stencil making question

[rusty hooks]

I've got the vacuum forming down pat, I'm just having a horrible time creating patterns that don't lol like a preshooler doodled the paint on the lures because of rough edges and mismatched sides. Anybody got any tips on making mirrored images and clean cuts for patterns? I've tried a woodburner with a filed down tip, which worked horribly and an exacto knife which was so-so but still not up to my standards. I know they'll catch fish but I'm a little bit of a perfectionist.

[rusty hooks]

Dang boys! 27 views and no suggestions? I know somebodies got something, I've seen yalls paint jobs. I'm not liking to steal patterns, just a hint as to how I can make mine look a little more professional.

[bassinfool]

My buddy cuts his out with a scalpel and then uses a small dremel bit to smooth out the rough edges.  I don't paint any lures myself so I'm sorry I can't be any more help than that.

[WALLEYE WACKER]

I use a dremel to cut stencil's and sand of the rough edges.  As for a getting both sides the same I put the lure in one half and use a marker and take the two half together to make the other side. Nothing in nature is exactly perfect from one side to the other.

[andrewlamberson]

I draw the pattern  on the  bait  and then put the  stencil form on and copy it onto  the form.

I cut the pattern out using a super small dremel bit and use a fine file to finish the edges.

Even better...I buy the stencils from  Lure Color Studio!

Andy

[MO QWACK]

Use paper and a razor blade works great. Very few things in nature have hard lines

[rusty hooks]

There we go! Thanks for the replies. Walleye Wacker, Andy, how do y'all go about cutting sharp "V's"? I've got a "rotary tool", but it's a harbor freight special so it's not all that great. That could be my problem, but cutting sharp v's with it leaves a rounded corner. Am I using too large of a bit, just being too picky or is there another way y'all are cutting those?

I LOVE the Lure Color Studio stencils, just hard to pay that much just making a few baits here and there.

"Use paper and a razor blade works great. Very few things in nature have hard lines"

That's pretty much what I've been doing. I've been using and index card, maybe that's a little too stiff for what I'm doing.

Thanks again guys.

[ctom]

They say an artist is his worst critique. lol Relax and have some fun with this stuff. As mentioned, nothing in nature is perfect, in fact its the less than perfect that will more often get the attention of the fish. Maybe a color is off. Maybe it looks lopsided. Maybe it doesn't run quite true. But there's always something ....

I'd bet that every bait shown on these pages, whether and painted hard bait or a painted jig or a plastic, has something that the maker could pick out as a defect and would choose to not have there. Gotta be a politician to be prefect, just ask one and they'll tell ya. As a tackle crafter you're allowed some looseness so enjoy it and use it to your advantage. lol

[andrewlamberson]

For V shapes I use a lage pair of scissors and cut the V down from the top of the stencil. That gives you nice straight lines  (which I like!).

Another tip is to draw a dot at the bottom of where you  want the bottom of the V.  Using  a ruler draw a line straight  up to the top and this will be the center point for the top of the V. Measure over to the left and right of the center point for the left and right top starting points ando make a dot  to guide your cut from top to bottom.

Use you first side template to mark your bottom dots  on the other side template and  repeat the above.

And you should end up with both sides the same!

I don't have issues with the open top of the V. ...but if you do,  use a thin piece of duct tape doubled over on itself to  reform  the top of the stencil.

[Lines]

Gotta be a politician to be prefect, just ask one and they'll tell ya.

Lie to the government..you're a felon. Government lies to you..they're politicians.

[rusty hooks]

They say an artist is his worst critique. lol Relax and have some fun with this stuff. As mentioned, nothing in nature is perfect, in fact its the less than perfect that will more often get the attention of the fish. Maybe a color is off. Maybe it looks lopsided. Maybe it doesn't run quite true. But there's always something ....

I'd bet that every bait shown on these pages, whether and painted hard bait or a painted jig or a plastic, has something that the maker could pick out as a defect and would choose to not have there. Gotta be a politician to be prefect, just ask one and they'll tell ya. As a tackle crafter you're allowed some looseness so enjoy it and use it to your advantage. lol

You're probably right lol. I just like blowing my buddies mind, the closet to perfect the bigger his eyes get lol. Thanks for all the replies fellas.