djhaddix

A-Mac, are you adding any texture to your Lexan tails? If so, are you scoring the Lexan, shaping with a Dremel, what? Just curious how I can add detail to the tails. Up until this point I have been using D2T exclusively as a top coat, but in my reading and researching it appears that it may not be optimal for swimbaits. Would GST concrete sealer be a viable option (anyone feel free to chime in on this question please). Sorry for all the questions, but newbies have to learn somehow, eh?

Hey guys. I have a question regarding Lexan tails on swimbaits. I have tried to read all associated posts regarding putting tails on swimbaits using the search function, and while I have gleaned some excellent information, I am still a bit confused. So, if I want to make a swimbait with a Lexan tail, I cut a slot in the back of the rear-most piece of the swimbait and then cut the Lexan tail to shape, and I am assuming I pin it in. I guess the question I have is how do you go about painting the tail, and also adding detail such as the fin spines and such? Is this simply painted on and then topcoated before adjoining it to the swimbait? Painted and then attached and then clearcoated? Hopefully you guys can see the jist of what I am getting at. I think the tranlucent looking tails look fantastic, and without pouring a soft tail, Lexan seems to me like the only viable choice, unless you use a Plano divider or a margerine tub top or some other piece of pliable plastic. In each case, just curious how to attach them and get them painted to match the rest of the swimbait. Thanks again in advance for taking the time to read this and share your knowledge. I would still be on Step 1 of any lure making procedure without the help of the knowledgable folks on here.

Not to hijack this post, but I have a question for BobP. After you add all of your hardware with the exception of the lip, and then undercoat the lure, are you concerned about getting D2T into the lip slot when there is no lip? Is this something you have worked out where you know that a certain width of lip slot plus the D2T makes for a snug fit for the final lip installation, or do you just not put D2T into the lip slot on your initial basecoat? I would love to start doing lures without installing the lip when I do my hardware for a cleaner presentation, just never could figure out how to go about doing it. Thanks and sorry for the hijack (if any!).

BobP, I agree and have used painted eyes the entire time I have been making lures. The results have been fine and I haven't had any complaints. Like most of us on here, I just wanted to tinker a bit and really liked the look of the 3D eyes...as for whether the fish will find them more attractive, that remains to be seen. I suspect it won't make much of a difference. I appreciate your comment about adding some super glue into the raw sockets and will take that advice.

Great ideas guys, thanks so much for taking the time to give me some thoughts. I guess I am showing how "green" I really am at making lures, as I thought it was kind of a no-no to drill through the D2T after you had sealed the bait. If I were to redrill out the eye sockets after D2T and had bare balsa exposed before painting, I was afraid any moisture from the paint would soak into the balsa...of course, I guess there is so little moisture that it is basically negligable? Like you, Ben, I tend to do mark the eyes on both sides, but as I don't have a drill press to run the bit straight through, I use a piece of sharpened wire to make holes on each side of the bait using my template (which I have the eyes drawn on to), simply flipping the template to do the opposite side. I do this while the blank is still square and I insert the end of the wire into the wood and route out a small hole that I can easily see. Anyway, this gives me some good stuff to go off of. Thanks again to the great members of this site for sharing your experience and knowledge, it is greatly appreciated.

Hey guys. I have a question, haven't been able to find any answers using the "Search" feature, so thought I would start a thread about it. I currently am making balsa lures, and so far my build is to seal with runny super clue, then D2T, base coat, paint, and then topcoat with D2T. I have recently became intrigued with 3D eyes...only problem is, I can't figure out any way that I can drill a recess for the eyes and still be able to seal with D2T. I belived the epoxy will make any pre-drilled socket for the eyes too small after the epoxy has cured. I am sure that some of you have had this issue, and it has probably been discussed before, but I can't seem to find any information. Any help at all is appreciated.

I can't seem to find this information on the BSI website. Is the Finish Cure 20 min. epoxy waterproof like the 30 min. Slow Cure? EDIT - I did see that, according to one of the FAQs, that the Finish Cure is "fuel proof", which is nice to know. It also mentioned that the Slow Cure was also "fuel proof". No mention of the Finish Cure being water proof, though. I wish they would have said they were "fool proof"....

Don-Art, it would appear that I am only about 70-80 years behind on this design, lol. Hard to believe the ingenuity that some folks had so long ago, a real testament to the craft.

