JR

My regular source for wood was out of jelutong. I started looking around and realized one of the woodworking tool suppliers I have purchased from carries jelutong, butternut, and basswood. These are the three woods I like to work with most. Please see woodworkersshop.com or email jsnyder@woodworkersshop.com. I just got 7 board foot of jelutong that was very good quality, a fair price, and the service was great. I know this wood can be hard to find at times so I thought I would share this information. Tell him you heard about it on the Tackle Underground and he might even give you a bit better price. JR

Hi Woodsac, an answer to your question is the Delta Tools will work fine and have everything you will need to start. I am not a tool expert but have built a lot of saw dust. If you are a hobby builder the Delta tools may be all you will ever need. The secret is to keep them clean and sharp, don't open paint cans with them. A thin coat of oil will go a long way in keeping them nice, just wipe them down before using. A lot will depend on the material you are working. Most of the woods talked about here will not be a problem. If you happen to build fishing rods the cork will dull an edge faster than almost amy wood so be extra careful. Please see http://www.laymar-crafts.co.uk/linkn.htm for some fine pointers on sharpening tools and their care. You don't have to be rich to own nice tools, just careful. JR

I have gone ahead and cut out some body blanks from jelutong, balsa, and butternut. I have coated these with Kwikpoly and when they dried I cut one of each in half. I will look at these under magnification, at work, and hopefully know how far the coating really soaked in. The more I play with this stuff the better I like it. I guess the real test will be if it yellows or not and how well it holds up to some stress testing. I will keep you posted. Jack

Tally, you are more than welcome. I use Devcon also. It soaks in just past the surface layer. I am always looking for something that might soak in a bit further and still give me the same qualities as the Devcon. Never not ask a question. If you don't ask is it still a question? Jack

Tally, I can not speak for everyone but in my opinion I like my initial seal coat to soak into the surface of the wood a bit. I find this especially beneficial on balsa and in some instances with jelutong (paya). The epoxy penetrates the surface and forms a type of “ectoskeleton”, giving some strength and rigidity to the surface of the wood. It also provides a water-proofing that, I hope protects the wood in case of a leak in the final finish coat. One coat, perhaps two, does provide a very acceptable primer for following layers of finish. I have found you can cut the glaze of the two part sealer with fine sand paper, then coat with colored primer and get a good paint job. I have found that a balsa lure sealed with conventional one-part sealers can be compressed with just finger pressure. If a two part epoxy type sealer is used and it has soaked into the surface of the material, it takes much more pressure to flex the surface of the lure. It is purely a strength thing with me. I believe I first heard, ”custom bait makers tend to over build their baits“ here and I believe it may be true but it is just the way we are. I am always looking for a better product. I tend to come back to what I know, but I keep looking. Jack

It seems to level out well. I think the trick would be not to try to do too many t a time. The test strips I did looked fine just turning them by hand. You won't have to worry about the "in-between jell" you get with some epoxies. It either spreads or it is solid. Jack

I will do it. I have had a test strip coated and laying in the window for some time. It hasn't yellowed yet but will be watching it over the next several weeks. This stuff goes on like water but does set up fast. I chilled the mixture on ice and it lasted about 10 minutes, but really soaks in to the wood. I put two test coats on painted scrap balsa and it looks good. Has a deep gloss shine and seems to be tuff as anything I have used. Jack

Thanks for the answer. The system I use now seals the lead around the wire and works well. I do use spacer shimms to protect the lexan. The lead I use is soft enough to be formed tight enough to crimp around the wire. The biggest problem I have is making the 90 degree bend up the back side of the bib, if I twist the wire. I think I will keep running the wires parallel and run them through a carbon tube and bond this to the back side of the bill. I have looked at your new lure, again and am more impressed than before. Quality shows. Jack

Tbait I appreciate the detail of this bait, well done. I have always preferred the lead-tuning button in crank baits and have been installing them in the baits I make for my friends and myself. I have a question for you, if you would be so kind as to answer. The first ones I made were shaped with a pair of pliers, with a small depression drilled into each jaw. I then drilled a hole for the tie wire to pass through. This evolved into a small set of press dies that had openings for the wire to pass through. I now mold a small “mo-jo” style lead tube and place the wire eye in place before pressing the tuning button to shape in the bill. My question is, do you run the wire through the lead parallel or do you twist the wire together before running it through the tuning button? I am asking this because I seem to have a problem with the wire working the opening in the wire larger, if I leave it parallel. If I twist the wire together it doesn’t elongate the opening but I have a hard time making the bend at the bottom of the bill uniform. Do you think epoxying the wire in place, on the bottom of the bill, with a second smaller layer of lexan would solve this problem? I guess that is more than one question, sorry. Jack

