DanielG

I justmade a UV curing chamber and also am pretty new to bait making. I posted about it here along with a video of the build. KBS Diamond coat is a stand alone substance. It cures when exposed to air and people like it. UV resin requires UV light to cure. Common resins are Alumi-uv and Solarez. Solarez cures extremely fast, minutes or less, smells bad and might be a bit toxic. It hardens well though. Some have abandoned it because of the smell but more because it often thickens over Time just by the light hitting it while opening the can. Alumi-uv takes 30+ minutes to harden, has no odor and is used because it will stay thinner over time in the can. Both produce a very hard surface, level well, don't yellow and are generally considered a very good surface for baits. Alumi-uv is available as a Chinese knockoff for a lot less cost. (check amazon). I have found, as well as users who've posted on youtube that it seems to be exactly like Alumi-uv. I've used it and it's very good. My baits Harden completely in 30 min. under my homemade lights. I started out using a good 2 part epoxy resin that works very good but you have to mix it in exacting amounts and put it on a rotating dryer to keep it from sagging while it's still wet.

I live on a large open water lake with little coverage and you've got to work to catch stuff. I troll cheap swimbaits in the spring. Usually Berkleys, the 5 in a package for $2.99 at Walmart. Funny how the work well.

Airing on the side of caution is probably a good idea. I haven't noticed any effects if looking at these lights but I plan on not making it a habit. I'm planning on putting the lures in, then the cover on, then turning the unit on. Never hurts to be careful when it's easy to be and no reason not to be.

Yes, It is not fast but Trolls really nicely and opens up to a blazing 2.5 mph if needed. Two pontoons with a 6'x12' deck. Two 100 amp solar power storage batteries and two 35 lb minn kotas. Complete with retractable awying, electronic steering, garmin fish finder, radio, LED lights (and some Multi color around the perimeter. Just a lot of fun to fish from. The build for it on Instructables is here. And you should see my previous one... 4 electric motors and 8 batteries and floatation was 2400 two liter soda bottles. No kidding Wanna see it too?

? I just finished doing a small update to my profile. It caused me to take a good look at this website, and particularly the forum. I frequent a few specialty forums. Some are well done while others are a nightmare to post to and navigate. One good one I use a lot is lumberjocks. Of the ones I use, that one and this one are particularly well designed and organized. Adding links, graphics, resizing them and a bunch of other stuff is 'obvious'. You don't have to hunt forever and never find out if it is doable. Whatever features are here, if they are part of the program, you can see them right away. They are quickly useable. Very refreshing in the tech universe. Beyond that, the compact organization is refreshing also. Some forums have dozens of categories that you have to navigate through to get to what you want. The organizer of BR seem to recognized that consolidating and limiting topics makes things easier. My thanks to those who make this resource available and maintain it.

My homemade catamaran is in the 2.5 mph range (according to my Garmin) A bit heavier than a Kayak but still all electric an a 4 mile lake.

Here's another take on it. My boat is all electric. A catamaran pontoon. I love it. I have two batteries and two 35 lb thrust motors. Both batteries are connected to both motors. If one battery or one motor ever dies on me I've always got a backup. Using both motors doesn't increase the speed much, but I do know about the wind battles. Yes, in a stronger wind, kicking in the extra motor does make a difference. I think the prop on the motors is designed for a certain speed for moving a boat and slow trolling. If the motor hits some resistance it just draws more current to maintain it's thrust, but it doesn't go faster. A look on amazon at some minn kota props it seems that my 35 lb thrust prop also fits larger motors.

The view outside my front door. The lake is 4 1/2 miles long and varies 1/4-1/2 mile wide. We renovated an old family camp to a year round home upon retirement and live here. A bit of heaven in southern Maine. The lake is semi clear and goes shallow to deep, up to 90 ft. The fish aren't huge but the fishing is often good. Bass I catch average about 1 1/2-3 lbs. Some trout and salmon and huge crappie among a few other species. So, my boat is tied to the dock from approx April/May to Oct/Nov. I'm out almost every other day. Sometimes dawn and dusk. I grew up here and know it like the back of my hand. I've snorkeled all over it as a kid. It's.... Comfortable. So fortunate.

Probably not related. When I made my first crankbait last year it came out so much better than I anticipated. I measured the epoxy to the 10th of a gram on the scale I bought for it according to how some people explained it online. It just didn't cure.... days later... to this day a few month later it's still tacky. The reason... in tiny letters on the bottom of the label it says "mix 1:1 by volume"... That's my sad story. All my subsequent baits are doing well.

