pizza
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Everything posted by pizza
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And to clarify, to get a suspender you want the overall density of the entire lure to be 1g/cc. That is if you are fishing pure water at 4 degrees C.
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I like using mahagony for lures! The action wont be different (in theory one could argue it would be but no need to split hairs), but it may swim slightly deeper in warmer water. I doubt this is noticeable (seriously seriously doubt this is noticeable) though and cant comment from firsthand experience. Where this really matters is when you get into perfectly suspending lures. Getting a perfect suspender is not easy, especially the smaller the lure. Once you have a suspender, you may find that it only suspends within a certain temp range (technically it only suspends at a single precise temp). Warmer than that and it is a suuuuuuuuuuuper slow sinker, colder than that and its a suuuuuuuuper slow floater. Once again, splitting hairs.
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One of the best things about making baits is making baits that do something that very few commercially available baits do. There are not many slow sinking crankbaits commercially available and since i fish rivers that average about 2-4 feet in depth, i love it when i end up with just the right amount of fall rate. Ive never measured this, but im guessing about 1 foot every 3-5 seconds or so. This combined with a shallow lip, lets me fish me baits at the depth i want to, at the speed i like to, for the longest amount of time during retrieve. Seems like sinking cranks are few and far bw these days. Youve got rapala and youve got rapala (im sure there are others, just don't know offhand, and im not sure that rapala sinkers are considered cranks anyways but you get my drift... How about you?
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Wood with a density of 1g/cc will suspend in pure water at 4 C. A lure made from that wood will sink at that temp (or any temp we fish)due to wt of hardware, clear coat, etc.
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You dont clear the bills themselves, just where they attach to the body when you coat the rest of the bait. People have their own preferences but devcon 2 ton epoxy, envirotex lite, dick nites are some choices people use.
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Or use 2-d stick on eyes. Then coat over them.
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That type of bait (3-5' or so flat sided diver...foiled)is what i mostly build. Ive used Basswood blanks (that i got from kelly at mimic) as well as made bodies from scratch. If you use balsa you will probably need more wt than you think you need (i did). I really like using basswood for that type of lure. Cedar and mohagony also work well. Use blanks or make your own. I start out using blanks but now prefer to make my own. Also if you like thruwire, but there really is no need to. I super glue in twisted wire hangers any havent had any problems, even in balsa.
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The duck brand hvac tape wally world sells now is not the stuff they sold 5 years ago. It is dull. Ive got both. And the stuff ive seen at home depot, lowes, and ace is also the dull stiff. But i havent looked in 3-4 years so maybe (but more than likely doubtfully) they carry the shiny stuff now. Im sure you can get the shiny stuff online. Im sure there is shinier stuff than the stuff i have(duck brand from wally world 5 uears ago) So.....who has super shiny foil?
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There is a dull aluminum tape and a shiny one. Seek out the shiny one. Cant help you other than to say i got duck brand hvac alumini tape a t wally world about 5 years ago but have not seen the shiny version anywhere since. I ve looked a h depot, ace, and wally world.
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Paint the foil then seal. Or seal(coat), then paint, then seal again (i prefer this method since the paint appears smoother).
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Foil and rattle cans here. My paintjobs are about as impresssive as those on a.c shiners or d baits.
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I get small sheets of Lexan (about 9"X9" for about $6) from the local hobby shop (they sell it for remote controlled cars). This, a metal ruler, an exacto, and elbow grease = lip. Score with exacto and bend (open up the scored part). I bend off "rows" from the original sheet then make individual lips from these "rows". Score the rows good(your hands will appreciate it when you go to bend off the rows, especially when using thicker lexan). If you desire "perfect" lips, then order them pre-made or use a CNC machine. This method will not make rounded lips, but coffin shaped lips can be made using "C-type" wire cutters (the kind that cut perpendicular to the overall direction of the tool).
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How about sprinkling some powder on the back 30 minutes after the first top coat has been applied?
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If you really want to bombproof your bait, look into thru wiring. And before you glue in the lip, harden up the cut lip slot with some glue (something that will soak in like cheap runny super glue or thinned epoxy). Then light sand/saw to clear slot if necessary before gluing in lip. The only baits ive had the lips rip out (or break)on are rapalas. Floaters, sinkers, long cast, and dive2. I dont slap my lures either.
