[Hi-Lite And Softener]

How much highlite are you using? You only need a very little bit for an effect.

[Help Locating Stainless Steel Or Hard Plastic Beads.]

Take a look in the dollar store. I find lots of useful things there.

[Anybody Know How This Holograph Application Is Done?]

Got a feeling it's done with heat using a stamping foil type material. Just a guess.

[Robotic Fishing Lures]

There has been an extensive thread on this topic on a German site , ...if my memory serves me right , some fellas have even mailordered these toys from China , they were not too expensive .

 

But they won't use them as casting lures , but as a substitute for a living minnow hanging underneath a bobber , since livebait is illegal in almost entire Europe .

 

Greetz , diemai

If those are the same ones I have, they are water-activated. I plan on photo finishing them.

[How To Cool The Plastic]

How long they should cool?

 

P.S. I use water.. for about 12-15 hours. then dry it and.. get problems I described above.

I leave them overnight; so it's about the same time frame.

[How To Cool The Plastic]

It all depends on what you are pouring and what's in it. Some guys use water but I don't; especially if the bait has salt in it.

I lay my baits out on a stainless steel table that I have. Another material that's good is marble(candy makers use it). I've never used it but I think that porcelin floor tiles might well also.

[Source For Powdered Salt]

i bought a 20$ coffee grinder(MR. Coffee) brand.. got to grind about 6oz. of salt till it went  out.. oh well.. guess u get what u pay 4?

now looking for another

Did the motor burn out? You have to make sure that the bowl of the grinder does not have any salt left in it after you finish using it or it will rust the shaft of the motor.

 

I get a year or so out of mine by cleaning the salt out of them after use. The last one I bought was this time last year from Wally World and it's still going.

[Source For Powdered Salt]

I know this isn't what you asked, but I buy the restaurant salt in the 25lb bags at Sam's club.  It feels like a smaller grain size than the salt you get in the grocery store.  Its relatively cheap, and I feel like the colors look sharper than with powdered salt.  I bought some used 3 gallon pickle buckets off Ebay a while back and that's what I store my salt in.  So far I have not had a moisture or clumping issue stored that way, but I do live in a pretty dry climate.  

It doesn't matter how or where you store your salt; it will attract moisture to one degree or another.

I always cook the salt I'm going to use in a pot on my hotplate to completely dry it. The one thing you don't want in your plastic is moisture.

This little 5 minute step will take care of any problems that arise from moisture.

[Pouring Worms In Basement]

You also have to remember that the fumes will rise up through the house and the family upstairs will smell it. I learned that the hard way;lol.

[Simple And Cheap Swimbait Holder]

I just love to see brains in overdrive. Good simple solutions to a problem. Well done.

[Scale Masking]

Go buy 2 cheap and large picture frames and a couple small hinges.

Hinge them together so they open like a hard shell book

Strech scale material over each inner portion of picture frame so basically the mesh touches when closed.

Glue or staple it down. Do not make very tight you want the material to go around the lure/s

place lures on mesh and close the frames so they are in the middle

Use magnets and place then around the baits so they stay in place and the mesh covers every where

 

Now depending on how big you go with the picture frames you can essentially paint scales on a bunch of baits at once

I posted that senario here several years ago. I even included a drawing on how to make it. I don't know if the post still exists(probably not with all the changes over the years).

 

I called it "the book". When I was painting lures in the early 90"s I used that to speed up production. Once you get into a rythem the clean up of your spray gun takes longer than it takes to paint 100 baits.

[Source For Powdered Salt]

can u use sea salt  ?  water softner salt? what kind is the best?

No need to buy pricey salt and don't use softner salt because of additives.

You want 100% salt. I find that pickling salt is the best bang for the buck.

[Source For Powdered Salt]

You are. Just get yourself a coffee grinder for $15 and you can powder all the salt you want.

[Lure Id]

Just looked it up.  It's a Pico perch 2 1/2". Circa 1971. He got an award from Sports Afield as one of the top 10 lures in the US. Doesn't give a value but my book was printed in 1999. Hang onto them, someday they will have value.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

What you need is stamping foil. Do a search for that.

 

Mylar won't work well as it is too thick.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

Wow; that's pricey. If I remember corretly I paid $20 (sipping incl.) for 200 feet X 6".

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

Where is the best place to purchase holographic film to put on baits

Got mine on Ebay. 200 foot rolls. Don't remember the guy's handle, sorry.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

awesome baits in that photo... what do you use to print on to get the photo finish?

It's printed on tissue paper backed with card stock. I have an HP printer. Those are photos of real fish.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

Ben;

 

  Your work is very good as well.

 

  I haven't had a chance to use the bait you did; but I'm looking forward to it.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

Thanks; but I've been making baits (starting with wire baits to soft and hard) since 1988. You learn a lot by trial and error as well as crusing here on TU.

All you need is a curious mind and ambition.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

This is what they can come out like.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

Thanks for the replies. I've tried the 3m spray glue, but haven't had good luck. Perhaps I got it on too thick. 

Question: Do you coat both surfaces and let them dry according to the directions on the can or just lightly spray the lure and burnish it on? If I can get the 3m spray to work, I'd be happier than having a product I have to paint on to expedite the process a little. I like the Holographic finishes as an underneath glimmer before painting transparent layers over it, but don't like an extra step that as of yet hasn't worked for me.

Just a light; but complete coat on the bait only; then burnish. it does take some practice; but the good part is that if you mess up you can just lay another layer of foil right over the first one.

 

I don't use paint on my baits ;I only use photo finish with the foil underneath.

[Heat Transfer Foil.]

I use heat foil all the time. A light spray of 3M glue; burnish the foil on the bait and remove the mylar.(most times a quick rip works best; like taking off a band-aid).

[Hilite Powder]

Highlites can be a bit much when you first start using them. It's like anything; it takes a little practice and experimentation. Personally, I like using them but it took a while to get used to them.

 

What colors of highlites do you have Mark?

[Hilite Powder]

Powder is made up of flakes and because of that the highlite at the outside of the bait (against the mold) will lay flat and show more surface. Where the highlite in the rest of the bait will lay at differant angles and not show so much surface at any one time.

 

Sounds good , eh? But this is just a guess I mat be way off.