Hillbilly voodoo

If you are going to look at actual mold silicone Smooth on is cheaper then Alumilite and I actually prefer the smooth on silicone. But for casting resin Alumilite makes a better product I have made lots of silicone molds and resin lures with the above products. Not the cheapest but good products. They are cheaper for you being in the USA then I pay in Canada though

If you are clear coating with epoxy it is most convenient to just use epoxy thinned with acetone it penetrates and hardens the wood so it also strengthens your bait at the the same time

I have never used this method and only seen it on the internet so can’t say how effective it is There is videos showing people making silicone molds with a dish soap and silicone from the hardware store mix. Google it because I suck at posting links As long as you don’t loose your carved master you can always take your time saving a few $ at the worst outside of that you might need to start doing yard work for your neighbors to earn extra lure making funds

I say buy the smallest spray can available and try it

Ok ordered two molds from epic bait molds to get me started I am having issues trying to order an injector through bass tackle because they are only giving me the option of in store pick up through their website. So far no one is answering the phone either. If this continues to be an issue come Monday I will be looking elsewhere They might just be awesome injectors but traveling from Canada to pick it up is not happening lol So any other options on good injectors?Companies with good customer service are always a plus

Brand recommendations please

Thank you for the feedback everyone between reading here and other sources aluminum sounds like the best option for injectors I see prices vary a lot. What should someone look for or avoid when it comes to injectors?

If you use a lure turner it will be even as long as you have a reasonably smooth rotation. A clean lure and thin even coats help. Odds are if you have uneven or voids with epoxy using a turner it is oils from your hands on the lure, improper coverage, or a prolonged stall in the rotation of your lure turner I have only used Etex for epoxy but this is the method I used and issues I found

Decided to breakdown and buy some molds and injector. Just want to make the tails for some of my hard jerk baits and some bigger swimbaits for pike I have seen both fake stone and aluminum molds what are the advantages/disadvantages of the different materials? any recommendations on large swimbait mold 6+ inch?

No issues with dry KBS or Etex reacting to soft plastics on the baits I have made

I have not used the spray but I do brush on KBS For pike I use 5 coats and 3 for less toothy species

Well the fact no one taught me how to build lures and I didn’t have much for resources for information either I screwed up LOTS to figure things out lol

It’s way better to be ranked low people expect way less of you that way lol

My resin lures I use a combo of pure resin and bird shot depending on what I am trying to accomplish wooden baits I use coils of lead. Really easy to work with. You can fit it tight in the hole you drill and just use a good filler to level it off

I started with rattle cans, then a cheap badger airbrush and compressor, now I use a neo and a decent compressor If I knew what I do now I would have saved the hassle and started with a neo and a compressor that I could adjust my psi its easier to do decent work with good tools then struggle with meh tools

I see I still suck at typing on my phone lol JD try pressure fitting lips with a layer of tape less clean up then glue and no dry time needed

You don’t need videos just build it There is so much that is in videos on the internet. Honestly a lot of the YouTube builders are not doing anything fancy Just come up with an idea and go for it I learnt more from trial and error they I ever would of the internet

Wrong thread lol

Honestly if you are building bass lures it doesn’t take much. Never used cotter pins but have used through wire, eye screws and twisted wire eyes through wire in my opinion is best if you are worried the wood itself is going to fail. I only ever do this by special requests never for my personal lures eye screws work fine but it’s a matter of appropriate size according to the species you are fishing. It’s also a good Idea to harden the wood with something like thinned Etex so it penetrates into the wood. This will help prevent tear out. Also secure them with epoxy Wire twist eyes same principles as eye screws use appropriate gauge of wire. Harden the wood. Use an appropriate pilot hole with epoxy eye screws and twist eyes will hold better if installed on an angle so the it’s not a straight pull on them I build lures mostly for larger species like salmon, pike and lake trout. I use .092 stainless steel eye screws 1 1/2 - 2 inch long. Most of my lures are resin pour but I use the same for wood too I have lifted fish up by the lure with they shaking up to around 30lbs without failure Bass pick any method you please they are not that tough that is my dumb red neck opinion anyway

Dollar stores, craft stores, pets, old Xmas tinsel and whatever random places you see stuff worth while I hunt and held a trappers license so I got a lot of stuff from this too A good friend of mine is a big taxidermist that has clients that send him animals from all over the world. I got a ton of trim ends from him. Lots of the materials are not cheap and hard to come by

Sanding stones, sanding drum, dremel, rasps, and sand paper/pocket knife combo are all things I have and still use to make concave faces all depends on the depth and style I am going for. But my plugs are a little different then what is normally done on a lathe. I had carve all my bodies and they are not the conventional design you gave as an example

I have built lots of lures for salmon and Lakers. I prefer 0.51 wire or .092 eye screws. Mid size Lakers are not really hard on lures but big chinook and Lakers over 15lbs can be. Most often the damage is done in the net not during the fight. Chinook are really bad for gator rolling in the net and breaking lures that is why you see a lot of salmon plugs with bead chain and large barrel swivels or line through designs I grew up on the west coast of BC and did lots of fishing for salmon

No problem we all start somewhere. I don’t know how many lures I have made but I also can’t remember how many I screwed up too lol

Oh and if you move this post to the hard bait section you will get way more help

It flops over on it’s side on your retrieve? Odds are if you move the tie point from the top of the head to the tip of the nose it will ride true.