Does anyone have any experience using a product called “Kwikpoly”? Please see www.kwikpolyllc.com . We use it as an electrical insulator where I work. Is very thin and seems to soak deep into the balsa test strips I have used. Hasn't yellowed, as of yet ( 110 days ). It cures in about five minutes. Seems to be very tuff and flexible. I am going to try it as a top coat and a sealer to see how it works out. I normally stay away from the quick curing poly epoxies but this has caught my eye Just wondering if anyone has tried it on a lure. Always looking for something new to play with. Jack

I use a lathe for a lot of tasks from lure building to rod making, and my favorite is just making sawdust. There are some good lathes out there now and at a good price. You don't have to spend a bunch of money to get a quality tool. One tip is to buy good quality turning tools. They hold their edge better and are easier to keep sharp and that is a plus. Jack

Hi Jake, it is good to be back. I am happy to get back to my shop and make wood chips. If you mount the tool rest at the center line or above, and close to your stock all of your cuts will be made as the wood is coming toward or down on the cutting edge. When you move the tool rest below the center or too far away from the material, if you raise the handle of the tool it permits the cutting edge to get below the center line of the work and you are trying to cut the wood as it is moving away from you. I hope I explained this in a way to help understand. If not let me know and I will try again. Years ago they would teach people to move the tool rest 2" - 3", or more away from the wood and if the cutting edge got below the center line of the wood it would grab the gouge and flip it around at great speed and tear a chunk out of your project and bing what ever got in the way of the flying tool. Jack

First of all, hi to all. I have not been around for awhile. I have been working out of the country and would like to let everyone know how great it was to check in at this site whenever I could find a link I could get onto. I didn’t have time to write, but to just read what was going on made me feel like I was back home. T Tester, I am not a master wood worker by any means, but have made a mountain of sawdust in my life. Poplar is a hard wood to get just right. Make sure it is totally dry. On a lathe it is best to start with square dimensioned stock, something like 1” x 1”, 2” x 2”, etc. and mark the center, try to get as close as possible. Then it is wise to get it as close to shape as you can. I use a block plane to knock the corners down and round off the stock. To mount the stock to the drive center and tail stock there is a tutorial here that will help. The best tip I can give you is to move the tool rest as close as possible to the work and about an eighth of an inch above center. Set the rest and rotate the stock by hand to make sure it clears the rest with about a fourth of an inch clearance. Always make your cuts with the wood rotating toward you, never while it is moving away. This will help stop the grain ripping. Follow all of the mentioned safety notes and wear eye protection. You need to go slow. Set your lathe on a slower speed and take small cuts. Keep your cutting edges sharp. Jack

I believe there is so much knowledge here a person could not gather it all up and remember half of it. Isn’t it great to have such a resource? I believe the “grill” you refer to is known as a broiler here. I have several clients in the UK and they tease me about the way I speak “English”. I keep telling them my only defense is that I am a “hill billy” and that seems to really break them up. I am sure it has a different meaning there but they all seem to enjoy when I say it. The information about heating a sheet at a time is interesting. I have a large broiler oven in my shop for heating packaged meals and such. I believe it should work great for heating lexan. Jack

Thanks for the tips Cody. I have washed a lot of things down the drain and I am sure the O ring would have followed. I have ordered the tip, head, and extra O rings. I will stop on the way home and take a look at the cleaning kit. When I went to the hobby shop, where I get most of my airbrush supplies, the same lady that I bought the airbrush kit from was there buying another set for her son. She was telling the clerk there was something wrong with the other airbrush and it wouldn’t work right. I wondered why she didn’t bring it back. I was worried about putting anymore time into an airbrush that didn’t work but when she left the clerk told me this was the third kit she had bought for her son and none of them seemed to work. I guess he just didn’t like to clean them. At $149.00 per kit you would think he would learn. Jack