Lock 45

MAWitter, Also look at Hagens as a supplier of components and great bending tools. Regards, Lock 45

Drew, I make big Muskie spinner bucktails baits. You want to go to your local welding supply and buy .062" 308 stainless tig wire. This will be 36" long wire, fairly straight, rather easy to cut and bend ( as far as stainless goes ) and in my opinion, cannot be beat for the task at hand. To bend it, you want a Hagens big black nasty wire forming tool. It will be about $150.00 and worth EVERY penny. Tell Hagens that you want to work with .062" diameter wire and ask them to pick out a set of bending inserts that will do the job on .062" wire. I have done what you wish to do. I took the hard road. I have just saved you endless hours of screwing around. Now go catch a big one for us all. Regards, Lock 45

overkill, You really want to watchout how much juice you put through that light dimmer switch. Your Dremel will be fine, as would soldering irons, etc. Small low power items are O K to run with these things. For anything with a large, power sucking, heater element, you REALLY need a Variac. My strong suggestion is to get one rated for at least 15 amps. That way you are covered. That or stay away from any device that draws more than 1,000 watts and go with a 10 amp model. Your rough ballpark matching fudge factor is 100 watts equal 1 amp. As an example, I run a 1,000 watt floor heater on a 10amp Powerstat variable transformer, which is what these units are called, and have no problems. I run at about 50%. Please keep in mind that one of these transformers can be cranked up to produce 140 volts, so use caution. Check Ebay for these devices. You can sort of self educate yourself by viewing them. .

I fish large lures for Musky. Lasy year I lost three big tandem bucktails that I tied. How abot some ideas on making lure retrievers? Both for big spinner baits and large wooden plugs. I seem to envision a serious weight with a ring and chains attatched? Any success stories to tell me about? How about posting some pictures for all to see? Thanks, Dan Miller

Luckmusky, Go to your local welding supply. Ask for TIG rod in 308 Stainless. I have .035", .045" and .062" available in my area. These are 36" long rods of the most perfect lure making wire you can buy anywhere. It will bend without problems and form good twisted eyes. I use this rod for wire and wood baits. Best thing I have found The price is usually by the pound. Phone around to find a supplier that will sell you less than 10lb at a time. The cost per bait ends up being peanuts compared to the end use. Then do not fool around. Go out and buy a Hagens big black nasty wire bender for about $120.00 and never look back. Think about getting the optional large wire diameter bending parts that go with the Hagens bender. These are advertised as being able to bend .051" wire. I use mine on .062", after a slight bit of fitting. It really works great. Trust me. I have been through it all. Lock 45

Hey Glaucus, Did you know about the lure building get together held last weekend? It was at Bayview and Hwy. # 7. Go to the Muskystriker sight and read about it in the forum there. We had a super time exchanging ideas about homemade lures. There was both wooden lure making and bucktail tying. We had maybe 20 in attendance. Check out the photos.

I plan on making some BIG Musky safety pin style spinner baits, not inline. While I do have some 1/16" stainless tig rod, I thought that stainless bicycle spokes could be used. These come in larger diameters than 1/16", such as 13ga., and 12ga. Has anyone used stainless bicycle spokes with success? Any tips on bending this thick material? I would prefer to create a closed eye instead of an open " R " style of wire frame.