quickdraw

Solarez is brittle. I have found that using multiple coats and letting it bake in the sun for several hours makes it much tougher. It will set in a few minutes but it seems it needs longer to fully cure. I do like it for doing touch-up and repair work.

System Three SB-112

I just started using water transfer decals also for everything from detail pieces to entire skins as shown by Larry Dahlberg in his videos. Looks good and works great.

I don't worry much about those small holes. After it gets several coats of paint and a clearcoat you will never even know that they were there.

The holes will work great. I almost bet that just the consistency of the resin will go through the holes but the resin does even swell a bit as it cures so it will grab the holes.

Yes it will be very solid and strong cast in place like that. One of Larry Dahlberg's new videos even shows him casting the lip into the poured resin. You could even rough-up the lip material that will be inside of the poured material if you wanted.

I use a medium body Super Glue on my screw eyes and a basic 2 part epoxy on my lips. http://www.supergluecorp.com/zap/zap-glues/zap-gap

My shapes are fairly simple. I only use a lathe, belt sander and band saw for most of my shaping and both Basswood and WRC are very easy to work with. The Basswood is a bit harder but finishes smoother with it's tighter grain. Once the WRC is sealed with Solarez though it can be sanded very smooth and makes a good base for paint.

or you just mix your own color into the Alumisol and pour one. If it isn't hard enough you melt it back down again with a little more hardener and pour again. You can do this over and over again every 10 minutes till you find what you want. Write down the mix and you are good to go. Custom color and hardness out of your own microwave oven.

You could go either way with an 8" bait but I would probably go with the .092. I use .125 brass rod for my hinge pins which fits right through the .092 screw eyes. On some of my bigger baits I have even used bigger hardware style screw eyes and the brass rod still works well.

I make my tails out of Alumilite Alumisol soft plastic. The have several dies to make about any color you could want and you can add hardener to the mix to stiffen the rubber how ever much you would want. http://www.makelure.com/products.cfm

I use .092 on 9-13" swimbaits built for large stripers and have never had a failure. On my baits 7" and under I use .072. My line tie is usually a 2" but the inline hardware for joints is 1 1/2". Hook hangers are 1". I also use a super glue when I set the screws. On your line tie and inline eyes you can drill your pilot hole slightly off of the horizontal axis so you don't have a direct straight pull on the eye when you have a fish on. It will still track straight when being trolled or retrieved.

I put some Acetone in a small jar so I can reuse it for awhile and it cleans my acid brushes just fine.

Not over a sharpie but I have marked on the Solarez with a Sharpie and that holds up pretty well. You could try to heat-set the sharpie first before coating or a quick coat of some other clear before the Solarez.

There are UV's present even on a cloudy day, just not as strong. Look-up you local weather on the net and you can probably find your UV index. Where I live we have 362 days of sunshine a year and most of the time the UV index is 9 or 10 so I don't worry about finding a good source of UV's.

I have that same flashlight but only use it to pre-set the Rez or do small touch ups before going to the sun for final curing. It works well but I have come to believe that an hour in the sun really puts the final cure and fully hardens the Solarez to it's fullest potential.

You can order from Amazon but I picked mine up locally at a Michaels craft store. Hobby Lobby probably has it also. Don't go to Home Depot because they will try to sell you a pint of something they call MEKP. The stuff you want comes in a small bottle like nail polish size.

http://www.solarez.com/productsnew/gloss.html

No problem, it won't be the first or last process that didn't work. It's all part of the joy of lure making. If none of us looked for a better way to build none of us would have anything that worked.

On the same topic I've found that even though most of the conversation about Solarez has revolved around it being a topcoat, that it is an even better raw wood sealer. It penetrates the wood and after curing in the sun or UV box for several hours it is very durable. I use a drop of MEKP in the mix. I put mine on my drying wheel in the sun and let it run for a few hours, sand lightly to rough it up, a quick wipe with acetone and then spray prime with white Rustoleum.

I don't care about a super smooth finish on a sealer coat to paint over. A little texture will give the paint something to stick to. As far as the sealer I feel it is important for the sealer to stand alone to seal and protect the wood before you go through the expense of time and materials of painting and topcoat. If the sealer can't handle protecting the wood from water intrusion then in the event that the topcoat is penetrated then water will penetrate the wood and cause the paint to blow-up while maybe even causing the wood to crack. I tried this sealer based on a recommendation here and it failed badly. http://www.targetcoatings.com/products/coatings/em9300-exterior-clear-polycarbonate-urethane.html

If you lightly fog a Woods and Water Iridescent paint over your final paint job you won't even see the color but you will get flashes of that color in the sunlight. I do this from time to time and it gives a cool effect.

This is what I have been doing on Basswood and now Red Cedar swimbaits. I started without using any Epoxy and have since started using a medium body super glue. I have never had a failure either way on fish up to 24lbs so far. When I use the super glue on poured resin swimbaits you will twist off the eye before the screw moves at all when trying to unscrew them. I prefer this method as it is much easier than thru-wire construction.

I just started using Solarez as a sealer and it works well. Let it cure in the sun or other UV source for a few hours though and it will be very tough. The a light sanding and wipedown with Acetone and it's ready for priming.

I already ordered from Ebay to get some 1 1/2" Cedar and am in the process of using that. I saw the Salty site awhile back and use them to order other items like big eyes. If I order cedar again I'll probably get some Yellow Alaskan Cedar from them. Right now I'm set with what I need. Thanks