himself, even did the etex by himself. We only had time to get one coat on and dried before he had to go home today but he did good. When it was all said and done, he looks at me and says, "I know it will take a lot of practice to get as good as you, and this terrible. But so awesome ." It looked like a tie dyed mess that Cheech and Chong would stare at for hours. I loved it. Just a cool weekend.

The nature of these shows has changed over the years. It used to be there were tons of vendors with lots of products to sell, and even some outfits that had booths selling discount products and seconds. These shows were the only game in town, and people flocked to them to see the latest and greatest. I looked forward to the Anglers Marine Bass-A-Thon in Anaheim, CA, every year, because I knew there'd be lots of new stuff, and pros to talk and give demonstrations. But Anglers stopped having their show last year, for the first time in 20+ years. I know it was a labor of love for Rick Grover, the owner, so it had to stop making financial sense for him to stop doing it. With computers and the internet, people can go online and find just about anything they need/want, and that has cut way down on the number of vendors at shows. No more little guys. If you aren't a big outfit, with an advertising budget. it's just too expensive for a little guy who is a niche builder.

Ya, not just the cavity, but the sprue or runner volume to the cavity(s). Many of us have though that the 4 oz is plenty, and it may be, because our bait is 1/8 oz. But, if you have 6 baits in the mold, that is 1.5 oz and if the runner takes 4 oz you don't have enough. Better too big then too small.

For some reason, that one seems high. I see that the Kingsley Howard was 250 *F. Still, I did see that some of the China ones are that high. Worth trying it. it looks like the thin foils range from the Heat Stamp, Clay foils and Art Deco. I know the Art Deco will work, and expect the Clay foils must work. I think that is what we are all doing, and I agree. Still wondering about this, but, for the slab jigs, I think your method is awesome.

Might be worth a call to Barlow’s to figure out what you have. Worths QC is top notch. I’ve recieved nothing short of quality blades from them.

Lots of good ones, just depends on what you want. I think I would prefer the locking style of head, but all most of them work if you are careful and use protective gloves and full length shirts, and I suggest safety glasses. http://www.basstackle.com/category_s/78.htm http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Do-it_Soft_Plastic_Injector/descpage-DOITSPINJEC.html The above two are NOT the only ones. But, this will get you looking for now.

I used a BBQ rotisserie and mounted it in a plastic tote. That way as they turn, it has the lid on to protect from any dust or anything that may be flying in the air. It really sucks when you something comes out really awesome only to be ruined when a mosquito lands on your drying epoxy. And when not in use, it just looks like a storage tote set to the side. The rotisserie I bought was like $30 and the cheapest Menards sells. It's lasted 2 years so far and at one point I can say it was not turned off for more than 10 seconds at a time, running 24/7 for over 6 straight months. Definitely my moneys worth.

Lived in Louisiana for some time and I and my wife loved to fish the Reds and Specks in salt and brackish water. I will promise you that inshore overhead spinnerbait style lures will catch them, and yes, the Bluefish and Flounder as well. I also fished the fresh water, normally Toledo Bend, so I often used the same lures for both waters. Wow, brings back some great memories. The smaller sized, 1/4 and 3/8 oz, in light and bright colors were best for the Speckled sea trout. 3/8 oz and bigger, sometimes much bigger, were better for the reds, especially the bull reds. I found that Reds like all color ranges. I never bothered to wash my spinnerbaits off. I did rinse them off with fresh water, but the Reds and big Bass would normally tear them up soon enough that a complete wash was never worth the time. Hehehe

Thanks Mark. Ive only got a few blanks left to practice on then I'm out. 1 of them is a WW. So I will try that on a new paint scheme I'm working on. Ron

OK, I just re-read the topic. The last thing is to tie a fishing line to the line eye, cast it to a good fishy area, then start fishing.

Great info here and like everyone has said everything we have done makes us who we are. So we all have a slightly different outlook on things. I think we are all saying the same basic concept but different ways. Like I said weight and weight placement is key for ME. With a lighter lure you have more options to control variables than you do with a heavy lure. Also, You can always add ballast in strategic areas to control action but with a denser/heavier wood you do not have this option except to drill and plug with air pockets or buoyant material which brings in new issues. So back to the key concept I think...Action! What do we mean by action? A desired reaction to the inputs we place in a bait? A denser wood cannot have as much action as a lighter wood. Place 2 cranks exactly the same dimensions and the lighter one will have more movement because the forces exerted on it effect it more. Now is it the movement or action we want? Probably not! A denser wood will have a different action than a lighter wood with ballast added to be the exact same weight because we can manipulate those variables. So same cranks but we add ballast and I guarantee the lighter one with ballast added to control the action will be more favorable. Can we add too much ballast of course! But to have that option IMHO is better than not. I have never run out of room for ballast but i have made baits out of oak, black cherry, almond blah blah blah that just did not perform as well as woods like bass wood, yellow cedar or even poplar. Again these are my views and opinions only copyright infringement does apply!

I have used "off the shelf" inlines from Walmart many times in the salt water. Bluefish mainly, but hopes of Flounder going after them also. Only thing I will say to do, if you want to get some miles out of them, when done for the day, soak them in a container of good soapy water, then rinse well, or they will rust out.

Barlow's sells Worth blades.

