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I've attached my first attempt at airbrushing to exhibit the problem that is occurring. The marks around the gill plate eyes and fins are not splatter marks but are primarily caused from the paint bleading (spiderwebbing?). I test my airpreasure on paper to make sure I'm not splattering and it is low enough to create a thin line but high enough to work good but as soon as it hits the bait it wants to bead. I'm mixing in 50% createx with the remaining 50% being aprox 2 parts future and 1 part water. I do not know what my preasure is because my current air compressor measures in 10's. Under 10, probabaly around 5 seems to be optimal for the small lines with the Iwata HP-CS and reduces some of the spiderwebbing from excesive pressure. I believe this is because I'm using too much pledge future? BTW anyone want to share a link to a good pressure gauge one that shows low PSI as I can't find one locally and figure it would be helpful for this. I've searched the site and found other using other things to thin but typically mention using a much higher PSI with them. Things like iso. alcohol and glycerine, know idea where I'd obtain glycerine. Thanks, Steve

This is why they are bubbling, I just realized that I left my raw oak blanks out over night on my second try while the first try I brought them in. I won't be overlooking that again. I would like to use CA Glue but I just don't know how to do so economically. All of my baits are pike/musky sized so I would require a bulk supply or a lot of those little packages. Then comes in the problem of CA glue being activated by oxygen which makes a bulk supply moot. I'll pick up a sample of the little one shot tubes and see what type of mileage I get. The idea of waterproofing and balancing them the same day is very appealing. I'll have to try D2T as a sealer as well, it wasn't my first choice as my supply is across the city and I liked the self-leveling property of Etex. Anyone know if you can thin Etex with DA? I wouldn't mind it a bit thinner for using it on as a sealer.

I just applied my second coat of Envirotex Lite on oak lure blanks in order to seal them for painting. So far I've encountered: Curing in a cold garage First attempt it was a high of 5 celsius (41 Fahrenheit). I took my time setting up my lure turner and the bottles of etex cooled down a bit and I was able to squeak out 5 baits. The coatings went on thick but took a long time to harden, after 30hrs I took them inside and allowed them to hang dry. It took about 3 days to harden but they did. Problems: The finish was not completely even, the extex seemed to absorb into the end grains and the coating was patchy a few spots leaving an uneven coating. I assume this is due to the low heat causing the etex to be ticker and preventing the self-levelling. I had one bait that ended up having a lump of etex build up on the backside of it... I noticed that my lure turning sticks occasionally and I think I solved that problem (it was also my first bait I coated). Curing in a cool garage Today it was 8 celsius (46.4) but I plugged in a heater next the wheel before I started to set up (increased temp to 60-70 - guessing). I also left the Etex inside until I was ready for it. I also applied ticker coating on the end grain locations on the raw wood, the recoats I just applied evenly Good news: I was able to coat 9 baits and probably could have coated more if I was set up to do so. The recoating of my first 5 seems do go flawless, they don't seem to have any of the below problems Problems: I had 2-3 baits with lumps on them at 3 hours out, I was able to spread these out and I think the coating will level as it was still fairly liquid. Bubbles, these damn things appeared on a bunch of the fresh oak lures. These clusters didn't appear right away it took some time for them to form. Blowing on them did nothing, I noticed bubbles form on one of the lures immediately after I was done but there wasn't anything I could do other than scrape of the extex. Heat plus a thick coating of etex on oak = escaping gasses. What I've learnt: Heating helps but causes bubble to form. Two seal coats on oak seems to be a necessity, you'll either get bubble or your end grains will be exposed if it goes on thin. My lure turner is a bit to slow at 1rpm. My solutions is to apply two thin coats. To check my lures for bubbles or lumps 30 minutes and 1 hours after I finish coating them. Questions: Once they are sealed and ready to have their buoyancy adjusted what do you use to to seal the counterweight holes? Perhaps I could add weight to the lures after my first coat. While not perfectly sealed its not like I'm soaking them in water?

First off I've never poured lead and plan on starting with the Spinnerbait "H" Mold SJ-3H-X. Problem is I have 1000 7/0 long shank hooks that I'd like to use which are just a bit too thick than the 6/0 max size. As a result when the hook is in I can see that the cavity isn't completely sealed. In order to modify the shank clearance I figure wrapping my hook with wet dry sand paper and sanding away will work, should I use a thinner hook to wrap so I don't over enlarge the chute? Or is this not an issue, I'll give it a go on modified at first but I figure I'll need to modify this to make it ideal.

