jwfflipper

Bob do you remember a jig company call ProPoint Jigs that was made in Winston Salem back in the late 80's early 90's? He was selling to WalMart in W.S. They ended up putting the guy out of business due to wanting more and paying less for the jigs.Even if I ever decided to go that route Walmart would never b on I would sell to. When I had my tackle shop in the late 90's I couldn't even compete with the prices that Walmart was selling the same stuff as me.

I still visit TU every once in awhile to see what is going on. Skeeter ( Jeff ) and I met years ago when I lived in NC. He and a couple of other guys Rob Cochran ( jawjacker ) James Marshall ( on the line crankbaits ) taught me how to build crankbaits the right way...."Time and Thought and never steal someone else's design. I see to many newbies wanting to know " HOW and NOW " and never putting in the time and effort to learn something that is truly a work of art!! I joined in 2004 when RED was the owner of this site and I have learned from this site also, There are some great people on this site and WE are all BETTER for it!!Yea there is a few little secrets that are out there, it took me 3 years after a lot of looking and calling to find my topcoat but those folks have since went out of business. I do wish all of you great success with building baits Jeff RiverValleyCrankbaits

Does anyone know if he is still around? He has Fishermans Lure Coat. It's pretty expensive per gallon but I need to get something that is as good as the product I have been using but the company has closed it's doors. Jeff

Hey Ben how have you been my friend? Glad to see you back on here!!

I was told once if I didn't know what I wanted a bait to do I would never get the results I wanted. When I started in 2004 I wanted a balsa flatside crankbait that performed like a Cotton Cordell Big O (plastic bait) I had to understand what the bait was doing at a high and low speed retrieve and how it reacted when running into objects. It took many prototypes to get what I was wanting. Anyone can take a piece of wood and put a lip in it and it'll catch a bass but to get the full effects of a bait you have to understand what you want, example the Jerry Lohr crankbaits you mentioned, and it's not what you think. I have many of his prototypes and learned what they do and why from studying them and the origin of the Le Bo plug which the Lohr crankbaits derived from. Like BobP said there is a lot of little things that go into making a crankbait

it is pad printing. talked to a guy awhile back about getting one, decided not to get one. Just didn't have the money to get one.

best way is the brush. Tried the glove thing years ago and it wasn't pretty! the epoxy was too thick even when thinned. Don't make it harder than it is. The epoxy sticks to anything it comes in contact with. Jeff

Me personally I wouldn't reuse the brush. You are probably getting old resin in your topcoat from not a complete cleaning of the brush.

good luck!! ordered mine two years ago and still nothing!!

Glad to see you coming along good!! How did the deep divers come out that you showed me on FB?

wrong forum, try hard baits

Well not trying to be a smart arse but try introducing yourself and a little back ground. There is a search function you can look through and get a lot of answers and there are a lot of guys that will help and guide if asked properly. there is a member tutorial at the bottom of the forum which is a great help.

are they for bass or another fish

you'll have to weigh them to see there is any difference and best advise is to make a few with the different lip material and try them out. If your a bait builder you should always do your R&R on your own and see what best suits your baits.

search function

TYPES OF STAINLESS STEEL The three main types of stainless steels are austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic. These three types of steels are identified by their microstructure or predominant crystal phase. Austenitic: Austenitic steels have austenite as their primary phase (face-centered cubic crystal). These are alloys containing chromium and nickel (sometimes manganese and nitrogen), structured around the Type 302 composition of iron, 18% chromium, and 8% nickel. Austenitic steels are not hardenable by heat treatment. The most familiar stainless steel is probably Type 304, sometimes called T304 or simply 304. Type 304 surgical stainless steel is an austenitic steel containing 18-20% chromium and 8-10% nickel. Ferritic: Ferritic steels have ferrite (body centered cubic crystal) as their main phase. These steels contain iron and chromium, based on the Type 430 composition of 17% chromium. Ferritic steel is less ductile than austenitic steel and is not hardenable by heat treatment. Martensitic: The characteristic orthorhombic martensite microstructure was first observed by German microscopist Adolf Martens around 1890. Martensitic steels are low carbon steels built around the Type 410 composition of iron, 12% chromium, and 0.12% carbon. They may be tempered and hardened. Martensite gives steel great hardness, but it also reduces its toughness and makes it brittle, so few steels are fully hardened. There are also other grades of stainless steels, such as precipitation-hardened, duplex, and cast stainless steels. Stainless steel can be produced in a variety of finishes and textures and can be tinted over a broad spectrum of colors.

screen door screen works fine

And the IRS is ALWAYS watching whether you think so or not

nail

check this out, you will be surprised on how well this works

I haven't used it but see no reason why it wouldn't work. I use " Tree House " high gloss clear acrylic. I get it a hobby lobby or micheals

I wouldn't use varnish as it will start to turn a amber color over time. Clear lacquer is best that I have found

depending on how big your bait is you can use small relief cuts along the edges to get the decal to lay down and don't wait to long to apply a clear coat to hold and seal the decal to the bait. I don't use decal set as I think it isn't necessary. And I let it air dry for about 15 minutes before I coat it. I don't use a hair dryer either to dry the decal. You will mess up a few before you get to where you will have it down pat, keep practicing.

It doesn't bother too much as I make close to a 500-600 baits a year. I learned to get over it years ago... NOT lol Jeff

Thanks School Master! I use both depending on what look I want. And painting makes it really stand out. Jeff