littleriver

Pete, you almost pushed me over edge. But after a good nights sleep and a fresh cup of coffee, i decided to continue my obsession for a free scale made from materials i have on hand. With alot of Vodkaman's help, friends I am delighted to report my bench is now equipped with a" Vman scale 2015" and i could not be happier. Easy to read, store. setup and never requires batteries. Thank you DAVE!!! It looked so good sitting on my static tank I decided to share a picture. Enjoy!

Pete I hear yah I told myself that same thing over 12hrs ago but for some reason my shop light is still on .....maybe it's time to turn the light out....

Thank you Dave !

Dave the other thing that concerned me was the length of the beam . One meter is this correct? That would take up a lot of bench space.

Hi Dave Yes I am interested , I just found it myself and was reading . I saw the spreadsheet was no longer working and wanted to ask for it but really did not want to be too much trouble. But now that I am back and you have offered .......YES I would very much like to have any info your willing to share. Travis Since you asked , it has been my experience yes they do. It does require some effort and that is why most won't do it . I have a bait that is weighted different than anything I have ever built . I weighted that lure that way because that is what the math told me to do. To date, it is still my most successful design.

Going cheaper yet and doing no math but i am stuck with 1g resolution of my digital mail scale. This lure weighs 12 grams sitting on the scale . Here is what i get using my version of the Loft method. @Loft Will this work?

I don't see why not but not sure of the resolution. Mail scales are also very cheap . Mail scales read to 1 gram . Here is a way to convert the scale I have to mg scale and it is cheap. So I am liking this solution. Reload scales is another option and i like that to but i am going to start with materials I already have. Here is the link. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=904951

Here is one I like . http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/mathematics/microgram_balance/balance.html

Loft I have been using the looks right, it must be right rule .

Finally something that hits my price point. Under Actually! Thanks!

Here is another interesting option and at only $184 may be the bargain of the day but not for my wallet. Accurate to .01g http://www.scalesgalore.com/ocentdl.htm

Dave , I would like to weigh a lure as described in Loft's drawings. But the scale required is extremely small. Vic

Loft/ Anyone I would like to use this in a practical way. The first hurdle is finding / making a fine scale to measure our extremely light lures. I am having trouble finding anything in a pull scale with a range small enough. Anyone have any ideas ? Vic This is the only thing Ive found and like but look at that price . Not practical for my budget. http://www.scalesgalore.com/imadafbps.htm

Hello Loft I appreciate you putting this together and sharing it . Really good stuff. No engineer here but I can follow what your talking about very well. Usually takes some doing for me to wrap my head around this sort of thing but the way you have written here it is easy to understand. I am having some trouble though with parts of the equation. NCG = 2.5 As I understand, this is the new desired CG. Where did you get 2.5? And the equation at the end there dCGB = (NCG - d Wr/Wt) Wt Are we supposed to put 2.5 into the equation here for NCG? Thank you again!! Vic

Thank you Bubbadoyle! Got it done today. i will mount it tomorrow. Mine came in at $14.07 but I had the screws. Your not kidding about finding a decent board in those cheap fur strips, I did the best I could with the pile I had. Kids became very impatient as I rummaged through the pile. No wonder they are so cheap there wasnt true perfect straight board among the bunch. But what should I expect for a $2 8ft board. I bought four boards to make a 3 feet by 3 feet square. I made the bottom shelf a bit taller for the bigger bottles I occasionally buy. Thanks again . Great idea!

IT's been more than a few years since I've been able to enjoy a game. I love the sport but since marriage and children anything that takes me away from the home is frowned on .....even fishing has suffered greatly. Sounds like a great place to be for anyone who enjoys shooting pool. What is the preferred pool game? Is there ever any side betting going on? I wouldn't know what to do having someone rack the balls for me. Sounds luxerous. That would never work here. There would be endless complaints of cheating. Our need to control everything would never allow for it but it sounds great to me.

I second that on both counts. Beautiful Rack! I 'm making it today. I have been tired of the buckets. They get moved all over the house. Always in the way and a hassle to find anything. Your RACK has inspired me into action! Thank you BubbaDoyle for sharing ! I would have never come up with this on my own. I'm feeling better about my situation already and timber hasn't even been bought yet. Heres my buckets..... bye bye....... Now I have to come up with another use for them ......... Maybe strawberry picking Dave your absolutely right. We here in the west take ourselves way too serious. Seems everyday we become more and more a country of radicals hell bent on having our own way. Some have even taken up arms and are confronting authority directly. I know I have used that exact line more than once at a pool hall after a nice rack job and neither she nor I got the joke. But show me rack on the way and tell me a pool story and i get it. Go figure.