Diemai, Thanks so much for your insightful contributions to the thread. You have been an inspiration for me for quite some time now, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness in helping me. I must admit, however, that I am unfamiliar with counter-rotating blades. Obviously I understand the concept and the meaning of the term, but I am not familiar with whether this requires two completely different blades (i.e. - one clockwise, one counter-clockwise) or simply the same two blades oriented oppositely of each other? In my mind I had already addressed this issue, but didn't really know how to articulate what was in my mind. You have cleared it up perfectly. You mentioned in your video how the lower pressure underneath of the diving lip made your blade flutter and not rotate, which was something that I hadn't thought of. It would be particularly pertinent if I were to design the lure with the blade arm coming out of the body vertically under the diving lip but in front of the treble hook. And of course, there is always the issue of making sure the blade would not foul up with the treble, which is yet another thing to think about. I can't stress enough how much all of you have helped me in my luremaking journey, and sole credit to the members of this site should be given for allowing me to understand things enough to start thinking outside of the box, so to speak. Once I get moved in I am going to start fabricating these lures, and although I don't have any video capability other than my iPhone, I will post back with progress, but bear with me, it may take a while.

Wow, great stuff guys. Thanks for all of the input, I am filing all the information away mentally so that I have some things to consider when I actually get to start the build. The gears are turning now quite a bit (at least as much as mine can, anyway). I have recently began thinking that there may be a way to extend a wire arm and blad from under the base of the diving bill of the lure that runs vertically, in front of the front treble hook, which may act as a bit of a guard for that front treble. Hopefully my description makes sense. In my mind, at least, this could prove beneficial in a number of ways, and as it would hopefully be centered vertically on the lure, may not impede the side to side action of the lure as much as the horizontally aligned arms with blades. Although, however, I can see where the drag created by the blade could introduce some disturbance given the displacement from the CoG and/or pivot point mentioned above. Thanks again to all who have viewed this topic and taken the time to respond. I look forward to any future discussions we may have regarding this. I guess the whole "bait ball" type theory is in full swing!

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. Nathan, I am assuming that since you only made a few of these types of lures you weren't able to get the action out of them, or at least didn't wind up catching fish on them like you had hoped? Benton, I am curious as to why it would appear that this could work on a wake bait and not a crank? Not challenging you by any means, I am the pupil here so just trying to learn, and hopefully teach myself to think outside of the box a little bit more. I agree on the willow blades, and honestly that was my initial thought, but in the drawing I felt like it would be easier for folks to see the spinner bait blades as a colorodo style. I was honestly just thinking of using my standard wire that I use for thru-wire construction for the arms. I guess I was just thinking a lot about something I had heard Rick Clunn talk about quite a bit, and I belived he referred to it as a hydrodynamic signature (although that could be totally off base). Basically, just the way that bass receive "sound" through their lateral lines. Obviously these cranks wouldn't be ideal for fishing grass or anything, but may find some use in more open-water situations (i.e. - cranking the face of a grass mat). My initial thoughts were that the vortices introduced by the front portion of the crankbait would interfere with the water flowing over the blades, but I guess I will just have to use some trial and error to see how long the blade arms need to be to see if I can work this out. I am in the process of moving to a new house (with a small workshop this time, yay!) so hopefully I can begin prototyping soon. Thanks again for the replies, and to all of you who have taken the time to read this thread.

Hey gang. Been a while since I have posted, been dealing with some personal health issues, namely something called Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss. Basically, I went to bed one night and everything was great, and woke up the next morning deaf in one ear, which is apparently irreversible. Such is life I guess, I am thankful that it wasn't something worse (i.e. - waking up blind or paralyzed or something like that). Be that as it may, I have had some time to do some thinking, and have an idea. I have used the search function and have not found anything that addresses this particular idea, but I have the belief that if I have conjured up this idea, surely someone else has before. I was wondering if any of you think it's plausible to craft a crankbait that includes wire arms protruding from the sides, with small spinnerbait blades attached. I was thinking of the sound signature this bait may produce, which should be like nothing else that we throw as fishermen; however, due to my limited understanding of fluid mechanics, I am not sure if the idea would even work. I have included a sketch of my idea for this lure...please pardon the crudeness of it, I just sat down and sketched it out to get the idea out of my brain and on paper. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Hopefully my mind is working right!

