Toxicbaits

haha this was a flash back here. That bent lip is still the DEAL BOI! hahahahahahThe fix for the swim was so simple stupid I cant believe i didn't figure it out back then. I think I did right after this post. Flashback friday FO SHO @mountainryan

In my experience the Dev con shouldnt be used on plastic bait repaints. It seems to crack and chip off very quickly. Not sure why but Im not the only builder that has this opinion. Its good stuff, just not for plastic/resin baits IMO. Auto clear is a good alternative for those baits, you already have the airbrush set up, probably just have to buy a new brush or tip just for the auto clear as it is a two part and can harden up pretty good in your gun. Etex or table top epoxies work well for resin/plastic baits tho. That is what i currently use on my resin baits with good results. For wood I have been using a two part epoxy set up that has had great results. First coat is devcon two ton, which is very hard, but not very impact resistant, then I apply two or three thin coats of an E-tex type product. This gets the best of both worlds for me. Another thing, make sure you allow ample cure time, not only between coats of epoxy, but let the paint cure FULLY. The paints I use I allow 72 hrs before epoxy. This has helped durabilty of the epoxy coat by giving it a well bonded medium to attach itself too. Good Luck, hope this kinda helps hahah kinda rambled a bit

Choosing a top quality wood will also help with water intrusion/sealing issues. Thin CA Glue with a thin coat of Devcon 2Ton over the top of it works out to be a great combo for sealing a wooden bait. I would try to stay away from worrying about cost too much, a few dollars here or there will go a long way down the road. also Epoxy in all your screw eyes to help stop water intrusion. I have used Minwax Wood hardner as a sealer before (got the idea from this site actually) and it worked well, wasnt sure about soak times and how long to let dry tho. Super glue (ca) has worked better for me since I can seal and test the swim in minutes not days. Good Luck

Yeah definitely should wear respatory protection when sanding. The wood I use is a known carcinagen in dust form(i dont think thats spelled right ) and if I sand just a little without a mask i can feel it. After about an hour of sanding the dust starts irratating my eyes too. Eye protection is also a good idea.

Thats why I like Rattle cans. Its a constant search for new colors, stopping in every store and out of town home depots looking for that new fresh paint color. I have an airbrush but the spray can is what I like and choose to use. It coulda helped that when i started making baits i had 80 cans on hand from other endevours

+1000

Dont use a nail polish base. I only use rattle cans and have never had a problem. Rustoleum has new cans that spray at any angle. Krylons work and vespar. Montana cans are for grafitti and the tips are very useful. Look up grafitti caps and you will see a huge variety of tips designs.. liners to splatter tips. I get my cans from home depot lowes micheals.. gotta look everywhere for a good color variety. My suggestion is to only use cans on top of cans when painting. And shaking up the cans for a full minute or more is essential for the best bond and uniform drying. Ive painted metal wood and plastic with these paints and never had a problem until i started mixing enamels and laquers on the same bait. also you gotta have a light touch when spraying scale patterns. Hold the can a good distance ((18"-24" )) away from the bait and just mist it. Light pressure to the tip until a fine mist steadily comes out. A full depression at close range will pool everytime. I think the weird drying you got was probably due to the nail polish base. Also when i spray in the winter it helps to warm the bait as well as the can if you cant heat the whole workspace. I hope this helps. Ceaser

+1000! there are some amazing craftsmen on here.

Cuz I needed to a popper that was the right size.. the first one i made I hated it cuz it didnt float straight.. i didnt even paint it. Then a friend came by and said "hell I'll throw that thing" so i kept it and caught 20 fish first day out. Then a friend said his wake jr rolled at high speed when submerged adn if I could make one that didnt. Made him a bait and he loved it so much i was hooked. Plus it hard to get a good big wood swimbait.. so now im stuck! People keep asking for these darn things.. maybe one day ill have a couple for myself probably not

I have some small bottles of tints... like .5ozs or something ill have to look.. but i cant remeber if i got em at micheals or ace hardware.. but i think it was a 3 pack for like 8 bucks or something.. the red tint is sick and if you put a light yellow tint over a baby bass pattern.. ooohh boy it looks good! Good luck Ceaser

I have always used sst screw eyes and pre drilled with bits that were as small as possible to increase holding strength. Epoxied in none have pulled out. I did have someone request a high strength hook hanger and not wanting to do a thu wire i came up with something that worked well. In a 8in spook i drilled a 1/4 wide hole where the hangers were gonna go. IN this hole I inserted a .072inch sst open screw eye. Recessed far enough into the body so I could hang one side of a HD ball bearing swivel from the screw eye and the other side would act as the hanger. To secure the swivel in position I smushed some quik set epoxy putty into the hole and all around the screw eye. When this cured I could put an 60 lb bag of concrete in a 5 gallon bucket and wire it to the belly hook hanger. while lifting and shaking the connection never budged and that bait is still smacking stripers to this day without a problem. Im sorry I dont have pics but I thought that maybe someone could benifit from this post... I think the epoxy putty is the key

Mark you ever had those hitch hikers break off after a while? I had to switch to a cut off screw eye (threaded post) and just glue the tails on! Some customers were sending baits back for a new corkscrew cuz the wire was to thin and broke.. maybe its just me!