Newbie Help... Everything.

[CarverGLX]

Hi. Love this site and I am amazed by some of the work on here. I am new to the crankbait scene and had a few questions to ask.

I carve baits from balsa planks 1/4 inch wide from hobby lobby in two halves and then glue them together. They have a through wire construction and are properly weighted and run correctly. My questions are mainly with the finish and uniformity of the finish and lip.

1. Once the bait is carved and sanded to shape I understand that most of you coat the bait in D2T. The only D2T i can find is 5min. Im guessing that this is too fast of a cure time because i cant get it smooth using a brush before it dries?

2. I understand that some use acetone as a thinner which would probably also prolong the cure time of the bait possibly helping this smoothing process?

3. Should D2T be applied before or after the lip slot is cut. If before, does cutting through it harm the bait? (watertite, scratching finish) If after, getting the lip in cleanly.

4. Is there a cheap way to create a lure turner from a drill?

5. Is there a good way to keep the epoxy off the lip and wire that is simple such as a coating of vaseline?

6. Without buying an airbrush and only using spray paint how do you keep the overspray off the bait without making a well defined line and create a blending effect? I can blend colors with spray paint but the overspray will get me somewhere in the process sometimes on the back side of the bait.

7. How to build a jig to cut lip slots strait on a finished bait using only hand tools or maybe a dremel.?

8. How to build a jig for a wire harness?

9. How to cleanly cut edges on foil baits and photo baits to line up perfectly in the center?

Wow. Sorry. Thats a lot of questions. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Vodkaman]

1. correct, too fast.

2. correct, thin with a few drops of denatured alcohol. This serves 3 purposes, slows the cure down a little, goes on easier, allows the epoxy to soak into the wood a little for a better bond.

3. I usually cut the slot before shaping. With the blank still flat, it is easier to see any alignment errors. Also, if I really foul up, I haven’t invested too much time in the carving process. I do all my slotting and drilling before carving.

4. I have used a variable speed drill to hold one lure in the chuck and it worked quite well. BUT, you are risking the drill, it could burn out. Never happened to me, but you are stretching the design parameters of the tool. It is best to set the speed and tape the trigger, then switch off at the mains, then coat your lure and insert in chuck. I think the slowest speed of the drill will be too fast to rig to a drying wheel. Try and find an old microwave and salvage the motor, perfect speed.

5. assuming you are now talking about the top coat as opposed to the sealing coat in 1 & 2. I don’t think Vaseline would be a good idea, as the epoxy would cure on top of the Vaseline, leaving a gap underneath. If you tried to peal or cut the excess epoxy off the lip in an attempt to tidy the finish, you would almost certainly damage the seal and allow water access to the paint, causing pealing etc.

Some builders advocate fitting the lip just prior to the top coat and lapping the epoxy onto the lip on the final coat. Some builders tape the lip and remove the tape before the epoxy cures. Some fit the lip much earlier in the process. You need to try each method and see what works for you.

6. I think you can buy different nozzle caps for spray cans, offering different spray patterns. I remember reading this or seeing them in a craft shop. There are a few members here that use rattle cans exclusively, maybe they can confirm this.

7. No answer yet, this is a future project of mine.

8. When I did through harness, I fitted steel pins into a piece of ply board. The pins are positioned at the eye locations and the bends. The wire is then wrapped around the pin guides to achieve the harness shape. Once a working jig is made, you have repeatability. Check this thread also: http://www.tackleund...__fromsearch__1 I think we get a bit over fussy with edges, especially when we add a lick of paint on the belly and then add two coats of D2T to finish. Any slight imperfections are well hidden. A good burnishing too will solve most of your problems.

These are my thoughts on your questions, I am sure you will get a few more opinions before this thread vanishes into the archives.

Dave

Edited December 17, 2009 by Vodkaman

[MR KNOW IT ALL KIND OF]

STEP 1 CARVE BAIT

STEP 2 SEAL IT WITH 30 Min EPOXY

STEP 3 SAND IT

STEP 4 SEAL IT AGAIN WITH 30 MIN EPOXY

STEP 5 SAND IT AGAIN AND IF ITS SMOOTH MOVE ON TO STEP 6

STEP 6 PRIME IT...if you still see holes or spots you want to fix do step 7 if not skip it!

STEP 7. Spread BONDO GLAZING PUTTY all over the bait to cover up minor flaws from epoxy AND SAND AGAIN

STEP 8. PRIME IT AGAIN.. now if your bait should be smooth.

STEP 9 PAINT THE BAIT

STEP 10 CLEAR COAT THE BAIT

STEP 11 CUT THE LIP SLOT SO YOU CAN GLUE IT TO THE WOOD without all the layers of paint epoxy etc in the way.. your new epoxy will soak into the wood and create a really good bond.

IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS ask Dave.. cause after these 11 STEPS I QUIT and IM goin fish the bait I made come hell or HIGH WATER DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING. If it gets any more complex Im going start making controlled environment stations out of recycled nose snot on the north pole to try and save the OVERPOPULATED POLAR BEARS! LOL... YOUR A JOKE AL GORE! I think Im going start paintin a all GREEN LURE and CALLING IT ALL GREEN! Currently we have more Polar Bears on Planet earth then we have ever had in our history! And the POPULATION IS INCREASING EACH YEAR! STOP DRINKIN THE AL GORE KOOLAID or smokin pot in California with those IDIOT OVER PAID ACTORS! If I have too here one more person say IM GOIN GREEN I THINK I WILL PUKE up Lacquer Thinner all over ground just to SPITE THE MAN!! I might even walk up to the NORTH POLE AND SHOOT A BEAR to help the OVERPOPULATION. sorry I went off topic.. but I feel much better now.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR LURE.

[fatfingers]

Don't listen to The Rookie.

He was mauled by a Polar Bear once.

He's never really recovered.

[KcDano]

The polar bear mauling may have something to do with it. However, a more likely source of frustration for the rookie: Is the fact, in an effort to be more enviromentally conscientious (GREEN) McDonald's is now suppling their franchises' with new bio-degradeable straws that degrade very quickly and returns to inert elements. This recent development is terribly troublling to the rookie, the new straws fail to hold up when subjected to a rigorous painting session.

Edited December 17, 2009 by KcDano

[Vodkaman]

I found the same problem with the straws. I switched to uncooked macaroni sticks. They hold up quite well, as long as you don't slobber too much. My contribution to global warming.

Dave

[CarverGLX]

Thanks guys. I can see that its not even the quality that you do a step but also the progression in order of the steps that make a good product. I know that was alot of questions and i really appreciate the time involved in answering. But about the polar bears... I dont know if I would be to hard on Ol' Al... I mean we wouldnt even have this whole internet thing to begin with if it wasnt for him... he invented it right . Anyone know where i can get some polar bear hair? I was really needing to tye some jigs and this punisher hair just aint doin it for me.