Your welcome jonister It was your baits that moved me to make this video and share my process for solving these kind of problems. Glad you found the video useful. One of the fine tune adjustments I made on this bait besides bib, was I moved ballast higher in the bait . I started out with it very low in the bait. I next added a second smaller weight and was still not satisfied. infact the action got worst. Deadstick. This trial and error process led me to finally remove the small weight and move the ballast higher. This gave the the best action. With the ballast low in the bait it became too stable and killed the action. Moving the ballast higher in the bait introduced just enough instability to give an action I liked. All these small but significant changes are possible using other methods but it is so much easier without glue slowing things down. Best of luck on your next build! Vic

Hi Jeremy Glad your finding this useful. And I appreciate the tip . My boys definitely could have helped me with this shoot . They were off playing in the creek just behind me. I am certain they would love an opportunity to participate. Thank you! You could seal the entire bait as normal with two part epoxy but leave the lip slot open. I would use a dummy bill while sealing then remove immidately after epoxy is applied. Once epoxy is dried the bib slot could be sealed with thin superglue that may be purchased at any dollar tree. The best tool for sanding lip slots for fine tuning I have found is a fingernail file. Do your bib testing and finish by using two part epoxy to put the bib of your choice in the bait. Best of luck on your next build! Vic

I want to say one more thing about testing lures in this manner(unglued). If your building a proven design that you have built many times before, there is little need for these shenanigans. Trust the process and you will be fine. But if your building something new to you or new to the world as the name prototype implies, then this is the best way I know to ensure one has a working bait at the end of that process. This method allows the builder to check and adjust the bait at every stage of the process before its too late or too hard to correct. Almost everything I build is a prototype, so this has become an important part of my lure making process. It saves time, effort, walls, baits and most important my sanity. Even for those builders who have been building the same designs for years but would like to change it up a bit, this is a powerful tool that allows one to change things quickly and see what happens without having to build fifty duds.

I need canned grouper .......... Those sardine cans do come in handy keeping all the hardware together while I am working on a single lure.

Hi Bob Thank you for watching and taking the time to share some thoughts. I agree with you and Dieter that it is best to test ones lures in as real f I shing conditions as possible. And this video doesnt really show me doing that. With the phone in one hand and the reel inthe other, just reeling the bait was an impossibility. The best i could was drag the bait short ditances. But off camera i did test the bait in a more realistic manner. In this condition the lure can be worked surpringly hard. When i first started testing my baits in this way, i was very surprised at how well everything stayed in place. I dont recommend hooking fish or reeling as fast as you can or casting as far as you can but normal short casts and normal retrieves are done easily wthout any glue. Sometimes i will use tape as a wedge to tighten things us so they stay in place during testing. On this lure i used it on the ballast. Sometimes i will use on bib too. It wasnt needed on this one. Something that will change the action of a proto is how one fills unused ballast holes. On this lure, i tested lures action with a second small ballast just behind bib. After testing i convluded the lure had more action without it.now i have the hole to fill. To keep action same, best to use filler that matches the lure body. Thanks again Bob Vic

Hi Dieter Thank you for having a look and sharing your impressions. Your absolutely right. The bait is being hindered from reaching its true fishing depth. That is something that will have to be tried in bigger deeper water. Too is lure retrieval speed. As you know , some lures work well at a slow retrieval speed but will blow out at faster speeds. This bait will do well at a higher return rate. I think with time, one gets a feel for this sort of thing. That being said i do feel the test even flawed as shown gives an insight to how the lure will perform finished. The action we see now will change very little to none if the lure is finished properly. But i do get your point. After many years of bathtub testing your own baits and then testing them again in the outdoors, you have a better understanding of this (smallwater/bigwater)concept than most. Yes, I did take the lure to the pond and work it in deeper water at faster retrieve speeds. I always test all my baits in this condition in a more realistic setting to test performance of the lure before finishing. Though ill often start in this small creek shown here to get a good look at the action before moving to the pond this creek feeds. But for filming purposes i chose to stay in this shallow clear creek. As you say, it is ideal due to water clarity and vantage point the bridge affords the viewer. As far as the angle goes, it is always changing as we cast out and reel in our baits but the action of the lure (as far as i know) stays the same throughout the process. In the video, i am shortlining the bait. This is preventing it from digging into the bottom of the shallow creek. It is like flying a kite in the wind and only letting out a few of string. Though the action is inhibited a bit , we still get a good sense of how and if it will fly. Once the bait is finished, ill do a second video of the lure in bigger water so everyone may see any differences in action. Thanks again Dieter! Vic