diemai

...........won't you share , please ? Here is one from over here , .. but I guess , the shipping might get pretty expensive : http://www.shop-011.de/maxe-s70h1-Blei-Kugeln.html Greetz , diemai

Thank you so much for your advices , guys ,.... ..I appreciate all of them very much . So it seems , that I was on the right path thinking , that the lopsided swimming level would have to do with the internal woodgrain , ....but to be be honest , I've never thought about an uneven soaking of the propionate sealer , but which sounds pretty much logical to me as well in the aftermath . I'm relatively new to propionate sealing and only did a few unweighted baits with it so far , ....so I may be accidental , that I did never experience such before . But all the facts do match , .....I've purposely chosen this particular wood chunk , (formerly the armrest of a broken garden chair) because of the way , the grain passes through it , .........it was the only matching piece of timber sizewise , that did NOT have the grain leading parallel to the flanks of the lureblank , as this would have meant , that I would have had to run the belly screw eyes parallel to the grains either . For stability reasons I do not like to do this , I always like to lead my screw eyes CROSSWISE the woodgrain , as they would surely sit more firm this way . Did not have a sufficiently sized timber piece to fulfill these conditions being still large enough to cut out the body height of the lure , .........so this piece of wood with is's grains running somewhat slant through it would still allow the belly screw eyes to pass through the grain at least under an angle , yet if a crosswise pass is not possible . But now I see , what may come out of it , ....probably I should not bother about the directions of the screweyes anymore in future but rather more the direction of woodgrain ? I had heard about this hydro-testing before , ...but naturally this would only work with spindle-shaped , lathe-turned blanks , I guess ? Anyway , ...now after having received all your bits of ideas , experiences and knowledge , I'm pretty much convinced , that I will still get this baby to perform , .......and ,.... even more important , ...possibly avoid such troubles in future by choosing the timber material more carefully , .......live and learn ! @ littleriver Your version looks great in your distinctive paint style , ...hope , that you'd do better than me in terms of an attractive swimming action , eager to see the video ! @ scrubs .................I understand about that ego-thing regarding your paintjobs , ...but I would not bother personally , as the one that catches is on solid ground ! Thanks so much again everybody , ................gonna keep you updated , ......greetz , Dieter

I have made quite a few flat sided sinking glide baits out of teakwood kitchen boards , these worked pretty well . The containing oil can be an issue in terms of glue , paint and topcoat , as Mark had already mentioned , .......but lately I've accidentally found out , that when I'm soaking teakwood blanks in my thinner propionate , the containig acetone seems to wash out a good share of the oil inside of the wood , ..at least the prop had turned to a dark coffee color after a few teak blanks and I've even had the feeling , that the blanks would come out a little lighter ??? Anyway , ..sinking gliders of teak are OK in my opinion , also bigger crankbaits are still manageable(though their action would be somewhat more sluggish compared to more buoyant timbers , also not so many options for adding ballast) , ....for smaller crankbaits or minnow baits or even topwater lures it is not suited at all , unless you want to have these sink like bricks . Greetz , diemai

Hi Folks , Just gave my blank a swim in the tub , ...and I'm kinda sad or at least somewhat disappointed about the outcome ! The lure hangs about 15° to 20° lopsided on the surface at rest , ..my first thought was , that this is caused by different densities inside of the wood blank , as all of the hookhangers are centered well , .......but now I'm also thinking , that it could be just because the belly part is a tad wider than the back portion , rendering the lure somewhat unstable . This unstability certainly is an important part of the entire design , as it allows the lure model to swim like it does in Vic's video , ...there must just be some design properties not matching one another with my own version ! As far , as we have heard in here , the original lure does not have any ballast added , but as it seems , I could not get around placing some weight to let it hang at least level at rest . But on the other hand any belly ballast would surely dampen the moderate wiggle even more , I reckon . By experience I know , that less denser and more buoyant wood does provide a livelier action compared to heavier timber material , so I'm looking forward to the test of those abache blanks , once they'd be done ,.....maybe in comparison I could figure out things better ? But before I would take any action in terms of doctoring on this teakwood lure , I would take it to the fishing pond somewhen next week and see what it does there , ..I've figured out that the tub is just too small for testing sucha lure . Off course any input and advice is very welcome , ......thanks a lot for your support , ...greetz , Dieter @ littleriver Here you've got your lesson , Vic , .....maybe not quite the kind , that we both had expected ! @ scrubs Bill , don't bother about paintjobs , that did not turn out well , ....trust me , fish do not bother , ..they've got different preferences , .......if the swimming action is right , they will hit it !

