TLane4

There is a lot to think about when quoting custom machine work. But if your planning on making these in a production enviroment the price will drop substantially. You shouldn't be embarrassed by your time spent on these first two prototypes. Just things i noticed were that it looked like you took the time to square up all six sides of the blocks. That isn't completely necessary in my opinion. Also the hinge joint you cut into it seems pretty fancy and time consuming. You had to remove a lot of material to get your results. As far as programing goes do you have access to any sort of CAD/CAM program like MasterCAM or GibbsCAM. If so you should look into using that to program your molds. These programs are designed to maximize material removal and minimize cut time with enhanced cutter paths. I don't want to sound critical and i think you have an excellent baseline to start with. I personally have been thinking about making my own molds also. I have a miniature CNC in my basement i picked up from an auction for only $700 ($20000 new) but I'm missing a key piece of software that allows me to transfer the program to the machine. Good luck and hope to see some product out there soon. Also keep in mind a standard shop rate. Currently my shop charges right around $70-$75 an hour as a shop rate for a guy to be machining. That covers over head, wages, and things of that nature.

If your studs are to long then you might be experiencing some binding as tou pull the mold apart. Also you could try using precision ground dowel pins next time and reaming the holes. And you can ream the holes press fit on one side and slip on the other easily in the same setup.

Thank you very much for the ideas guys. Going to have to try them out over the next few days.

Hello All, I am new to the whole painting lures and am having a small problem. As simple as it seems I can't get the material I am using to make my scale pattern stay still on the lure. I have tried tying it together with fishing line while pulling it tight. I have also tried using split shot to weigh it down and drape it over the top. Both methods have worked to an extent but move around and can be very time consuming to set up. My next thought is to use binder clips and use them as both a weight and to draw it tight against the lure or possibly making little frames to somehow encase the lure. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Can you post a picture of the bit your using or the whole setup? In my experience with cutting all sorts of materials (plastics, alloys, composites, wood,ect.) on machines and CNCs I'd suggest trying a ball nose endmill. Also your depth of cut and feed might be to great. There is a fine balance of speeds and feeds when removing material. If you get some pictures up though i might be able to help you more.

I recently ordered blanks from http://www.barlowstackle.com/ but haven't had a chance to try them out in the water. Seem to be decent blanks though. Prices seem to be pretty fair.

While I am just getting started painting my own lures I thought that the plastic part wrap we get on some stuff at work would work. I have yet to try it and if i get a chance to I will post pictures of what it looks like. Here is a link http://www.industria...m/netguard.html to an example of what it looks like. It conforms fairly well to odd shapes and comes in all sorts of sizes. It can also be stretched and squeezed to make larger or smaller diamond shapes.

Live in Michigan about 10 minutes from Lake St. Clair. Caught 3 nice pike on Saturday but was using live bait. I'll test for you and a couple of guys i work with would too. Let me know if your interested.

I also have been looking for an airbrush to start making own lures. My brother who was recently certified in just about everything related to auto body work including airbrushing suggested I try http://www.tcpglobal...FcrY5wodnjTZDA. They have a lot of choices on kits and good information on what your buying. Also they have kits that include compressors that average $150.