metal

Right on, thanks Mark! Mike

I like the thought of dipping in acetone....clean and prep in one easy step. Thanks all!

Mark, I have had good luck with this primer as well but I recall reading on the can that it continues to bond with plastic for seven days. Do you think this means you should wait that long to paint? It has always worked out that circumstances forced me to wait but I wondered if I needed to.

I'm with Pete on this....I'm in it for the paint!

Price was the main reason I bought AutoAir when I first started airbrushing. Now I have too much of it around to justify spending money on anything different!

Ben, that makes sense. I understand the water based colors fall short when compared to automotive urethane paints as well. I have seen many threads on this forum where urethane clearcoats are discussed but haven't noticed anyone talking about the color/basecoats like House of Kolor. Probably some cost issues there as well as ventilation and safety but might be another paint system to consider... I certainly am looking forward to reading the ongoing saga... thanks for taking the time to answer my question Mike

First, allow me to say thanks to all who contribute. I have been painting for a while but have only been painting lures for a year which is also how long I've been following this forum. Suffice it to say you all have been a tremendous influence. Ben, why the switch to enamels or lacquers? I know a lot of people use the Createx lines of paint such as Wicked and AutoAir which are good enough for automotive application but much safer and easier to use. Initially, you mentioned it might be easier to match colors with the original paint but is a total change in paint systems easier than mixing the water based paints to get the right color? I have not had to match someone else's paint job yet but I imagine that day will come.... Thanks, Mike

Bob, I am digging that infinity vise! I have access to a Haas mini-mill at work which almost always has a vise set up so I went with a fixture that I flip. Locating is a breeze because it has a Renishaw probe.

I am assuming you want a CNC to do 3D milling of the baits. Most machines are only capable of full 3D machining if it is programmed from a software system such as Mastercam. This looks to be the case with the mach3 software as well. It is only going to be able to give you simple shapes such as circles and rectangles. That is referred to as 2 1/2D as opposed to full 3D. My suggestion would be to look into Autodesk Fusion360. It is a really strong design package that has a machining component built in and, best of all, it is free to students and startup businesses and diy people like yourself.

I am a toolmaker by trade and have been running CNC's for the last fifteen years. I see there are quite a few benchtop models available in your price range. My only concern with these would be rigidity. Some of them look pretty flimsy. What software do you plan to program with?