Big congrats on your great success , .....this is , what's it all about ! Tight lines furthermore , ...cheers , 61diemai

@ J. Griffing Lures Glad if I could help , Jay , ...seems , that I'm a bit paranoid about having that wireform pulled out by bigger fish , this why I leave the tag ends that long and bent them into the "U"-bend of the belly hook hanger , but all wire and lead sheet would be encapsuled with epoxy glue later , anyway . Most other builders leave the tag ends quite short and snip them off at a little distance behind attachemend eye and tail hook eye(minnow lures with line tie at the nose) , ......particulary interesting I find the method of Peter Biedron , probably Germany's most popular lure carver , ....if you can spare the time o watch , note how he is wrapping some thinner wire around the tag ends for reinforcement and especially to have the wireform centered into the wider belly slot . @ Griffond ..............you really make me blush , mate , .......but thanks , anyway ! @ hazmail Pete , .....other species might respond as well , ..if you want a less livelier action on a banana lure , make them more elongated and give them only a little of a body curve . Greetz , Dieter

@ J. Griffing Lures OK , ...having some more time at hand now to browse through my picture files , ........here are some more , that I've found . For myself I find it easier to cut a belly slot into a readily carved lure(lipslot already cut when blank is still in square , only outline done) , ......I do not do many lures out of two halves to glue in wireform inbetween , especially no deep divers with the line tie on their lip . I would drill two little holes into the lip , just big enough in diameter for your wire to pass through , then bending the wireform starting with the tow eye on the lip . I believe , that a snug fit of the wire through the two lip holes provides a bit more of stability to the lure , compared to a slot in the lip for the entire tow eye to pass through from below , .........though this method makes up for an easier assembly. Shown are also some cut-outs of roofing lead sheet , these are the ballast to balance the lure , determined about the ballast amount by putting this propionate-sealed blank into a water bucket , .......by now it is assembled and has received it's paint coat , ......also tested for swimming action prior to painting , ...looked alright in the bath tub so far ! @ hazmail Thanks , Pete , ...I'm surprised , that you've obviously never come across those bananas there , quite an old thread this is ! Greetz , Dieter

@ scrubs No coloration idea yet , Bill , ...but I guess , that I'm gonna do something like an about natural shad pattern with brighter belly and dark back . I do not have any airbrush gear , I'm presently painting my lures by hand utilizing acrylic paints , ......I like their options of applying different colors with a wet-in-wet technique , ........either doing all brush strokes in one direction or also mottled . The genuine old Pfeffer patterns do really look good , ...I might give it a go some day as well , ........here is an example of a fellow tinkerer , that has already done it : http://www.stripersonline.com/t/814614/pfeffer-wounded-shiner-reproduction-plug @ littleriver Very nice , Vic , ......the test run of my own might be on Friday , as the propionate dipping and curing would take at least two days , gonna take it out of the prop soak by tomorrow , after dip on a couple of sealer coats . Guess , that whilst dipping the mouth notch would clog up with laquer quite a bit , would have to carefully sand it back to shape still maintaining a prop layer onto it . Probably you've even got it worse with the front hook binding , as you're using splitrings , ....after I would have learned a bit more about the swimming level and action of that lure I would surely go for only two trebles to avoid the problem on future lures . I guess that on coming weekend I'd carve out some smaller versions of abache wood , but I might still do at least one of these in the tradional three-hook style without splitrings , .....just to add some belly weight to the abache blank.......I shall see . Greetz , Dieter

Hope the pictures explain , no time to write right now , scroll down to the big lipped "SuperBug" . ......and don't use plexiglass , .....polycarbonate(Lexan) only ! http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/topic/13043-new-banana-lure/?hl=%2Bbanana+%2Blures Cheers , diemai

@ littleriver Sorry to leave you behind for that matter , Vic , ...but I'd like to have that lure done before my vacation by end of this month ! Was lucky to get done with the carving Sunday night , ...now I'm gonna place the blank into propionate to seal . I've found , that two hookpoints of the front hook need to point forward , if it is only one hookpoint , this one could get into reach of the notch at the chin and thus bind the hook in there . Gotta take care of that matter , when finally assembling hookhangers with epoxy glue , .....can't wait for a first test swim of the sealed blank , anyway . Greetz , Dieter

I saw it as well in Vic's video , Mark ! Greetz , Dieter

Just got upstairs from the workshop , .........after having painted the base colors onto some other lureblanks , I could not help it to get started with my first "Jim Pfeffer Banana" version , .....though I'm supposed to fetch some sleep prior to my weekend shift work starting tonite . Alright , just planed this piece of well seasoned teakwood salvaged from a workmate's broken garden chair down to required thickness , glued on a sketch cut-out and coarse sanded the body outline down to marker lines(took that front belly drop into consideration , Vic ) , .......cut down the scooped out mouth with a circular sawblade on my hobby routing machine(rather a drill press with a crosswise moving table) . Also marked the center line and drilled pilot holes for the screw eyes , comes more accurate , as the blank is still square . Could not help it to rig the hooks and twist in the screw eyes for a first impression about how the lure would look in the end , ......I decided on that vintage look with three hooks fixed straight to the hookhangers without splitrings , .......on later models I might use only two trebles attached the modern way . Now after having shot the pictures I'm disassembling the hardware again , so that I could proceed carving out the final body shape . Greetz , Dieter