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Havent made anything that dives much more than 6 feet (i fish rivers 99+% of the time and they max out about 6 ft), but i have made a few 6-8 feet divers out of basswood. As bobp mentioned, for deeper divers, i would start out with a denser wood than balsa, master this(the deeper diving the bait the harder it is to get it to swim properly, not roll, etc) then move on to balsa(when i started using balsa, especially balsa baits with more volume, i realized it takes much more ballast than you think). On my 6-8 foot diving basswoods, to get a lil xtra strength(these tie ins went thru the lip), i clipped my tie in so it would go into the front of the body (below the lip) about a cm or so. Then i glued this in(in addition to gluing in the lip obviously). This will add more strenth, since now for it to fail, it will basically have to rip the head/front of the bait off, and not just pull out the lip. This i did for the sake of doing it, but it will add strenth up front which could be very useful the deeper the diver and/or the weaker the wood. Another way to toughen up balsa baits is to use an extra coat or two of clear than you normally do. Make sure all coats of clear make good contact with hook hangers, tie ins(do it up then drill out the holes), and lip.
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The bill angle can be anywhere from 0 to 90 degrees(or more). The shape of the body, amount and distribution of ballast, type of wood, desired running depth and action, and many other factors will help you determine what this angle is as well as the shape and size of the bill. I'll bite.
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I believe you want to go 4 segments, not 3 for a swimbait to get good swimbait action.
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I don't think strength will be an issue(at all assuming it is constructed solidly). The issue will be actually building 4 segments in 3" and getting it to swim properly. It doesn't sound that difficult until you actually get started. When you first go to fish it, cross you fingers that it swims. All the power to you, this is kind of the "ultimate test" for any lure builder, especially seeing how it doesnt appear anyone on here has actually done it. Good luck!
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This stuff works well for adding transparent tint to epoxy. http://www.iasco-tesco.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=674&category_id=31&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2
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Thanks Mark! Havent tried 4 segment yet. A sub 3" swimbait is an ambitiuos project, doesnt seem to have been done here yet? More pics please. Also does TU periodically get rid of older pics? I was looking for some pics i posted a few years back and couldnt find any of my pics? And twisted wire will work fine for links bw segments, Its just a matter of actually doing it, getting the gaps the width you like (i do not like big gaps like on rapala jointeds, if you dont care about having big gaps it makes things easier, but this may lead to other complications in such a small bait), getting the strength you need, and still being able to fit in the ballast you will need for a sinker. Definitely possible, but wont be easy. That is a sick lil swimmer jrhopkins!
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Ive made two, 2.5" 3 segment cranksbaits Even with a bill it is difficult to get good action (when i refer to action in this case, i am not referring to wiggle or wobble, but rather the slithering action of a snake when viewed from above, i.e. "swimbait action") One stayed upright and swam "in an overall straight direction", but did not have nearly the slithering action as i would have liked. The other was the only bait i have made that did not swim properly at all. It wanted to turn/twist on its axis as i reeled. Making a sub 3" tri segment crankbait is a very time consuming process, especially if you want nice "tight" joints. My guess is getting that good "swimbait/slithering" action without a bill will be even more difficult. But at least you dont have a bill taking up space in the front segment so you can easier get the weight/ballast you need in the front segment in there. You might consider trying tungsten weights for something this small. It will lower the center of gravity which will (very slightly) help increae odds for a succesful swimmer. Your task at hand is not an easy one, best of luck.
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Plastic lure? No thanks.
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I have an idea but i seriously doubt it is original. Havent tried it out yet (one of these days lol) Basically its just either a jointed crank (with a shorter rear segment), or possibly just a feathered/dressed rear hook (or a combo of both or even something new/hybrid for the rear part) For the lip, it would be a smaller lip (size about that of subsurface crank lip such as storm subwart maybe a little bigger) that is placed right up at the front like subsurface lips are. But instead of having it angled slighlty forward, have it angled back so that it caused the rear of the bait to rise up. The idea is to optimize the bait so that the rear of the bait makes the most commotion at the speed it will mostly be fished at (which i'm thinking would be faster). Im thinkink the lip would barely be angled back. Anyone experiment with lips that are " angled slightly back"?
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I prefer twisted wire for hangers and tie-ins for reasons already mentioned. Screw eye tie-ins are often thick and made with harder metal that is more difficult to tune (some are more or less untunable, other than super fine tuning by grinding off metal on one side with a dremel) than twisted wire. I prefer brass wire which is softer and thus easy to tune if needed. As far as superglue vs epoxy, i think both work fine. I use super glue mostly bc thats how i started out and so far (100+cranks later) ive had zero probs. Ive done 10-15 or so with epoxy and had zero probs also. But the bigger the bait, the less the above matters, and screw in has advantages too. Ben mentioned the "look" of screw eyes. I agree, especially on smaller cranks. I just dont like the look of small cranks (especially 5/16 or so oz and less) with screw eyes.
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I use the motor from a light mover. The kind used to grow indoor blueberries. It rotates about 4.20 times per minute.