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I used to fish with Billy and Bobby Westmorland on the Obey River. His mom has cooked me dinner. I ate breakfast with Paul Banks/Buddy Banks many times at Scottys restaraunt in Celina TN. Billy lived on "Small mouth Drive" near Stan Sloan. This ain't my 1st rodeo. Please stop thinking and posting like you are the only one making baits on this planet. You do this all over the internet. Many people know more than you think and maybe more than you.

Your ignorance is spewing. That is why you have been banned 3 or 4 times on BBC.... Have a nice day.

That is not a "blade bait" These are >>> https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=1e8c9acc3ca5315c&rlz=1CAMFAZ_enUS1120&sxsrf=ADLYWILj6LSK9vFMdsEnkClrLNShXXYd_A:1731530009104&q=blade+baits&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0Aa4sjWe7Rqy32pFwRj0UkWd8nbOJfsBGGB5IQQO6L3J03RPjGV0MznOJ6Likin94oGSh4l60tfPppA0C5BN3Bo_980UJQBEk2Dk0PqPHf4Q_wwQXuQGcUSFQgFu2NHkX-AxS8EFOoFF4P_8efC70NkfGp86eXE3vbnGniVNJUq1cqy_MtQkQP4B89c0xYiXdsXg8rxng2lBuy2l7tt1quoIg2FnQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiu-PD4k9qJAxUMhYkEHUuKLv8QtKgLegQIExAB&biw=1181&bih=529&dpr=1.63

What are you pouring your lead with? Bottom pour? If so, you might try ladle pouring with a fast pour. Almost like a dump. Sometimes that can help on hard to pour molds and cavities.

The main problem is the cool hardware blocking and solidifying the lead too quickly. Lay hook and figure 8 link in mold. Heat hook, figure 8 link and collar area with a propane torch. (quick blast) Close mold, pour jig. Your percentages are going to be a lot higher after heating your hardware. Give it a try. Good luck.

I meant 5/16" deep.

I cut my lip slot on my bandsaw, while my blank is still rectangular, so it's square to the blank I mark a centerline on my lip and on my finished blank, so I can line them up when I glue them together.

I love my Twistechs! But my Hagens also does a good job. I prefer the twisted overall though. I haven't tried the Boggs due to the price with all the required adapters and it's limitations on spinner length. I believe Barlows sells the Hagens.

It's good stuff. I used it when baitjunkys sold it. I liked it.

Just confirming our plastisol is indeed sourced from Calhoun's. Matt Barlow

Thank you. I ordered some hard plastisol the other day from Barlows tackle. I think they sell Calhoun's plastic. I'm hoping they will come out good.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Makes perfect sense.

I really dont feel like it matters much. A bass doesnt care which way a crawfish is swimming. Its a meal. I have caught fish on unpainted wooden cranks in testing also to suggest color doesnt even matter as much as action in many occasions. Crankbaits to me are about drawing a predatory response.

I’ve started brushing on multiple thin coats. I was dipping 1 heavy coats and no mater what i did, i would get unevenness. It takes alittle more time because you are pulling out, brushing, pulling out brushing. Added benefit is i have a bunch of glitter colors mixed up in little cups i got from hobby lobby. I will put a glitter coat on first. Then subsequent coats will be clear. I do this with wire baits and hardbaits. Jigs have held up ok, especially the ones i powder coat instead of airbrush

Google "safety wire twister pliers manual" I also use them to wire tie the skirts on. The auto return has a spring that makes them harder to use on 20-22 gauge copper wire. Eagle Claw makes their premium hook line. They are very good.

Do it yourself blade baits made easy.

Do it yourself blade baits made easy.

Again blade baits made easy with a few components and skirt material. Either Wire or Hand tied or banded baits what ever you prefer. Made easy the Sparkie head mold will need very little modification to use these components to build these blade bodies. And make the perfect baits a different sizes.

Got your PM

@albertaxpr there is SO much information out there! Some of it is conflicting too, it is hard to know where to start. I will lay out some basics, and hope it helps! There are different types of airbrush paints, water or solvent based. Both can be used, but start with water based acrylic airbrush paints. Solvent based paints can mess with finishes and the chemical fumes can be dangerous. Like Anyfish mentioned, don't start with cheap thick non-airbrush acrylic paints as they will be very hard to thin and spray. A good quality airbrush paint for the most part are ready to spray right out of the bottle without any thinning. You can get the small bottles of paint as they do last a while, a little paint goes a long way. Here are some examples of brands acrylic airbrush paint you can use. Createx (Createx Opaque Surf Blue – Maple Airbrush Supplies) -opaque/pearl/iridescent/transparent/pearl/fluorescent, also the wicked (slightly higher end) subset of colors. These are ALL good! (Avoid the Createx Candy O2 to start as they need some additional care). Golden - High Flow Acrylics (Airbrush | Michaels) I like these a lot, easy to spray right out of the bottle. They have pearls/transparent/opaques etc... Jacquard Airbrush color (Jacquard Products — Airbrush Color) Also good selection and easy to paint. There are many others! Feel free to ask. When you are new, don't experiment with homemade cleaners and thinners. You can run into problems with things not being compatible and making it worse when you are trying to learn. IF (or when I should say) your paint is a bit thicker and is spraying chunky, it may need thinning. Use an actual thinner (Createx 4021 Airbrush Paint Reducer – Maple Airbrush Supplies) to thin the paint to skim milk consistency (lots of videos on the topic). The same goes for airbrush cleaner, a bit expensive, but at least you know it is good for cleaning and ok for the airbrush. There are many recipes for homemade cleaners, which is fine, I'd recommend starting with a proper cleaner (Createx Airbrush Cleaner – Maple Airbrush Supplies) Lots of info, hope that helps!

