rofish

See also Fatfinger's way to do it: http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9119&page=2&highlight=bending+lexan

Not that I would ever hope to fish at a depth of 100' or 200', but I would like to know how is that done with a crankbait. Don't tell me it is a floating one. And how much time does the lure need to reach such a depth? Do you still have time to fish it? And what if such a crankbait would be made out of lead? Would it solve cracking paint problems?

Well, I think you would not believe me if I say I am not glad that at least one of my lures can catch fish in the USA. What Palmetto Balsa forgot to mention, is that the lures I make could not look so good without the quality materials he sent me. And of course, I have to thank many people on TU, for their ideas. Husky for the printing foil technique, Fatfingers for his idea of bending lips, LaPala from whom I think I got some passion for lures, and many others.

I am glad you decided to talk to us again, LP:worship:

The joke has nothing to do with with the nickname you have chosen, V-man! And I hope that your nickname is a joke as well!

The story made me remember a fact which happened many years ago. I was fishing in winter, on a frozen lake, using small fish as bait. There were many guys on that lake, which was full of pikes. The guy not far from me, caught a nice pike, about 4 kg, and I went to see it. If I would not see it with my eyes, I wouldn't believe it. The pike had a small pike in it's mouth, about 250 gr., which was half out of it's mouth. When that small pike was taken out, another pike came out along, same size as the first, but this one was half digested, so only the last half, the tail one, came out of the mouth (or should I say from the stomach?) So that pike had half a small pike in it's stomach, another small pike in it's mouth, half the way to it's stomach, and it still wanted to eat that small fish that the guy put in the hook. I repeat, I have seen all this with my eyes, otherwise I would not have believed it. This story remembers me a joke. Ivan Ivanovitch, a Russian fisherman, was fishing on a river, when he caught the small golden fish, which ask him to be released, and the fish would fulfill any 3 wishes that Ivan can imagine. So Ivan Ivanovitch ask the fish that the river would be transformed in a vodka river. And so it was, vodka was flowing on the river instead of water. The small golden fish ask Ivan to think of a second wish. Ivan then said that he would like that all the oceans, lakes and rivers should be transformed in vodka. And the small golden fish did make the wish come through. Now the fish wanted Ivan to think of the third and last wish. Ivan took a long moment for reflexion, then he said: - Could I have another bottle of vodka please?

I think this is a breathtaking job. Splendid colours. But I wonder what will happen if a fish would like to taste it from behind. Will it get to the hooks before he would be scared by the tail ? The more so as it is a very long one.

Thanks, woodieb8.

First, I think no one could better explain the difference for us, crankbait nuts, between scroll saw and band saw, than BobP did. I have a question, though. I use a scoll saw for almost a year now. Not very happy with it. I cut 14 mm thick basswood with it, and find very difficult to follow the cutting line. I have to be very pacient when working. Maybe I'll have to find a way to get more tension on the blade. I can cut out 6-7 crank shapes in an hour. My question is for those having a long experience with a band saw. Up to now, I broke many blades when working with the scroll saw, but nothing dangerous happened. Does anyone know what happens if a band saw blade breaks while working? (poor quality of the blade, malfunction of the machine, human error - the reason doesn't matter)

Vodkaman, it seems that we have both reinvented the wheel (me first ) There is a difference, though. On the bank of the river where the videos were taken, there was no mermaid in sight. Do you think I should try a swimming pool? Anyway, I have a fair trade offer for you: one of my lures in exchange for one of your mermaids. Does it sound tempting? http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rofish07&search=Search

I have a scrall saw and a disc/belt sanding tool. I keep them both at my father's house. The scrall saw stays in the garage, while the sanding machine stays in the house. That's because there is no room enough for both in the garage. So I cut out shapes with the scrall saw (very difficult to follow shapes when working in basswood), then put it aside, bring the sander from the house, install it in the garage, and when finished, clean it, and put it again in its box in the house. Then in my flat I would do the rest for the crankbaits to be finished. Problems there as well with the mess I do and a wife which likes a very clean flat. So I think that the first tool a crankbait maker should think of, would be a house on the ground:lol:

I think you could solve much easier your problem if you would find a german speaking friend. Meanwhile, you may try this: http://www.yachtcare.de/shop/4/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=urethan&categories_id=&x=23&y=12 or this: http://www.mercateo.com/kw/urethanlack/urethanlack.html

I think that the yellowing of the epoxy should be the last aspect to take into consideration when choosing a topcoat. As it seems, the yellowing will happen (if ever) over a period of many years, more than 5 (I believe what others say). How many crankbaits do we have in our tackle box, that are older than 5 years? And who said that the yellowing is wrong for the number of strikes a crankbait will produce? As far as I know, the yellow is the color which can be best seen in the water, so what if by yellowing, a crankbait will catch more fish?