Oh yeah I have but with a different fish, the spotted bay bass ive used regular spinnerbaits on them and the worked great, I imagin trout and redfish like to chase just make the correct adjustments to the size of the fish, try all chartreuse or white and chartreuse . Those fish are not shy I believe so try loud colors good luck and I hope I helped some

I have read several horror stories about molds not showing up, no answers to emails, etc I myself have never had that problem so I continue to order from Bob. I know him and Betty have had health problems and other problems on top of that. How he runs his business is none of my business, I guess I have just not been done wrong by him and until I do I will continue to buy from him.

I received shipping confirmation on the 6th Mold on the 8th

There is a boating and fishing show in my area every winter. Used to be a lot of booths selling custom lures and plastics 10-15 years ago. Lately, only the mid to large scale lure builders and boat dealers can afford to rent space. I quit going because I can see their stuff online and don’t want to pay $6 for parking and the $8 entrance fee just to walk around.

Yes^^^^ avoid epoxy when using platinum cures. I carve my musky baits from basswood, coat with crazy glue to lock down the fibers of the wood and spray with krylon crystal clear acrylic spray. I also lay a real thin coat of silicon on my master, wait 5-10 minutes and then slowly pour the rest into the corner of the Mold from a high height which reduces bubbles in the Mold and on the surface of your bait.

Everyone knows your story by now. I hope you get your molds or a refund some day.

Bring a hot chick to hang out at your table don’t hurt either lol

I am far from an expert on gliders. I do know neutral buoyant lures can be very fickle. I have not relished the fact of making anymore. its truly truly a labor of love.. I will stick with cranks for toothy fish. but I'm sure someone here has been there done that. a lotta mad scientist here lol.

You might get interesting results with a dual injector, but I suspect it will mix the colors, perhaps some swirll. I have never used the duals on a multi-cavity mold, so perhaps someone else can chime in on that.

Doesn't really matter what I sell, if I sell, or how much. Gives me something to occupy my time and according to my son help make his brand as he wants to be on the FLW or BASS circuit on day. I was most concerned if I had enough stock because I didn't want to do this and not have enough product displayed to make us look legit so to speak. After talking to Rod on the phone (thanks), I know I over did it. Which is normal for me to overdo things. So I feel better now. LOL

I build laminate plates for my molds. I build them from aluminum flashing that at buy at Lowe's. I shoot a color (either belly or back) take the mold apart pull the plate, pull the color I don't want, put the mold back together and shoot the other color.

I am going to a musky show with only 100 lures and don't expect to sell them all. We just want to get our name out and decide if we want to go retail which is putting out the lures into a store and hope they pay on time. Plus we will and are going to go online. I'm old but my grandson is young and full of energy, plus more money he works and I am on retirement. Wayne

Thanks. I had a light in there too, needed the extra heat. Plus, it turns out to be convenient to gently heat the epoxy bottles before hand.

This is LC motor oil I use for baby bass. NO salt in these.

Looks like a good bait, but I can get 12 cavities worth of laminate shooting 4" swimmer molds from Enforcer for the same price as 4 of those molds. Just really, really high for a single cavity mold but that's Do-It for ya.

Great info Mark as always. I also found a whole bunch of info on glides here as well as a glidebait vid on Makelure.com. I agree with Mark about both sections sinking at the same rate, make for a nice glide. I would cut your bait first and then ballast both sections seperatly with all the hardware attached some how. I put the two hook hangers in first, then hung all the hardware: hooks, split rings, front line tie, and the hinge hardware from the hook hangers, then ballasted each section like in the Romanmade video. I spent a ton of time ballasting this bait to get it right. Way more time ballasting than building. This bait is patterned after a Roman Made Mother and was made from alder wood. I used an eyescrew to eyescrew hinge, like a Romanmade. I made a V- joint like Mark described and got a killer glide. 3 to 3 1/2 feet to each side on a slow reel. 1/4 turns on the reel do about a foot each side. To Glideb8, I will start with I have never made a resin bait, so no experience there. As Woodieb8 said try a snap on the bait or your line. That eliminates the issue of the line hanging up on the line tie and allows it to move freely. Does the bait list from side to side, or to one side when it glides? I ask because maybe the micro balloons wound up settling to one side of the top of the bait, causing it to lean or want to glide better that direction or to the opposite side. Again, no experience with resin, so just thinking out loud. My first thought when I read your post was you had a hinge screw that was off a little or hanging up some. Assuming you have the weights and hardware all aligned with your centerline and below your horizontal axis. But if you made a second bait and it does the same thing, that would make me look elsewhere for the problem. I learned a lot from Makelure's vid and one from Roman made as well as an article on Tackle Tour about cutting open a $400 bait. I'll see if I can find them and post a link. Like Mark said "Glides are challanging" and I think that's an understatement. I got lucky with the first one I made, it swam killer. Made a batch of shad/gill glides that didn't swim/glide so well. So back to the drawing board!! Keep trying, it'll be worth it. http://www.tackletour.com/autopsyromanmademotherpg3.html http://www.makelure.com/store/pg/54-How-To-Videos.aspx#prettyPhoto/7/

Makes sense! My mistake...the blades were actually from Barlows. Kind of my Fault i bought 50 and all of them are sunken in slightly on the edge. I probably should try and return them to Barlows. Spent$66.00 on a Qty. of 50. If Small jaw is correct these are Worth spinner blades...Does not seem to be the quality you would expect from Worth.