I plan to reply. As soon as I can figure out how to explain what I'm trying to do. Sometimes the ideas in the head don't always come out the way we visualize them.

No, particle size does not matter. Dyes are soluble in plastisol where as pigments are not. If you think of it this way: -Pigments are like adding sand to water. Wont dissolve, wont move, the same as when you add it. -Dyes are like adding sugar to water. Will dissolve, will migrate to reach equilibrium. I know that is an oversimplification but it helps to conceptualize the difference between the two. Hope that helps.

Perfecoat .... But my distributor is not selling it any longer.

I went from KBS to a 2 part high solid automotive clear. I brush it on, turn it on my rotisserie. I don't need to wait 2-3 weeks for it to fully cure like that KBS Diamond Clear.

IMO, amoisture cred urethane is best. Dip it, hang it, done. The most popular is KBB Diamond coat, an automotive brand.

Silver buddy's were mostly thin stainless steel. Try them when the water is 55* and less. Slow, short lifts work best. Like fishing a jig. lift and feel just a few vibes and semi slack line it back down. This helps prevent the bait from tumbling and fouling hooks and line.

I live in warm sunny SoCal, but I still heat the hook and collar area on 90% of the jigs I pour. Air trapped in molds will only give you a minute incomplete fill. If you are heating your hardware and still getting bad pours it's a lead flow problem. Clean your spout. Wear gloves and ream out the spout with a piece of wire. (spinnerbait wire form) Be careful! Also placing the lead nozzle all the way down into the pour hole can prevent air escaping from the top. Gravity is your friend. I like the nozzle about 1/4" above the mold. Everyone has there own way of doing things. So do it anyway you want, I am just trying to help. Good Luck.

Mark, aliexpress is the best place to get them but it will take a few weeks. Can get same on eBay but willl cost more and still probably take a week.

I would put it in the middle of the lower barb on one half of the mold.

Hot is not the problem! Either you have contamination on the baits or bad UV resin. I have done baits in 110 degrees F.

Sorry, I do not have a guaranteed solution for you, but there are plenty of UV guys that should step in here. My thoughts would be a glass divider to shield and/or a ventilating fan to draw away the heat. See what the others think first Dave

Mixed with other non-bleeds or not the dye will still bleed and migrate. No way around it.

100% it will bleed. You will need to try to find a translucent pigment to use instead of the dye to make it non bleed, not always possible but if you can it will help greatly.

I agree with Mark. I'm in the process of doing exactly that right now on a bunch of musky lures. I mark out and cut the lip slot when the blanks are still a block, then shape the lure. The lexan I use has a film on it, so I mark out and draw a center line on the lure and the lip and line it up by eye. I only make about 12 lures at a time, maybe it would be different if you were making 100. There is some risk of chipping out around the lip slop for sure. Two of my blanks have small chip outs on the edges. I'm not too worried about it as those edge areas will be filled with epoxy when I glue the lip/wire in. It can be worse if you are going to use a router and the router bit grabs the lip slot, I've been there. I just didn't run the router up to the slot, I left it just short and used my sander to finish the edges of the lip slot.

thanks, Mark. Thank you for saying that, that was what I was going to try next, however I didn't think about the center line on the lip, thats so obvious, yet genius. My concern (probably unnecessary) was chipping the edges of the slot in the shaping process, do you see that as an issue? if you don't mind, another question; on a 1.5-2" flat sided square bill, how deep do you cut the lip slot? thanks.

Love this, very poetic Dave

Can someone please give me some general information about airbrush paints. I know there are all different sorts of paints to get. Im just finding myself overwhelmed with all these terms and styles of paints I have no idea about. Any general info is greatly appreciated.

These look great! When are you expecting ice out up your way? Here in IL we're all thawed out, but I haven't been able to get out and spend much time on the water. Depending on how this covid-19 thing plays out, I may be able to get some time on the water in Western Ontario this summer. If not, hopefully next summer. You guys have some great fishing up north!