One of the best places to go if you want a good explanation of a stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitro-cellulose By the way, I used nail polish to cover the blades of my spinner baits, and I was satisfied with the results. I may try the stuff on crankbaits as well.

I pour it myself. I have a mould made out of brass on a lathe. But I read somewhere that you can make a mould at home, out of hard wood. 2 parts clamped together, and you drill holes where the 2 pieces of wood meet. But I would bet that if you simply make holes in a piece of hard wood, that would be enough to make cylinder lead, because the lead would shrink after setting. See the beginning of the thread

In the predrilled hole, I insert cylindrical lead, same diameter as the hole. Sometimes the lead would not fit, because the ends of it are a little bit larger due to the fact that the lead was cut out from a longer cylinder. This is easy to corect, you just roll the cylinder between 2 hard surfaces (2 pieces of hard wood, 2 pieces of thick metal sheet, etc). When fit, I push the lead cylinder into the hole, then cover with epoxy putty, which can be sanded easily after cure. I use this system because I check every lure as to the ballast it needs. I hang trebble hooks and split rings to the sealed crankbait, press a cylinder lead into the hole (not all the way in, so that I can take it out) then sit the crankbait on water (in a pot of water) to see if the amount of lead is the one I want it to be. If the lead is too much, I cut out a slice of it, and repeat the operation. Now I cannot imagine how you coud check the right amount of lead you need if you just pour the lead into the hole. This might work far larger crankbaits, where you coud make the same depth of the hole, every time. But for smaller crankbaits this would not work. Anyway, if the lead is loose after you have poured it in, you might try to take out some of the lead with a drill bit, then cover it with epoxy or epoxy putty. This would keep the lead in place.

OK, Fatfingers, and thanks. This dot was a puzzle for me, and now I understand how it came that so many US crankbait makers have adopted it. Maybe if minnows in the waters I fish would have such a dot, I would have adopted it myself for my crankbaits.

Fatfingers, may I ask what is the purpose of a kill dot on the shoulder of the crankbait? Do such lures atract more strikes or could it be considered just a psycological aspect of the luremaker? Has anyone tested lures with kill dot agains lures without it ?

I made just a few crankbaits with the line tow in the lip. I have seen in a tutorial here on TU that in such a case the wire goes into the body as far as the lip goes. I didn't much like the ideea, so in my lures the wire goes into the lure much further than the lip. First I make the hole for the wire, as long as I want it to be (or as long as the angle of the lip can afford, before the hole ends on the back of the lure), then I put the drill bit with the round part into the hole, and then I make the lipslot by hand, with the saw blade leaning on the drill bit, so the cut for the lip and the hole are parallel. When I epoxy the lip, I check first the length of the wire, so it could fit the length of the hole, and also I check if the lip and the wire stay well together. Then I epoxy both together.

Now I'm sure. You need theese giant lures, because you have found yourself a quiet fishing place on another planet! Anyway, you could tell us how we could make some smaller versions

I guess Tally Boy would take them but I think I will just keep these for myself:lolhuh: I really cannot understand this curious ideea that it could be just Tally Boy who could take them:angry: By the way, can you post a tutorial about how you have made them? You could leave aside the part with your mispelling the signature:lol:

The lures I make are rarely longer than 2,5 inches. I think you understand now my amazement at seeing such a big one. I have seen in american moovies that some guys like to attach bull hornes at the front of their cars. Would such lure be able to replace horns?

I have never tried to find the answer to your question, but at the same time I think that if I would try, I would have to add some color to the sealer, then slice the lure blank. Since I make my blanks by hand, I am not willing to make such a sacrifice I do not know much about epoxies, but I think that if I would have to use one as a penetrating sealer, I would need to thin it to the point that the stuff would not be an epoxy anymore (milk consistency).

I think that the sealer is drawn into the wood not only by the difference in pressure, but also by capilarity. Also, the thinner the sealer, the deeper it penetrates.

Another way of achieving a good penetration of the wood by the sealer is to heat the wood before dipping. Heat makes the air expand, thus a smaller quantity of air stays within the wood. Or, I think it is Palmetto Balsa who said somewhere his balsa lures stay for hours in the sealer, with good results. But the vacuum is a most interesting ideea. Maybe combining the 3 ways of better sealing would bring about the best results.