turtlebait

I have made a bunch just out of pine stud 2x4’s. Drilling the right size holes and using long screw eyes makes a strong fit. One thing to think about is in my experience the screw eyes will generally show wear before fully pulling out.

Thanks guys! It was inspired by some of the production wheels musky and pike lure manufactures use. It is very versatile, It will be nice to be able to finish all the sections of a swimbait at the same time. Also I will use the PVC pipes to hold lures through the panting process. Then put them on the wheel when they are ready to be epoxied. I am going to have to experiment with some ways to secure larger lures but i think I have some ideas that will work. I went ahead and purchased a BBQ rotisserie for it. It was a little more expensive at $25 bucks on amazon but it was rated for 40 lbs. I think it will be worth it in the long run.

Just built my new dryer. It Can hold 24 baits on 1/2 in pvc pegs that fit snug inside caps. Pictured are pvc with electical gator clips to hold the baits on. I’m going to make some pvc pegs with screws too for larger musky baits. I did run into one problem tho. My old motor doesn’t have enough power to keep it spinning consistently. Don’t make to much fun of me but it is a 36 rpm motor.(I realize it’s to high) Will dropping down to a lower RPM motor with similar specs like eBay ones I hear a lot about give me enough torque or should i go for something bigger like a grill rotisserie? I plan on doing some musky baits on it so I need some power.

I've been using my wife Cricut and it works great! I've been using sticky vinyl. Make sure the coat of paint under is completely dry and don't stick on the vinyl to hard(If you aren't careful it can pull up the paint). I've also recently built a vacuum form. I haven't tried it yet but I plan on making some stencils by sticking on the vinyl stencil to use as a more accurate cut pattern after the plastic is formed. These vinyls also come in some cool pearl and reflective patterns. I'm excited to play around with that in the future.

I've only used alumilite white but it worked great! Adding micro balloons allows you to control the buoyancy great which is very helpful on swimbaits because of the limited area to drill holes for lead.

Great info guys! Thanks for the help.

Hi guys, I am looking at building a new drying wheel. I really like the style that looks like 1/2 pvc that has a screw fixed onto it to attach the lure then the pvc peg fits into the dryer to fit multiple lures. My question is how is the bottom hook hanger attached after it is removed from the screw. It appears that it is drilled out then a Rivet is inserted to clean up around the screw. Then the screw eye is placed in the Rivet. Can someone tell me if this is how it is done so I can insure maximum strength. Or point me out to a topic that has more info on this? Attached is an screenshot of svartzonkers wheel which is exactly what I want to do. Thanks, Sam

I think I will use all these ideas. I am going to cut the segments out using a table saw, leaving the blank in one piece. I am also going to make a second cut to cut out a wedge so it has more room to swim.(I feel that works better on large muskie swimbaits). Then I will use that waxed based paste to glue in some wedges that will fit in the gaps. After cutting out the shape of the bait, I can carve it as one piece. I use carving knives so I am hoping this will prevent chipping. I hope it will work as good as I think it will. Thanks again guys.

Thank you. I never thought of using a table saw. You have saved from alot of fustration.

Hey guys, What is the best way to cut the sides of a swimbait so the cuts meet in the middle and the angles of the cuts are even on both sides? Sorry if this was confusing to read, it was hard to explane. I just want to know how to make even V style segments for my swimbaits. Thanks for reading.

I have personally only made topwaters but I have seen other turned baits. I seen crankbaits that where turned. Search for some websites that have antique lures and you should be able to find some examples. Hope this will help

Hey guys, I am fairly new to bait making and airbrushing so I hope you can help me with some questions. Right now I have a Badger 155 Anthem but can't acheive the fine details I want. Is it just me or the airbrush? If it is the airbrush what airbrush should I get(under $150)? I like what I've heard about Iwata, Badger and the Air Pro Tools PS900. Also, how important is a MAC valve and what does it do? Thanks for reading.