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eastman03

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Everything posted by eastman03

  1. Not totally finished but I'll throw it up here anyway.
  2. Ok thanks guys. I can do it! Lol. Let you know how it goes.
  3. Thanks guys. I've only made a hand full of lures. Love doing it. I'm just getting into it. Almost have to talk me off the ledge with this envirotex. It sure looks great when it works but I've probably done about 10 applications with over half having some issue. I think I'm narrowing it down now. This last one was just a bit too warm, and too much on the lure and probably a bit overuse of the torch I use to zap bubbles. I've done it once before way too much and it pretty much liquified the etex and it started dropping off lol. I will continue to be diligent about cleanliness and such. Just need to dial in the amounts. Thanks guys. I'll let you know how the next batch goes. I'm on the finishing coats now. No room for error!
  4. Thanks dale. I just let the etex bottles warm up in hot tap water. The result was noticibly more runny then before when I just did it at room temp. It did assist in getting rid of all bubbles. I warmed it up in hot tap water. Then mixed equal parts by volume ( I even rigged syringes up to make it accurate). Mixed for five minutes. Let it sit for another five. Then brushed it on. And left them on the turner. I checked on then after 30 min and I could see the etex was sagging. Not sure why. I think I just put it on a bit thick and let the bottles get too warm. Not sure.
  5. Had to go back and read this all again. Have still been having envirotex issues. So frustrating. It's one thing to have a bit of fish eye to sand off on the first layers under the paint. But now I just finished a painted lure with etex and it was running like crazy. Perhaps I over compensated for the cooler basement room and heated it up too much with hot water perhaps I just did to thick of a coat. Sure is frustrating. Seems like there is always something wrong.
  6. I was just experimenting with the same thing. Watched a Paul Adams video. And I replicated kinda what he did. Clamped two 2x4's together and used a Forstner bit to drill in the joint. Poured lead in the holes. Then unclamp and pop the little cylinders out. Worked pretty good. A hard wood might work better. A bit of the lead seeped out. I'm curious what other guys do as well.
  7. I use the testers airbrush paint from Michaels. Kinda nice because it's all ready to paint. I haven't done much but I haven't needed to thin it out at all. Minimal colour selection compared to createx but so far so good.
  8. This is a fantastic resource and I love reading all the old posts. I find searching google with the words tackle underground works best too. I still don't quite know how the guys who make the headlocks get this level of sparkle on just the sides. Great baits. I will continue to explore and try my options. Love this hobby I'm getting into. Also just added a 1957 de Walt radial arm saw. So awesome!
  9. Got it, thanks BobP. I know so much has been written about the subject (and I'm way off topic of sparkle paint already), but when you start mixing it, everything I remember reading goes out the window, like I start to panic with the ticking clock haha. Overall they are turning out good. I will get some denatured alcohol and apply.
  10. Gliders - what do you think caused my fish eye? Happened on both the baits I was turning. Large crankbaits. Shop was cooler. They were on a turner. Could it have been the spot when the shaft of my turner ( a BBQ roterserie) kinda falls over? Or just not a clean bait beforehand? Envirotex has an unreal finish but sure is frustrating. I'm moving that process into a basement room to control dust and temp from now on.
  11. Awesome bob. May try that method with the cheap glitter paint. That would be easy. Then airbrush some black tiger stripes on it. With a coat or two of envirotex. Gliders - I built a lure turner last year for envirotex application. Works good. I still just had some fish eyes but I think I put it on way to thick. Still perfecting that.
  12. Appreciate the responses! I think I will attempt to paint the lure in gold/yellow. Then add a bunch of glitter to my first epoxy coat. Being a large musky bait. I usually add a bunch of coats anyway. But I may also try other methods, so many things to try so little time.
  13. Just curious, how do you get paint jobs where the paint is completely evenly covered in sparkle/glitter? Is it sprayed on through the airbrush? Or nail polish? Or added to the epoxy finish? i want to replicate this believer given to me by a musky fishing legend!! Also, how do you reprint a different believer? Just sand, prime, paint then epoxy?
  14. This has been a very useful topic for me as well, good work everyone. Mark, if you don't mind me asking, how do you cut your slots in the your bait? I run my bait through a table saw when the lure is still in a square block, but it's tricky to line it up perfectly straight, maybe I just need a better table saw... the epoxy i filled most of the slot with seems to be working very well. Just top up the rest with bondo and it's ready for primer and envirotex.
  15. First of all, that is an awesome looking lure! As far as bondo, I'll have to second what Mark P said. From what I've read, there are not many substances that are rated as a structural gap filler except epoxy. The only thing is, bondo is holding half of the old cars on the road together, so you would think it would last. I'm curious to know what you find. I fill the slot in my baits with a bit of epoxy then finish the top bit with bondo. I just did two tonight using ecopoxy, something I've never tried (I'll let you know how it goes) As far as the bondo in the slot, is it possible that it never filled in the entire slot all the way to the bottom. I know the very first lure I did I tried bondo and I made a huge mess trying to force it down into the slot. It was not viscous enough to flow into the slot around the wire. Perhaps that allowed moisture in somehow? I like the idea of that epoxy putty BobP. That is something I will have to look into some more.
  16. I was just working on my second run of lures (same as the blue one in the pic), and instead of pouring the lead directly into the lure, I attempted to make a wood block mold, and pour the lead into my mold. That made little cylinders of lead which I could just place into the holes that i drilled into the wood at the same time I epoxied the slot and wire in. So it saved me a step and a lot of screwing around. Hopefully it works out. I really need to get become more meticulous in the small things like prep and taping for easy clean up. Some of those youtubers make it look so easy.