@ littleriver Vic , ...just googled around a bit , came across this collectors page , ....scroll down the pictures there and you'd find a few versions looking quite similar to the Jim Pfeffer Banana , only vary in details , .......in particular the "Four Tees" closer down the bottom of page . http://orlandolures.webs.com/ These versions would surely swim a tad different to the genuine Pfeffer lure , but to see different versions makes me quite confident , that even a little inaccurate homemade knock-off would still have some kinda swimming action . Also I saw , that the early timber Pfeffers had different angles to the scooped out portion of the mouth , ...might be fun experimenting with such as well . greetz , Dieter

@ littleriver Thanks a lot for pointing out that one , VIc , ...I had simply overlooked it , ....and that slight drop of the belly curve is also not shown in this company's flyer sketch pictured in here , also scribbled a copy of that from the screen to take to work as a reference . http://www.joeyates.com/Pat%20Woodall.htm Too late to alter my sketch now , I guess , would get to look too untidy , ......maybe I've gotta make a new one , ...or I can just bear this little detail in mind when shaping the lure ? I might not want to miss it out , as it extends the lower lip plane downward a bit , probably enhancing the wiggling action of the lure ? But I would also take a closer look at pictures of the older models handcarved by Jim Pfeffer himself ,...... if this gentle drop of belly outline would be recognizeable there , too , I'd consider it to be of a certain importance . Thanks again for all of your help and also being my lecturer , Vic , ........greetz , Dieter

Ok , fellas , Just got home from first day of this weekend's work , ......been busy there during break time , ........hope, that Vic could confirm my little production sketch . Since I do not have a scanner/printer to my computer , I had to trace rough drawings straight from my screen , ...together with Vic's measurements , which I had also scribbled down to take along to work , I came up with my hopefully more accurate sketch ? The sideview should be quite OK , but not so sure about the topview , ......especially the thickness of the tail end and the front taper ,..... the latter might probably be still a bit more pronounced . The initial sketch is for a 5"(127mm) model , ...also made some photocopies in reduced sizes for smaller versions , shown is an about 3"(74,93mm)copy , ...59% of original sketch size . Gonna cut out the outlines and glue them onto prepared woodblocks of matching thickness , .......dunno , whether I could proceed carving this weekend , but by next one for sure . Thanks again for all of your help , ...greetz , Dieter

@ scrubs Thanks a lot , Bill , ........but for the feathered ones I was inspired by someone else as well , ....check out his channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/NorthernScripture Greetz , Dieter

@ scrubs On my own bulgers the two clevises are interconnected , not lined up behind one another , ........meaning , that they are rigged in a way that the upper shank of the lower clevis passes into the "U"-bent of the upper clevis , ......no bearing beads inbetween those clevis shanks , ...but one 2-3mm bead underneath . With the bearing beads of all of my spinners I like to go with three beads underneath the clevis something like 2-4-6mm , ..then the spinnerbody , ........upper two beads are always of metal , third 6mm bead may be of plastic , but not neccessarely . It's only a rule of thumb , though , ..I may vary the bead diameters slighly or chose all of the three beads of metal and add a fourth one of plastic , ..depends on each single model and about what I believe to work best . For tying feathers , check out this YouTube channel by all means , great inspiration to me as well : http://www.youtube.com/user/NorthernScripture greetz , Dieter

Yes , ....these are also my experiences about those Colorado blades . Cheers , diemai

