diemai

I was thinking about a few lure failures of the past as well , ..........when the lip /line tie configuration is not well designed , sometimes a lure would just lay on it's side(or even tend to flip over on faster paces) when the retrieve commences , ........one may even generate such action by just ending the line tie of a well tuned bait to one side . Certainly the lure's course won't be straight this way , but at least you could get an about 90°twist out of your lure , .......paint it the right way and you'd have a bait swimming belly-up at rest and making "it's final downward dashes" laying on one of it's flanks , ....it might even wiggle a bit this way . good luck , diemai

@ Vodkaman Dave , .....I guess that I'm getting behind your design , .......I was so focussed on a shifting weight , that certainly could only be moved ONCE , ........your design falls under what I've stated to be a built-in action , that can be repeated time and time again just by the pull force of the retrieved line(which in this case would have to be used in a very subtle manner) . But the whole design would be subject to accurate balancing , as you've stated , ....but what is not quite clear to me is , whether the lure would wiggle like an ordinary crankbait on retrieve once twisted into a lip-down swimming position and...... would it come back in a straight or offset course to the line pull direction , ........hard to imagine for me that it would do any of this two things ? Greetz , Dieter

Hhmm , ........I'd say , that you intend to trick the laws of physics ! When I still was a newbie to lurecarving , I have made a prototype with a sideward curved body and an "ordinary" shallow diving bill in attempt to achieve a somewhat different swimming pattern , .....the only thing the lure did was to spin over and over again remaining on the surface . You'd have to utilize shifting internal weights to cause the lure to flip from one position to another as soon as the retrieve commences , .........that could probably be made possible , .......but how would you make the lure to swing back into it's first position again ? You only have the line pull's force to gain control over the lure , and that force works only into just ONE direction , impossible to utilize it to cause a kinda "reverse" effect . The built-in crankbait dynamics enable a lure to only display a certain swimming pattern time and time again , basically generated by the pull force of the line , ......no other means to alter the lure dynamics during retrieve unless you would have a kinda remote control . You could build-in certain features into your lure(like flipping from one position to another , slowly soaking up water to sink ,...... or similar) , but these would get to action ONLY ONCE , ...don't think that they can be made to reverse or even repeatative , ....but probably someone would proove me wrong . Just my ! good luck , diemai

Jep , ...half a millimeter thick stainless steel sheet , would be 0,01968 inch rounded ! good luck , diemai

@ thujalures I've read about drying freshly cut wood pieces in a microwave on http://slingshotforum.com/ ,....... some guys there utilize the method to quick dry freshly cut branch forks for building slingshots . The particular brief instructions are here(post #12) : http://slingshotforum.com/topic/4062-from-a-far-away-country/ good luck , diemai

Probably check out some lure collector's sites , ....always good input there about different classic style lures . You may find some links in here : http://www.thehardbaitdatabase.com/Collector_s_Links.html Good luck , diemai

My link stocks one size of "Wolverines" as well(size 5 , .340" dia. , pull test 90 lbs) , ........but also nickel plated rings at same pull test in .344" dia (amongst many other sizes , stainless as well) . But I guess , that the business is into it's annual winter shut-down right now ! good luck , diemai

I have made them before out off 0,5 mm stainless steel(brass is too soft and heavy , also easier subject to warping) , but I've had a tough time soldering the hinge tubing of brass onto the creeper wings , ....wasn't satisfied with the results as they came out to look pretty ugly and stained , also some were not aligned well and gave me problems in assembly . For only three lures in total I've altered the design of the wings to make them without a soldered hinge tube but with a narrow slot on their base(which accommodates the U-shaped hinge part screwed onto the lure) , .....these lures still do work , but the wings have quite a lot of play as I could not make the slots narrow enough , ...but to me they are easier to build rather than the soldered ones . You can view these lures in my gallery uploads at page 5 and page 12 . I haven't uploaded the ones with the soldered hinge , as they do not look too good . Making the wings and hinges is quite time consuming , .... turning down the blank , painting and topcoating would probably be the same time effort as making one pair of wings and hinges . good luck , diemai