If you are cranking fast I don't think the wire leader is a huge issue, especially if you are fishing in weeds. I fish clear water and regularly pull up 16-19" smallmouth (on cranks and spinners ) with my black 12" 7 stand 90lbs leader (0.038"). I fish for pike but occasionally fish for smallmouth so I'm not entirely sure if I'm missing out on loads of fish. That being said if I were you I'd stick with a wire leader but go with the thinnest diameter you can for instance you can get: 15lb 7 strand coated leader @ 0.015" 20lb 7 strand coated leader @ 0.024" 30lb 7 strand uncoated leader @ 0.015" 27lb sing strand leader @ 0.010 80lb sing strand leader @ 0.020" 20lb twistweld leader @ 0.020" The single strand is going to be the lightest, thinnest, and will impede the bait the least. I just looked on cabelas and you can get 767 ft of the 27lb single strand for 9.99. That's at least 700 leaders at 1.4 cents each! If you're going to be catching pike on accident regularly you'll have to retie the mono or flouro leaders regularly and you will have bit offs at 50lbs flouro or even heavier as pike will inhale the small bass baits. You'll have to retie the single strand but you won't have bite offs, the action will likely be equal and the wire is so thin I doubt the bass will even notice (if I were a bass I'd be far more concerned about those dangling hooks and split rings than a hair thin leader).

I would try making a jib for a drill press in order to drill the bulk of those oval holes out. Either a L or U shaped jig that would let you hold the lure in place vertically. Drill first hole, add a shim, repeat until oval is complete, then flip lure around and start over. It will probably require a bit of clean up within the oval to get them perfect.

Very nice. I notice that you say cedar may not be well suited for this. Is this a buyer beware clause because you have not tried other woods or is this some sort of inherent knowledge that one gains from routering many different types of woods?

I wanted to know this as well. For clarification, I assume you premix the epoxy then inject... I take it this is 30 min epoxy and not 5 min? Note to slow down epoxy your could leave it in the fridge before you use it... I left 5 minute epoxy in the garage last fall and brought it inside to use and was suprised at how long my curing time was..

Would airplane balsa work. You could though wire the wood in order for it to sit in the middle then pour. Or depeding on the bait make a hard outside then cut in half and fill with foam a la Dahlberg. Has anyone tried to coat a wood bait with plastic instead of epoxy. That was I could use this really light balsa for something?

How about etex outside. I figure you'll just need more days for it to cure, but is there a minimum temperature?

I have an old version of Mastercraft 9 inch band saw. I'm guessing you're from the states and Canadian Tires do not exist down there but if they do wait until it goes on sale and you could get it for about 40-50% off. Either way I see the newer model has a laser guide and more importantly a bearing guide and a mitre gauge. http://www.canadiant...r.jsp?locale=en I do everything free hand but a bearing guide would be nice for ripping wood for through wire work or cutting a thicker board to proper lure thickness. Mitre gauge would probably be handy as well. As for the laser, might be useful but I've never used one, probably would help keep one from making mistakes after their 15th consecutive blank. Oh the little light on it is helpful, helps you see that pencil line which can be a bit hard to see on oak. The one problem with the small 9 inch ones is that the table is small so cutting off a small piece from a 8 ft board requires you to balance the other end with your arm. You might have to use a different method to do this if your band saw does not have enough clearance around it. I don't bolt mine down so I can rotate it easy and point the board out the door or into the shop if need be. The other option would be to look at scroll saws. The scroll saws can do cuts that are more intricate because the smaller blade creates less binding on tight corners. Personally, I prefer a band saws, the cutting is smoother since it does not reciprocate but you have to use relief cuts in or to prevent binding and a broken blade. Second, you have more features, besides relief cuts are rarely needed with blank making.

After going through this thread I noticed that hand held cornering tools were not really mentioned. There was one mention of a cornering plane but this tool seems a bit more convenient since it has multiple radii. http://www.leevalley...682&cat=1,42524 They carry another cornering tool but it does not have as much options as the above set has. Anyone try this method yet? BTW the pneumatic sanding drum posted previously is ingenious, now I'm debating if I get that or the above.

I'm new at this as well but from my trial and error plus reading I've come to the conclusion that a mirror finish as seen on rattle traps is not possible via paint. I think the answer is with foil. Take a look at Createx Caribbean blue, depending on the shade of blue you'd like you might want to mix that with something darker. Personally I'm wanting to mix Caribbean blue with pearl silver for a more natural look (but I haven't tried it yet).

I have the following from Stamina, however, they are out of stock: Barbless Treble #2 Don't know who makes these but they are sticky sharp and I wish I bought some more, however, I haven't been able to use them much so IDK how durable they are. They are a wavy hook design, I guess this might make them harder for the fish to throw. I wouldn't mind more barbless hooks, particularly in the 1/0 to 7/0 sizes since I only fish with barbless trebles. I'm currently using the Eagle Claw 954BLN and Eagle Claw 7777, they seem sharper than my Mustads of equal size (non B/N) and plenty strong so I will continue to use these if given the chance. Do you have a preference for black nickel hooks for a reason? I prefer them because I like the way they look, and perhaps a bit more stealthy than silver.

I ordered from them last Sunday and the order went out Monday. No mistakes and purchased the HP-CS with 19 different colours. I notice they have a 10% off sale on airbrushes now.