Cutting A Stencil And The Overflow

[chas48]

Maybe Im over thinking this but Im about to cut stencils for a crawdad pattern. Seems to me it looks more natural for the edge of the shell/or gill plate to b forward and the overspray to flow toward the tail....not the(easy) other way around?

[HAWGFAN]

I do mine with the overspray toward the head, and the bass don't seem to mind.  I added a pic to my gallery that you can look at.  I've seen it done both ways.

[bass100]

"not the(easy) other way around" -- I don't know what this means.  It isn't any harder to make your overspray go towards the head or towards the tail.  It is just a matter of making your stencils accommodate which way you want to go.

 

I think they look better with the overspray going towards the inside of the bends versus the outside of the bends.

[mark poulson]

I wish I could do it either way!  The overspray is just to soften the joint lines, without making them blurred.

I do mine with the overspray toward the head, and the bass don't seem to mind.  I added a pic to my gallery that you can look at.  I've seen it done both ways.

 That bait looks really good!

[HAWGFAN]

I wish I could do it either way!  The overspray is just to soften the joint lines, without making them blurred.

 That bait looks really good!

Thanks Mark.  It performed as good as it looks for a while.  I found out the hard way that the rocks in my home lake really love circuit board.  After 8 hours the bill had almost ground down to the line tie.  I use Lexan now for myself, but still offer the circuit board as an option to customers.

[mark poulson]

Damn rocks!  Of course, with my local lake, Castaic, down 130', there's very little rock left to grind.  We're down to the mud that eroded off the upper layers over the years, and now covers almost everything, so I'm jealous.

 

Do you find the circuit board makes the baits perform differently than 1/16" lexan?

[Venutian_Lures]

I like the way they look with the overspray on the inside of the shell lines vs the other way around that you're describing.

However I do my craws completely different. I get my base shapes and colors down then I turn my PSI down and line the shell with my airbrush freehand while feathering the back and inside of the shell lines with a smoke detail black. I used to hand paint them in with a paint pen. For some patterns I still like the crisp line, but I much prefer softer and rougher craw shell lines now. 

You could try masking tape vs stencils. That's how I started off making craws. Just make sure that you've run the tape across your skin a bunch of times so it doesn't stick to the bait and rip all the paint off. It's a complicated process to explain how to do it, but I found it easier than trying to work with stencils and it teaches you a lot about airbrush control.

[HAWGFAN]

Damn rocks!  Of course, with my local lake, Castaic, down 130', there's very little rock left to grind.  We're down to the mud that eroded off the upper layers over the years, and now covers almost everything, so I'm jealous.

 

Do you find the circuit board makes the baits perform differently than 1/16" lexan?

I honestly haven't done a true comparison, but I'd say very little.  Some guys claim the CB has better action.  I'm assuming because it's lighter.  Most of my baits are pretty extreme on wobble to begin with, so I really don't notice a difference.  I rarely get to fish waters clear enough to see them swimming either.  It's probably like everything else in this game.  There is probably a scenario where it matters, and if I say it doesn't, I'll be promptly blasted on here.  For the baits I make, any difference seems to be negligible.

[mark poulson]

I honestly haven't done a true comparison, but I'd say very little.  Some guys claim the CB has better action.  I'm assuming because it's lighter.  Most of my baits are pretty extreme on wobble to begin with, so I really don't notice a difference.  I rarely get to fish waters clear enough to see them swimming either.  It's probably like everything else in this game.  There is probably a scenario where it matters, and if I say it doesn't, I'll be promptly blasted on here.  For the baits I make, any difference seems to be negligible.

 

I asked because I've never made a bait with a CB lip, but I've fished a couple, and thought the action was the same as the thinner Lexan.

The Lexan does hold up to grinding on rocks very well.

[BobP]

I do baits with either 1/16" Lexan or 1/32" CB.  Yep, the CB is lighter.  On the same crankbait, I feel it gives you a slightly deeper dive and sharper wiggle and it certainly gives you a different rebound and sound off of hard cover.  Many tournament guys like CB on shallow running crankbaits thrown around rock.  My impression is that the CB seems to click while Lexan thunks off cover.  Whatever the case, I seem to do a little better with CB lips on shallow crankbaits and I personally have not experienced what I think of as undue wear on the lips.  Different strokes for different folks!  I also find CB easy to cut and shape with hand tools and the 1/32" (.031") thickness fits perfectly in a slot cut with a single pass of a standard 12 TPI scroll saw blade, which is convenient.   

Edited December 17, 2014 by BobP