  17. Honestly, I'm very very green at this bait making thing too! Just got into it last winter, have been doing tons of reading, (this forum is the best!). Produced a few baits last winter, 2 of witch made it into the tackle box even and have caught some big pike (no muskies quite yet). I was just out working in the shop yesterday and today evenings, and every time i want to try something, it leaves me with more questions, good thing there is you tube (paul adams, solar baits, marling baits lots of good help in their videos). This thread has got me curious about the wood hardener also. I only picked spar urethane because it seemed available and easy to use. Also, on bigger baits like the 12" ones I'm making, I'm not too concerned with a bit of added weight. I suppose if you are working with small bass baits and balsa any weight could change the action. I honestly don't even know what brand that hardener is? As far as primer, I haven't done much research on it either. I picked some primer spray paint when I started experimenting with lures. Seems to work well. Nothing special, not sure if it's right or wrong. http://www.krylon.com/products/colormaster-primer/
  18. I build musky crank baits out of cedar. After shaping I will soak the baits in Minwax spar urethane for a few minutes, then after curing (and gluing in the wire and lead) I prime the lure, then coat with one or two layers of envirotex. Then I paint, and then more envirotex. Not sure if I'm doing it right either, but that seems to work for me. There sure does seem to be lots of different opinions on sealing lures, it's tough weeding through all the information. As far as wire through, as a hardcore musky guy, I prefer it, but there are lots of good baits out there that have screw in eyes. That is a huge debate also in the lure building community also haha.
  19. Yes!! Nice fish. Thanks for the feedback everyone. I figured it would be ok. As long as the hook hangers are not hanging out too much. I hope to have a pig like that on the end of my line next year!! Went out to LOTW this last sunday, late late muskies. Caught two, nothing that big!
  20. Just looking for some input too see if I'm using the right wire. Building 12" wire through deep diving musky crankbaits. The wire is aircraft gauge stainless steel wire but it seems really malleable. Like I'm worried about its overall strength, of the eyes will bend too easy. It is .051 gauge. The wire I used last year was some sort of music wire. Super springy, impossible to work with. Let me know what you think. Maybe it's just the right stuff.
  21. So this is a long overdue update. I haven't really touched any lure building stuff all summer, too busy actually fishing. It was a great season. This last trip out (nov 26), on lake of the woods we trolled the blue lure in the picture above, and another copper/orange one like it, and I caught my FIRST FISH on my own lures!!!!!! It was so cold we didn't even get any pics, just a bit of go pro footage. Three pike from 36-39", lost something else that was probably a muskie. I couldn't be happier, what a cool feeling. Now that we are in the middle of a snow storm, it's time to put the boat away and get out the band saw! lol
  22. So I gave painting a second try tonight. I really need to be more careful to not bump or touch the bait. Couple spots where i scratched the paint off. Oh well, live and learn. Overall it went well, need to try a different mesh. This one I used for the first two baits has a nice pattern, but is metal, so it also kinda scratches the paint. Cut some stencils out of a sheet of plastic. They worked pretty good, for the gills and the fin. Need to figure out how to make the fin not quite as solid, just one solid colour. Put some blue in there, but that didn't do much lol. Will keep trying, overall I'm very happy with it! Hope the muskies are too. Also recieved some eyes from Lisa and Ed's eyes, and they look awesome! Will add to the overall look for sure.
  23. Found some SS304 wire from Fastenall. Should work well. Finally found a creek that was flowing with a few feet of water. The two bigger lures seemed to work quite well! They tracked a bit to the left, but I'm sure I can adjust them and get them to hunt straight. The two flat sided cranks did not run at all. It looks like they need more weight or something. They just flop on their side and float up. This was without hooks on, so before I do anything drastic, i'll put the hardware on and see if they run. Then add weights to the hooks and see if that helps!
  24. Appreciate the tips like crazy. Was able to get rid of the fish eye and apply another coat of the etex with some success. I still need to find a better place to do it as the shop was kinda cold, and there was some dust that got into the finish. Good thing for the most part its not the final layer. Still waiting for the stupid ice to melt so I can go and try them out haha. Side note - what kinda wire should I be using in the bait. I got some .051 music wire for my baits. I didn't do much research, but I see this might break down? This is the exact wire I got. Might have to look for some SS wire by the sounds of it. Let me know if this is a huge mistake thanks.
  25. So went and checked out how the lures were doing after applying the first cost of envirotex. Not good. I guess beginners luck because I did a test lure earlier and it was fine. All of the lures had some sort of fish eye where it had run to a thick spot. And there were more bubbles than the very first time. Shoot. Patience will prevail. I've read darn near every form topic on this lol. Still requires some trial and error on my behalf. Question. How thick do you apply? I mixed for two min. The let sit for ten. Then applied. The thicker one seemed to work better. Also appeared like there were more bubbles towards the last bait. So I ended up sanding these down (left the painted one right out, figured id experiment with the unpainted ones first), and re applied epoxy which is on the turner right now. I figured maybe my turning rack was a bit off level? the fish eyes were all on one side. Who knows. I tried one thick, and one thinner. After babysitting them for an hour, bubbles appear ok. I breathed on them every so often to make sure they dissipated. Then leaning in for a closer look, the other one hit my hat. FFFF lol. Lightly brushed it smooth. ***note to self, don't screw around with the baits. Let time do the curing. I also turned up the temp in the shop a bit, maybe the cold weather slowed the curing down alot?
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