benton B

twist your own screw eyes from ss wire and pre drill the holes just slightly larger than screw eye. Use a good epoxy and it will hold, I've built a couple thousand baits this way without a failure.

Hydro mist is a really thin paint and does not cover very well. Look at Wildlife colors and Polytranspar's water based paints for a better opition (imho).

Ron, I use national balsa but you have to tell them that you want high density/hard balsa wood for fishing lures. Even then you will still get a few pieces that are crap.

I order from them several times per yr and have had nothing but great service.

I've never used a heat gun for drying paint but I know even on low it's much hotter than a hair dryer.

My foiling method is to clear coat the bait before I start painting. You will not get any air bubbles that way and it will give the foil a little depth. You can also just wipe off over spray or colors you do not like. Make sure to get the foil pressed down on the edges, e-tex is a little thin.

I would say the heat gun is way too much heat for baits. That was I used to break golf clubs apart and it will melt the epoxy on bait. I use a hair dryer and I've never had that problem. I also put a coat of epoxy over the foil before painting the baits.

Do some research on using baking soda as the abrassive. I've seen some guns advertised as soda blasters but never have done any real research on the subject.

The paint is not better than foil but it's ok. Need a big nozzle on the airbursh for that paint. I was shooting it thru a .5mm with the needle backed out and it still would clog up very quickly.

Looks to me like you spraying the paint too thick or the primer coat is still wet. Try using a hair dryer to heat set the paint after each coat.

Some guys like the craw details, I for one prefer another way. Mainly because I hate cutting and using stencils. Here is one of my craw patterns. Make sure to use an old tooth brush.

You may be shooting the paint too thick. Water based paints need to sprayed in thin layers and make sure you heat set each coat of paint.

It sounds like the sanding sealer is not dry. I've coated balsa blanks with d2t after sanding and never had issued with bubbles. It has to be a problem with the sanding sealer you are using. Try hitting the baits with a hair dryer before using d2t.

I drill the weight port before I carve/sand the body to shape. It seems to help with tear out some. I found cedar to be a real pain with chipping/ tear outs when drilling ballast ports. You might try drilling the ballast port first then cutting out the body. As for the about of weight in those bait, by the size of the bodies I would guess 1/16oz would be about right. For lips take a look at some of the pre-made circuit board lips form (lureparts on-line) they have a nice round lip that would work well in that little bait. I would keep the lip angle between 25-30 degrees for that style of bait. This little bait is similar to yours but made from 1/2 thick balsa, I used 1/8oz ballast at the lowest point in the belly. Hope some of this will help.

Do not apply pressure to the bait with your finger and it will not stick. Just gently rub the CA onto the wood and let it soak in. I use my bare finger and never have had any problems.

In my early days of building, I made a few cranks that would float at approx 65-75 degrees by mistake. The ballast weight was off center, the baits would staighten up once moving at a slow speed. Of course the was just newbie mistakes but you could try a prototype with the ballast weight off center and see what happens.

You won't need to thin the e-tex. I done a few blades and coated with flex coat and those held up pretty good. I just prime the blade and paint.

The last time Tim was talking about his clear coat, it was a uv cured product.

You need to clear coat the bait before painting. This will help hide the seams and give a surface for the paint to stick to. Also if you mess up painting just wipe it down and start over.

Imho thru wire is not needed ona good balsa crank. Buy hard balsa, use 3/4 inch stainless wire hook hangers/line ties, use the same wire in the ballast weight for the belly hanger. Seal the bait properly and a good clear coat the bait will last you for yrs to come. I'm still fishing baits I made over 8yrs ago and those are still holding up just fine.

Bob, that was a very informative report. I sure wish the full cure time was not 12-14 days. Is there a need to turn baits at the start or do you get clean drips of the tail hanger?

I've made both floating and sinking lipless baits but never tried to get a wide wobble. I'm always looking for a very tight action on this style of bait. I've just followed the pattern of an old rattle trap. The key is line tie placement for me. I will have to try Mark's trick of the cupped lip now.