Good idea... suggest getting it digitally on Amazon. Usually half the price and it sounds like he's plenty screen broken in so he'd probably prefer it that way. I'm sure whatever you settle on will work well and set him up for some good open water time with you. Good luck!

It's going be a good game. I thought Mahomes and KS did a great job... that is until I saw what the 49ers were capable of. I'm really looking forward to the Superbowl. And I'm from New England. It's gonna be nice to see some other teams compete for a change; refreshing. ?

My favorite rod is a Dobyns Champion 7.3 MHF glass rod. I find that it's relatively forgiving, to a certain extent, for casting weights. One of the reasons I like it is because it's the 'funnest' rod to catch a fish on, i.e. wrestle with it and crank it in. So, I put up with however it casts different baits.

Yup, one with an automatic charge mode. Lots of them do. It will say so in the directions

A good battery charger can be left on at any time in my experience. Don't they have an auto mode? If the battery has juice in it it won't freeze and the charger won't know what time of year it is.

To put hooks on with rings from scratch I can't imagine not having the pliers. I suppose it's possible but those things are tiny. It's hard enough even with the pliers.

For what it's worth, I've got this one on Amazon. I've used it for two summers almost every other day, charging two 100 amp batteries in a totally electric boat. I cover about 3-5 miles each time. I do a lot of trolling. It's been great. I also have an older cousin of this one in my camper for the past 8 years. One of the charging sides has died but the other is still working.

Yup, I like cranks. I live on a 4.5 mile lake that's a flooded river valley that's 90 ft deep in some places. Not much vegetation, not much coverage. Crankbaits work good in open waters. That and swimbaits are what I use a lot.

Enjoy it, I know everyone is different but I felt my best and strongest around 50-55. Towards 60 things start creaking and feeling stiffer.

Finished today. Used my first UV resin. It worked well.

I made a couple of baits and made a video. Near the end you'll see them in the curing tank. It works even better than I anticipated.

Ya, but plenty of people use it for full size lures... often they have a ventilation fan overhead from what I see on youtube. I think it's why many of them have switched over to Alumilite stuff. With the quart can you can dip the lure too. Saves brushing. Thing is a quart (2 lbs) is $90!!! But, it will do a ton of lures.

Solarez cures very fast compared to Alumi-uv. It's good stuff and it's cure rate a fraction of the time. Many have given up on it (according to stuff I've read) because of the fumes/smell and it's a different type of UV substance and has toxicity. Most of them are painting or dipping into it before curing so there's a big surface area not meant for a uv flashlight. Anyway, I've never used it so I'm just going on what I've read and seen tested on youtube. I considered it. Still, Solarez would probably harden in my chamber in a couple of minutes. As I understand it you have to keep the bottle closed promptly while using it as it will get thick over time just with ambient light hitting it while it's open. With Alumi-uv you can by a quart of it and that will not happen. Plus, a true curing blacklight will cure much faster. They are also much more expensive as you need something a bit larger to cure something larger. The fingernail lights I made are a compromise between something that works in 20-30 minutes for a large item and cost and being able to use the Alumi-uv substance. Epoxy, which I have used and works really good takes at least 24 hours to harden good and should have 72 hrs before use. Nothing wrong with that. This UV chamber was made more because I like building stuff, wanted to try it, and thought it was kinda cool. And you know the old addage... Retired people have too much time on their hands. I'll still use up my bottles of epoxy at some point. It works great.

And for those with a Mac, it will open in preview (part of the OS) choose view and resize in the menubar above. Then click save.

On another note, I just applied the first coat to a piece of pvc that I had primed white. Thing is I couldn't get the Alumi-UV made in the US like I wanted. It's backordered and unavailable for months. So, I ordered a small bottle of the Chinese stuff that the Engineered Angler on youtube has tested and found that there's no difference. It worked. Cured in 20 minutes or less. I'm not sure as I didn't check till the 20 minutes was up. I'm wondering. Is the American version of this stuff is ordered from China, repackaged in what looks like generic cans and bottles, and sold for about 40% more in cost??? Maybe because of the tariffs it's not available right now for them to purchase.

No. good point. Caused me to look it up. These things, from what I found, are pretty safe even though people put their hands under them for a period of time. I guess the wattage is fairly low. Using them as a curer for UV resin, there would be very little exposure to the light as you put the lure in, put the cover on, and turn it on. Fun factoid: Years ago when microwave ovens came to the lunch room at our work place, people signed petitions to have them removed as the food would be irradiated and kill us all. Wasn't true but it's always good to be sure.