@ scrubs Bill , ....actually this is the only bulger spinner , that I had posted so far , I guess : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/gallery/image/10643-bulger-spinner-from-scratch/ But I had already figured out before , that the deeply cupped Colorado blades sometimes do not kick to spin easily but just get pressed against the spinner shaft on occassion , ...I'm not really too fond of them , .....but when I want a shallow running spinner , I can't really get around them , as they generate the most lift to a spinner . Do you have ordinary Colorado blades or the ones rated as "deep cup" , ......have seen both styles in a component catalog before ? If you haven't come across yet ,.....my latest weight forward spinners are displayed on video in this thread : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/topic/26812-homemade-spinners-test-video/ I really like these chunky lead heads made after the famous "Mörrum Spinnaren" , issued by ABU Garcia decades ago : http://pfcatalogarc.com/upload/products/photos/file_3888.jpg This lure was originally designed for salmon fishing in the heavy current of the Swedish "Mörrum" river , but soon made it's way into different European countries also used for pike , perch and zander there , even in deeper stillwater , as it is perfect for tossing it over structures from deep to shallow . It was written , that one should not be deceived by the relatively small blade of the genuine "Mörrum Spinner", ......bigger predators would tend to take this quite small lure as well . But I guess , that some Swedish tinkerers did not rely on that statement alone , ........here are some obviously homemade or custom made big double bladed versions utilizing the same distinctive shape of the "Mörrum" lead head , ...rated at almost 7" in length and 2 ounces in weight : http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3IGwFoKLExM/UD_JUGgKu8I/AAAAAAAAoFY/IZ8s_e4eIas/s640/M%C3%B6rrum+Giant+Spinner.png You may see one swim by the end of the video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAIgu9tf4s Greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot , folks ! Was not the weather that day for a fish to follow , it's kinda slow during these late summer days , waiting for fall season to start . In a YouTube comment by a German friend I was advised to tie those feather to a weight-forward spinner as well , .....the feathers would even move and ondulate more attractively , when such spinner is constantly dropping and rising up on it's course again , ......surely this is gonna be one of my future projects , still have enough leadheads left , anyway , ...gotta make some more blades , though . Thanks again for your interest , ....greetz , Dieter

@ scrubs What type of double bladed spinners you're refering to , ...the ones with a two blades in line(front blade a bit smaller than rear)or the so-called "Bulger Spinners" with two blades opposing each other ? I think , one can only use these guidelines as a rough guide , ....f. e. I've always like to go heavier than commercial spinners of comparable sizes , though there definately are limits in terms of relations between blade size or shape and body weight . If the body is too heavy for the blade , the spinner would level tail down too much on retrieve , resulting into the blade not engaging into the oncoming current properly and the blade thus spinning slower , pausing or even not spinning at all . Just one of a few reasons , why I often prefer throwing heavier weight forward spinners , provided the particular water is deep enough . BTW , .....the lures of the "Blue Fox" spinner line are generally very light , thus do not cast very far nor run that deep , available in sizes up to #6 , these rated at 21 grams(3/4ounce). But I have also seen some willowleaf-bladed salmon models , also stated size #6 , but rated at 33 grams , ...due to a more elongated body , I suppose . Greetz , Dieter

Hi , folks , Not much around in this wire bait forum , as my focus has been on hardbaits for many years , nevertheless I'm still doing spinners or spoons now and then , .....these are the kind of lures that I started out with more than 20 years ago . Tested a bunch of homemade spinners and put them on film two days ago , .......just thinking to share that video in here , probably I could provide some info to fellow luremakers around here . Off course I would gladly answer any possible questions , ......greetz , diemai PS : By now I have tinkered on the red feathered spinner , cut it apart and made the attachement hole of the blalde larger , so that it cannot bind with the shaft anymore , ....should be OK now !

@ RayburnGuy Ben , scroll down the pictures , you will find one souped up with a bucktail by a fisherman , ....so asssumingly such might have worked out ! http://www.joeyates.com/pfeffer.htm Greetz , Dieter

@ littleriver Wow , Vic , ...this material is more than I could have asked for , ...thank you so much , it's just perfect ! The belly is more rounded as I would have expected , but the lateral line is exactly , where I had assumed it to be , also the rounding of the flanks and back is like I had imagined . Your sketch is OK to me , no worries , .....though I would do another one to get templates for shaping the lure , ...surely I would put it up in here then , ....guess it would be during coming weekend shift , I'd find the time to do it , not before . Hope you can twist back the screw eyes now , .........gonna use some kinda glue for it , or not , ........often their sit is quite loose after all of those years . Thank you so much again , Vic , .....gonna keep you guys informed about my progress , ..greetz , Dieter

@ littleriver Thank you so much for having taken the efforts making this little clip , Vic , ....I appreciate it very much , ...now I can hardly wait to get started sketching and carving my own version , just too short of time presently . This lure model would surely be attractive to local pike , ..dead sure ! I have figured out about the body shape by your describtions above , but one question remains for me , ......the thickest portion of the body cross section down the entire length , ...the lateral line , so to speak , .......I'm guessing that this would be an imaginary line starting at the very apex of the wedge shaped mouth indent and from there leading down the tail end rather paralell to the belly outline , ...off course viewed from the side ? This would mean , that it would have some kinda egg-shaped cross section , BUT with a rather flat belly only rounded of at either side , ..........or it has a plane portion of minor height on either flank ? Thanks a lot again for your efforts , Vic , .........greetz , Dieter