Chris Catignani

You need to hold the wood down. Most scroll saws have an arm you can adjust to hold the piece down. The problem you will have is that sometimes the piece your cutting is really small(ish) and is difficult for the arm to hold it down.

Cutting Lexan with a scroll saw is no problem.

Most catfish rods are: medium, medium heavy and heavy. Kind of depends on the type of cats.

You step on it and the saw goes...you step off and it stops.

You should also consider getting a foot pedal...something like a Wen WA0392. Its about $30 and can be used with just about anything with a plug.

A lot of lead baits...etc... have a combination of lead-tin...sometimes as much as 2/3 of a spinnerbait head can be tin. This actually help make a larger profile. I bet those jigs are not 100% lead (melting point is 621 F) but are part tin (melting point is 450 F).

I agree with @Apdriver it looks toast. If you happen to have some other scrap pieces of rod...you could cut a sleeve and slide it over that spot and epoxy in place. You would need to take all the guides above that spot off first. Preferably a piece of fiberglass. What can happen if you used a sleeve it that now its stiffer then the area around it and sometimes will break right at the sleeve edge....but sometimes they hold up.

I think epoxy is pretty durable.

I use several different kinds of epoxy...and at times it just depends on what Im doing... One thing that's relatively new that I'm using is UV resin. Its easy to apply and cures in seconds. I did buy a UV torch for it. uvBeast V3 365nm....and the resin.

I'm not 100% sure on that one. Its only going to be a problem if its in the sun day in day out. Some colors don't care about UV...and some paints have UV inhibiters. Like I have some Golden paints that say, "formulated with 100% acrylic polymer dispersion"..bla..bla...UVLS. UVLS stands for Ultra Violet Filters and Stabilizers. I'm sure I'm getting some of this wrong...but for me...I try not to worry about it a whole lot...unless its the color yellow. If you ever see these old four color prints on the wall were the grass and trees look blue...it because the yellow has faded out of it.

One thing people dont realize is that a UV inhibiter in epoxy is there only for the epoxy...and it only for a limited time...and that may change. But the material under the epoxy is still subject to UV discoloration. Take hard wood floors for example...the epoxy may not yellow due to UV inhibiters...but the wood will still discolor. Source on UV resistance

Something to think about... I've noticed that when I soak a lure in my Linseed:Paint thinner (1:10)...it will bubble for a bit. So...I think a more fluid concoction will pernitrate and seal deeper...thus better.

@RiverSmallieGuy The have an epoxy that called Rod Builders epoxy that does have a faster set up time...its not 5 minute...but more like 30 minutes to set up and longer to cure and get hard.

The key word here is "vibratory".

I have some Evo Dyne I got at Micheals...not real particular about a brand...just came across it and I was out.