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wchilton

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wchilton last won the day on May 14 2022

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  1. I spread by finger using a cut-off finger from a nitrile glove. One cut-off finger can be used several times and the glue doesn't seem to have any effect on the nitrile. Five applicators per glove so they aren't expensive! I can also "feel" when the glue starts to set up so can stop spreading/smoothing the finish before the glue sticks to the nitrile. Not sure if latex glove finger would be the same.
  2. It might help if you could post a pic of the mesh you're talking about. I've never used VUDU shrimp and I'm sure many others have not either. I've used a product called "Fish Bites" that has mesh in it and the mesh is plenty strong. I think it may just be cheese cloth. For mesh embedded in soft plastic it has to be capable of withstanding the temperature of hot plastic during pouring. I'd expect almost anything synthetic to melt or weaken at those temperatures (>300 deg F). A lot of netting, tulle, etc. is made of nylon, and that is likely to melt. Rayon is probably not a good idea either. Cotton would probably hold up as would an aramid (ie. kevlar) if you can find that type of material.
  3. It's really nice stuff to work with! It's a little heavier and much harder than balsa but lighter than bass. It carves really smooth...very much like AYC in that respect. You can see a slight grain pattern, but when carving or sanding it acts/feels like no grain whatsoever. The stuff does not splinter and is actually quite difficult to "split" even when try to split it on purpose. It is easy to cut and sand and not at all "fuzzy". I'd recommend to give it a try, especially if you need light weight like balsa but want better durability. Here's a pick of the lure/master I'm working on using Tupelo wood. You can see the faint grain in the middle of the tail. This has been sealed with CA and sanded 400grit.
  4. The one I use is 395 to 400nm and does a great job on the no-name uv resin I bought on amazon. Mine is only 10w but I don't do a lot of baits at one time. Try to set up so lures get as close as possible to the light. Cure time increases pretty quickly with distance for me.
  5. I've used clear powder coat but only on lead and not on polished surfaces. If you can get powder coat to stick you can paint on top of that. High temperature PET tape can be used to mask areas you don't want to get powder paint on and the PET tape (as well as it's silicone adhesive) will withstand 425 deg F temperature for about an hour so can be left on while curing the powder paint. In the application where I used clear powder I mixed in some mica glitter or flake and got the effect I wanted. Maybe you could try scuffing the metal right after applying the tape? There's also an airbrush-sized "sandblast" gizmo sold at Harbor Freight that might work for prepping the metal? Just throwing some thoughts out there. For that pink body you could def use pink powder undercoat, then cure that, then clear powder with glitter. For applying powder, I've used both fluidized bed and the "saltshaker" method to adhere paint onto the hot metal, then cure with toaster oven or heat gun. The "saltshaker" is just a plastic "pill" bottle with paint in it and a single (or few) little holes in the end to shake the paint out where you want to apply it. Last tip is if you need larger quantities of powder paint do a google search for "powder by the pound". I think that's where I got the stuff I've used. There are different formulations of powder paint so if you need to mix colors just make sure they are both the same type of paint.
  6. UKandy, I think the machine that can do what you are asking about is what they call a 5-axis CNC mill. It can move the part in the normal X, Y, Z linear axes and also can rotate around two axes to make under-cuts and other complex cuts that require the cutter to have access to places a simpler 3-linear-axis machine cannot reach. As mentioned earlier, you still need to be able to design what you want in CAD, and you would also need 5-Axis CAM software to generate the more complex toolpath instructions. Even with all that, there are things that 3-D printing can do that 5-Axis machining could never do. Physical machining always needs a way to get the cutting bit inside the shape where 3D printing can create completely sealed objects with interior structure. For a simple example consider if you wanted to "machine" a hollow sphere. Can't be done using any conventional machining. Is relatively easy with conventional machining if you do it in two halves to be attached together. Creating it by 3D printing is possible, just need some support points to hold it in place as the layers are built up.
  7. A few things you can try. First is that if you know there is an issue with topcoat, no need to try new things on a fully shaped, built, lip and eyes installed lure that you spent a lot of time on. Just use an approximate lure shape that is quick to make until you have a working topcoat solution. Sand and paint same as a lure so you test the same finish, just on a "model" that is fast to create. I cannot tell if your issue is with the paint wrinkling underneath the topcoat or if topcoat is not sticking. It could be a little of both. For paint wrinkling, you can try heat-setting the acrylic paint with a hair dryer. Many acrylics become more permanent after some mild heating and then are less likely to wrinkle due to solvents or plasticizers in the top coat. For top coat not sticking well it is usually oil contamination. There could be an oil or plasticizer in the acrylic paint or it can come from your hands. Try wiping the lure clean with alcohol and the let excess alcohol dry just before applying topcoat. Isopropol alcohol from the drug store is fine. Try to find some with lower water content (around 70% alcohol or more) since that will dry faster.
