BowfinBoy95 Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 im a long time sculptor of polymer clay , and very new to the site. recently it occured to me to make lures out of this stuff, as ive become an avid fisherman as of late. it comes in an array of colors and cures in the oven at 275 degrees farenheight, so one could make a crankbait and many other types of lures without the need for paint. but polyclay seems to have a few problems.this stuff doesnt float. also since its chemical makeup is essentially pvc, its possible it can react with organic solvents in certain clearcoats. ive got my first lure in the works now, using a coathanger as a throughg wire(its a bit heavy gauge but it works.) and a triangular lip made of lexan. im going to use either rustoleum laquer or epoxy to coat it.(worried about chemical reactions that could arise and destroy the lure).the eyes are 3D ,made from beads bought from a local fabric store. i just used a clay backing to give them color and pupils. putting ballast weights in the belly, it should swim..though the tongue is ever so slightly crooked in the horizontal but straight in the vertical.. i have a feeling that it will negatively influence its action. even if it doesnt work its gonna be a pretty lure..lol ..if anyone else wants to try making lures out of polymer clay or have actually tried making lures out with it do let me know:) ill be posting a picture when its finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markell Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 I have used the "sculpey" clay to make jig head prototypes. Once it cures it is very durable. I thought about actually using the prototypes for a super slow fall jig. Keep us posted on your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growler Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 Search ebay for polymer lures - somone selling plans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishingwaters Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 I would think that you'd be giving up some ablity to tune the bait once you bake it to set. How well does it sand down? Does the color / texture remain consistent when sanded? I just made some ornaments with my kids and my impression was it was fairly brittle after baking. We used Premo brand clay. Fun to work with I just don't think it's the right application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growler Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 My impression is that's it's too brittle - but I was planning on playing with making some, since I just found a box of Fimo that hopefully has not dried up. Here are some links I found last week. I have some .028" wire I was going to insert. http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/fishinglures.html http://www.polymerlures.com/ http://www.polkadotcreations.com/books/detail/dl7.html http://www.fishingcd.us/polymer-fishing-lure-color-guide.htm [ADDED] I suspect those sites may be all the same person, since ome of the text and pics are the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowfinBoy95 Posted December 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Premo is my favorite poly clay and its more flexible than one might imagine, especially when re baked or mixed with superflex sculpy.ive also foundusing translucent liquid sculpey as filler to anchor the lip and through wire in place is just as effective as epoxy for this stuff, because its chemically compatible and bonds instantly to the clay upon baking.the liquid sculpey is ridiculously flexible and tough as nails..it would be interesting to make a lure body mold and use this stuff alone to make lures. One of the advantages of poly clay is you can rebake as many times as you want so long as you allow the clay to cool between bakings and dont leave it in the oven for too long. it sands very nicely, and by rubbing liquid sculpey into the sanded surface afterward, the sheen of the clay,especially metallics, comes out and the sanded surface appears totally smooth. and even this layer can be sanded after firing. once a couple coats of epoxy or other tough clearcoat are applied i think it would be just as durable as a wooden lure. but tuning the lure is still a problem i have yet to perfect..ive added ballast weight to my current project to balance it, but i dont know if ive added enough. i hafta fill my bath tub and test it..lol. i am going to try making the through wire and anchoring the lexan lip to that with epoxy first, to make certain its straight. then i sculpt the body how i want it, mount the wire in it so i know it wil be straight when i bake it, remove the wire add some details to the body , bake it, then carve, sand and add more details(extra layers of colored clay etc.) and so when i mount the wire in the lure its just like mounting the wire in a wooden lure, and it can be tuned from there. i dont have alot of fancy tools unfortunately, so i hafta rely on my dremel and its many bits, emery cloth, sandpaper, hobby files and good old fashioned skill. weather or not i actually have skill remains to be seen..lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
