Which Is More Important

[ethan97]

I know many people will have different opions about this but which machine for doing hardbaits is more important?A Lathe or Airbrush/compressor? Iv been thinking about this for a really long time but I just cant figure it out so im hoping you guys can help me make a choice, Any help or input on this will help alot guys thanks.

[woodieb8]

for shaping round baits a lathe. a compresser is for painting.

[fishnart]

Don't you need both? They do different things, if I'm understanding your question..

[Lincoya]

For me, since I hand carve all of my baits, the airbrush would be more important. If you are planning on using a lathe to make your baits, I would think that a lathe would be more important. In other words, if you don't have a lathe to make baits then you don't need an airbrush, since you wouldn't have anything to paint.

 

Ultimately, only you can determine which is more important to you.

 

Gene

[ravenlures]

If you hand carve then the airbrush is what you need more, but if you have a round type of bait and want to make many of the same then you will need both.

[mark poulson]

A lathe is kind of limited in the shape of baits you can make.

I'm not saying it's bad (I own one) but, depending on what kind of bait you want to make, you might want to consider other machines first.

No matter which type of bait you plan to make, an air brush and compressor will make successful painting a whole lot easier, and fun.

[bassguy]

Imho, lathe for stick baits, devil horse, poppers etc. and an airbrush/compressor. For crankbaits; bandsaw, some sort of sander (belt/disk type) possibly a scroll saw, carving knives etc, and an airbrush/compressor. For the finished product on both types of baits the airbrush/compressor is very important but not a must. A lot of guys on tackle underground use rattle cans to paint their baits.

[ethan97]

I didnt alot of people use rattle cans on here, those are some amazing rattle paint jobs then

[nedyarb]

For me the most important tool I have is my bandsaw. It cuts lip slots perfectly, and that's what I had the hardest time with when I first started!

[ethan97]

I cant afford a bandsaw im only 15 haha

[mark poulson]

Ethan,

See if your school has a wood shop, or a wood working club, and join.  They'll have machines you can use.

You can talk to the teacher about what you want to do, and see if he/she will allow you to do it in class as a project.

 

You can also cut the slots with a hand saw.  Just do it while the blank is still rectangular.  Use a really fine toothed saw, like a dovetail saw, and take your time.

If you're doing cylindrical baits you can make a jig to hold the blank and keep the saw square to it.

If the slot looks crooked, once you've put the bill in without glue on a dry run, enlarge the slot to make it straighter, use wooden toothpicks as shims to hold the bill straight while your epoxy sets, and then cut the toothpicks off with an exacto knife.

The epoxy will be plenty strong to fill whatever gaps there are around your bill.

Just make sure you're happy with how the bill sits before you mix your epoxy and start the installation.  Once you've glued it in, it's a bear to tear it out and redo it because it's crooked, and you didn't see it ahead of time.  Been there, done that!  Hahaha

[ethan97]

Thanks that helps alot! this site is awsome

[crzyjunyer]

to me an air compressor would be more usefull overall since a lathe is limited on what you can do with it. with a good general purpose air compressor you can paint with airbrush as well as run small air tools as well.