@ Whitedog Probably you're using the wrong wire and wrong tools ? I use 1,0 mm stainless welding wire and a pair of slender pliers to bend all eyes around a nail vertically clamped into a vise . Some very fine small and slender mechanics plies do the job of the sharp backward wire kink unterneath the lip to lead the wire back into the lure . To shape the wire form start out drilling two matching holes through the lip , your wire should fit in snugly . Now make a U-bend into yout wire and pass both shanks through the bores in the lip , the shorter shank towards the lure , the longer shank towards the tip of lip . Now push that U-bend into the lip as far as possible , grab the shorter shank with the tips of the smaller pliers underneath the lip(the pliers should sit snug against bottom side of lip)and kink the wire sharply towards the base of the bib . To get the wire real snug against the bottom of the lip twist the pliers a bit towards the eye direction , this will make your kink sharper and the 90° angle more pronounced . Now do the same with the second shank , keep the rearward kink a bit more distant from the eye than the first one , so that the second wire shank would come to sit flush upon the one bent backward at first . Now push the wire form upward again , the tow eye should now protrude sufficiently over the face of the lip , ....best is a bit more than a half circle shape . Now shape the rest of the wire form as shown , step-by-step ,........ constantly checking the fit inbetween bending steps . I use a permanent felt marker to mark the required locations of eyes and kinks on the wire , so I can bend around the clambed nail at proper location . Use sidecutters to cut off excess wire , ..........after the complete wire form and lip is glued in with epoxy glue , one can also glue in lead sheet ballast into the belly slot of the blank at this stage , .......after the glue has sufficiently cured(about 24 hrs.) , I work back the excess glue flush to body level with my "Dremel" , files and sandpaper . good luck , diemai

At My link they're at 4,5o$ and 5,25$ , depending on size , .......probably you could even get a rebate , when purchasing increased amounts(check rebate conditions at first catalog page) . good luck ......... , diemai

Tried to comment on YouTube , ....but for some reason it won't let me ! Seems to me , that you intend to make it big now , ......very nice trailer to display your outstanding and awesome work ! I've heard on a German site , that your lures were also on display on an angling exhibition in Germany the other day ? Good luck , ......greetz , Dieter

Welcome to the Tackleunderground ! It is this one , it's the original issue : http://www.amazon.de/Wobbler-Hans-Nordin/dp/3275013092 This is a cheaper , licensed reprint ,..... the outer book size is a bit smaller , but the contents in text , style and pictures are absolutely identical . http://www.amazon.de/Wobbler-Kunst-K%C3%B6der-selber-Hans-Nordin/dp/3008939007/ref=pd_sim_b_1 The book is not quite up-to-date in terms of modern topcoats , also no thorough describtions about airbrushing in there , .......but the author(a famous Swedish angler and host of TV angling shows in Sweden) describes a great variety of proven crankbait models for pike , zander(European walleye) and perch , both of his own design and also knock-offs of famous commercials . He also talks about modifications to single models to perform somewhat different in wiggle , swimming action and diving depth . Also contains a chapter about lure dynamics(body and lip shape influences), .......a great chapter only about hand brushing and paint designs in there as well . Since the time of writing during the 1990's there were almost no lure components available in Europe , ....... all describtions are based on homemade lips of polycarbonate and aluminium sheet , also only short shanked screw eyes from the hardware store are used , ............but no problem to alter the designs to more "modern" stuff . I can truly say , that this book has become the "bible" of many German lure carvers and has done it's share to spawn a certain circle of local lure builders during past years , that one can meet on various local websites nowadays . I can highly recommend it , ....not only to a newbie , ......alone the sketches in there are worthwile a purchase . greetz , diemai

I was to say so as well , .....rings of tempered springy steel are generally stronger than stainless ones . Couple of months ago I've mailordered the two smallest sizes of "X-heavy" stainless splitrings from this Dutch webshop(I'm in Europe), and I was positively surprised about the thickness of their wire , ...the strongest stainless ones , that I've seen so far . http://www.lureparts.nl/index.php?language=en&osCsid=ou0p262dr5n37473ovsc0bo0u0 greetz , diemai

I can 100% second to this , ....just my opinions as well ! greetz , Dieter

Nice that you're back again ! greetz , diemai

Welcome to the Tackleunderground ! That book recommended by "not a bear" is quite nice , beautiful patterns in there , but IMO the containing topcoating info is poor , ....I have it and also own some other luremaking books in English language , but these are not as good in my opinion or even out of print for decades . The best hardbait carving book , that I have , is the German edition of a Swedish book , and sadly it is not available in English , I guess . A very nice book about any aspect of tackle making is this one : http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Tackle-Making/dp/1558217215 1/3 of it's contents is on rod building , but also has a chapter about carving hardbaits(like ANY other type of lures) . If you need lure patterns or input on certain lure models , such books like "Making Wooden Fishing Lures" are quite good , but IMO they lack info about the latest methods in constructing , painting and topcoating , ........so the internet is probably a better bet ? Apart from this site there are quite a few others to be discovered , you can utilize Google searches , also on YouTube you can find a few instructional video's to get you started to join our great passion , ....just type in some matching keywords into the search bar . good luck , diemai

Sometimes such happens to me as well down my workshop , .......discovering lure blanks , that I've made years ago and already forgot about them ! Cleaning up is just a waste of time ! Hope , you've had a "Frohe Weihnachten" ! Greetz , diemai