  8. The glycerin is acting as a plasticizer. Corn syrup (also many sugars) helps to retain moisture and can also act as a plasticizer to some extent. Thank you for the link to that recipe. I may give it a try sometime. Another recipe that may be useful to those following this thread is one I found for authentic gummy bears. The Sorbitol in the recipe helps make the pieces "springy". I don't think you need the sugar, but there's so much in the recipe that it could make a difference. I definitely think the citric acid can be eliminated (it's a flavoring in the small amounts used) and skip the candy flavor for something more appropriate in baits. Some citric acid may be useful as a preservative but I'd try excluding it first just to avoid possibility of something that acts as a deterrent. Here's a link to the recipe with Sorbitol. https://dolcefoglia.com/blogs/flavor-recipe-blogs/step-by-step-instructions-to-make-a-real-gummy-bear-recipe?ref=tfrecipes
  9. Theoretically, but thick coat vs thin coat is not going to be noticeably different when it comes to heat dissipation. On the lure you're only talking about a layer that's a fraction of an inch thick and the lure itself can absorb some heat. In a small (mixing) cup with mixed epoxy you may be talking about as much as 1-in thickness, compared to 1/4in or 1/8in depth if poured into a larger drinking cup while being used. If you want to try a little experiment, try comparing a small blob of epoxy in a cup in a hot water bath compared to same size blob in an unheated cup. A very general rule for chemical reaction kinetics in a first-order reaction is the reaction will happen twice as quickly for each 10 deg C rise in temperature. Note, that's 10 deg C or 18 deg F. So if room temp is 75 deg F and you compare to curing at say 110 deg F, you should expect epoxy to harden around 4 times as fast (1/4 the time for the warmer one). When a reaction generates heat, it can warm up the reaction products a lot more than that. There's a type of polyurethane casting resin that turns from transparent brown color to creamy white color as it hardens. You can really see this heat effect in a top-pour mold filled with this. The "thick" areas (main body) will turn white much faster than the thin areas (small appendages) and sometimes you can see a thin layer of uncured resin at the edges of the mold (before full cure) because material at the edges is actually kept cool from contact with the relatively cool mold.
  10. Turn by hand is an option if you just do a few baits. Turner becomes more essential the more baits you make. You don't have to keep turning for a full thirty minutes with "30-min epoxy". It will set up to a point that it won't run/drip in a lot less than 30 min. It will still be tacky so you will need to hang it after initial solidification. The 30 min time is to cure to hard/usable strength. Hardness/strength will continue to increase for 24 hrs or more. If you need a bit more working time, pour the epoxy into a cup that's big enough to spread it out flat (while still liquid) rather than in a compact thick mass (think cube, cylinder, sphere). Epoxy heats up while it cures so the thinner the layer the easier heat is dissipated and then accumulated heat won't be able to accelerate the cure like it will in a thick mass.
  11. I think you may have identified the problem in information in your post! Polyurethane expands with heat (shrinks with cold) quite a bit. I wonder if the epoxy-coated baits are creating stress (tension) in the polyurethane foam when the lure is cooled down from the cool water...just a guess. I'd think the effect might be worse for larger baits.
  12. I have used clay to create mold box for open pour. Have also used it to create a quick/dirty master. Clay will leave a matte finish where the silicone contacts it. I kind of like that look for top and sides of a mold. Do not use clay with any sulfur content. Have heard that it can mess with silicone curing. I just use Plastillina #1 modeling clay from the art supply store.
  13. The reason I put it on the bend is so it doesn't make the opening any smaller. I know, probably doesn't matter. The copper wire is just what I had laying around to see how this would work. Was surprised how little wire it took to get a few 10ths of a gram. It's a lot easier to work with using a longer piece than needed while wrapping! I just cut it with nail clippers and clear coated with UV resin since I have it on hand.
  14. I'm pretty sure going with stronger hook will work and is the right thing to do if you have a lot of baits to deal with. In the meantime, came up with the following. Just wrapped some fine-diameter copper wire (from speaker wire I had out in the garage) around the bottom of each bend in the treble and added a clearcoat to the wraps to keep them from shifting. Easily added 0.3gm to a single treble hook. This would be the way to test out whether adding weight to the hook achieves what you want, then could look for a hook that gives you the correct weight.
  15. Adding paint will change the weight but won't affect the buoyancy much because paint is around same density as water. So I think you're on the right track with heavier hooks. Maybe try 2X or 3X strong hooks that have heavier wire in the same hook size?
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