out2llunge

I used some ash many years ago when I made several 6" grandmas. It can hard on tools and isn't particularly easy to work with, but boy is it solid. 'Ole esox is gonna lose a tooth when he bites into those babies. The action is very slow, at least compared to the WRC that I normally use in ost baits.

One slight mod to the way those lips are cut that I do is to carefully cut the template such that the straight edge of the lip (the edge that goes inside the bait) is accurately aligned on the edge of the poly before gluing down. That way, that edge needs no further cutting or sanding provided your band saw skills are half decent.

Those double line ties usually just pass through a slot in the lip. The slot is marginally larger than the wire hoop passing through it. Usually no epoxy, just a continuous piece of wire through the lip and body.

FF, the baits we're making are meant for very large muskies and that's why the use of the SS screws. Agreed, probably overkill, but I don't think one can over engineer a bait made for muskies of WR proportions.

It's usually best to perform the round over in a succession of increasing depths. Woods like cedar, which splinter easily do not react well to full round overs right away, especially for example with a 1/2" R bit.

For hardwood I would agree, but for some softer woods like cedar the drum may be just as fast. I do know that some thickness planers actually use sanding drums instead of planing knives to reduce stock to a desired thickness so the possibility is there. RM, I know one of the owners-ish of Busy Bee maybe he can donate one ot my work

Here's another pneumatic sander that I founf thinking that it would be much cheaper - boy was I wrong. http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?&NETID=2007591117071628396&NTITEM=B095N Their stuff is usually off-shore and cheaper, but tis time not significantly so the Lee Valley product should be much better.

That's very cool. There not to far from me either. Smells like a Christmas present idea.

If you guys are looking for White Cedar you might want to check with lumber suppliers in Eastern Ontario and Quebec. Now I bet your saying "yah I'm going to import that from Canada". Well you may not have to. You could e-mail them and ask which American companies to they sell to. Don't know if it will help or not, but could be worth a shot. I know of a place (about 1/2 hour form here) that deals primarily with cedar, not 100% sure that it's white cedar, but likely wood be. Here's there addy if anyone is interested. http://www.woodviewproducts.com/lumber.htm I don't know how large an operation these guys are, but there are some large mills in Ontario and Quebec that might solve your problems.

Here's one, perhaps a bit more local http://www.paulowniawood.com/contact.htm They're in Ormond Beach, Florida

Clemmy, this is the kind of place I'm talking about. They have Yellow Cedar (doesn't specify Alaskan) and Jetulong, But I didn't see Paulownia listed. They did have Pau if that is similar. http://www.exotic-woods.com/services.html

Thanks Etch, I was just going to add that point about the paper. It goes between the blade and the side guide bushings(?) vs. the actual bearing (mentioned earlier) which is behind the blade.

Sorry just saw the "difficulty" part. Not difficult at all. On a scale of 1 to 5 maybe a 1 to 1.5 It really is a matter of getting to know your machine, but band saws are fairly generic in their designs. One other thing to check for on used units is tire wear. The tires are the rubber bands that go around the circumference of each wheel. They should be replaced if badly worn. You may also wish to clean them up a bit if they're covered in pitch from cutting a lot of softwoods.

If you're changing from blade size "A" to blade size "A" then usually it's only a matter of minutes (or less) as blade tension and blade tracking are the only adjustments (usually) that are required. It's as simple as opening the wheel guards (doors), removing the throat plate (the circular disc that the blade passes through within the table), loosening the blade tension knob and removing the blade. Installation is the reverse with added step of checking blade tracking. If going from size "A" to size "B", then the above procedure applies, but the blade guard/bearings should be adjusted accordingly (out or in depending if you're upsizing or downsizing blades respectively). That really only adds another minute or so.

Specialty woods usually are had at specialty suppliers. Lowes and HD aren't going to carry those types. Look online or in your phone book for lumber suppliers particularly for the cabinetry industry. They usually sell by the board foot, but it might be different with some of the species you're looking for.