Don, Great to see another Kentucky guy on here. What part of the state do you live in, if you don't mind me asking? I live in Lexington currently, but grew up in Jackson, KY (Breathitt County). I'm in somewhat of the infancy in my luremaking right now as well, but have learned a TON of great stuff off of this forum, which has made the learning curve much sharper. My dad was a carpenter and still builds some furniture, so I guess working with wood is in my blood. My great-grandfather started our family's construction company, but it will end with my dad, as I chose to pursue another profession. Anyway, I am sure we have fished much of the same water. Best of luck to you in your pursuit, it's quite an addiction, but is also very rewarding, and it appears you have already reaped the benefits from making something with your hands for others (although sometimes the ones you make for yourself bring you as much or more satisfaction). I won't have a lot of answers, but feel free to message me and I will help you in any way I can. I will go ahead and say ask anybody darn near anything on here and you will get a prompt and helpful response. I wish I could help you with lumber sourcing, but I am currently buying balsa and basswood from Hobby Lobby myself.

Wow, this is great. You guys have certainly gotten my wheels turning, so to speak. Unfortunately, the little hampster on the wheel in my brain is fairly lazy, lol. Anyway, this thread has gotten me to thinking...would there be anything wrong with doing a sort of hybrid thru-wire, where the back hook hanger and belly hook hanger were made from a contiguous piece of wire, and then the line tie and the lip could be inserted separately into the bait (drilling a hole for the line tie wire to go into the body of the lure, of course). Would this be a waste of time/enerygy or would it add the desired structural rigidity to the bait that one would desire when dealing with balsa? In the drawing below, which is rather crude and in no way based on any lure design I have, the red lines would indicate the wire, the blue line is the bill, and the green box is the ballast. One can easily see that the wire for the lip is not in any way connected to the other thru-wire. Does this make sense or does anyone else do it this way? Would this just be adding extra work that would show no benefits? Thanks again for taking the time to help me with this. You guys are great, and given the amount of support and participation I have received on this thread, I will definitely be participating more in the forums.

Good stuff guys! This thread has lead me to believe that I should explore some other avenues rather than the traditional thru-wire harness. I really like the idea of the twisted wire hangers being added in indentions in the inside of the lure. This makes total sense to me and will probably be how I go about making the next few lures.

Thanks so much for the replies to everyone. So I think I am getting the idea now. Basically, I believe the consensus is to form the line tie first in the lip, then form the rest of the thru-wire harness for the body of the bait. Place ballast, harness, and lip in the bait and glue it all together at once. Did I miss anything?

Thanks for the help so far guys, it is appreciated. Griffond - I typically glue two halves together for the thru-wire harness. But, I am intrigued by the simplicity of doing it the way you stated. Perhaps I wasn't really clear about what I was asking, and it may take me a couple of tries to get it out, but my question is regarding using the thru-wire when using two halfs glued together. I guess I am asking what order to start glueing things. For instance, once I have drilled the hole in the bill (I use Lexan currently, but will certainly be looking into micarta), do I form the line tie first or wait until last after I have formed the rest of the harness? Should the lip be glued in when I am glueing the two halves together after placing the harness and ballast in the lure? Hopefully these questions illustrate what I am seeking. I just am not sure of the order to do things in. I know that everyone has their own methods, and I am certainly willing to listen to anyone, as most of you have vastly more experience than me. Who knows, maybe someone with experience may learn another way of doing this that is better than the way they currently do it. For instance, here is a flat-sided test crankbait I made from balsa, being two halves joined together with ballast (well, most of it, hence the lead tape to try to see how much more I needed) and the line tie in the nose of the lure. I feel like I can do this fairly well, but I can't figure out how I would do this with the line tie in the bill. Thanks again to you all for your patience, and for helping a rookie learn the ropes.

Hey guys, I visit this site daily but haven't contributed much to the conversations due to my limited experience. That being said, fall is here and winter is approaching, which means I am about to head to the shop and continue to learn to build crankbaits (typically balsa). So, I have searched the forums and read for countless hours, and maybe I am just too dense to realize the answer is in front of me, but I can't for the life of me figure out how assemble a crankbait with the line tie placed in the diving bill of a crankbait using thru-wire construction. Now, I have studied the forums and I understand how thru-wire construction is done, and I have made quite a few balsa crankbaits using thru-wire that have been great fish-catching baits for me (thanks to all of you, of course!). However, the lures I have been making have all had the line tie above the bill, not placed on the bill. So I guess to make a long question short, how are you assembling the crankbait with the tie in the bill using thru-wire construction? When do you glue the bill in? Before or after you have completed the thru-wire harness and ballast in the lure? I am sure this comes easy to come of you, and I typically consider myself a pretty bright guy, but this is baffling me. Thanks for your time reading the post and for any insight you guys can give me. The wealth of knowledge on here, and the willingness to help total strangers, is fantastic. I can't thank you all enough for sharpening the learning curve for the rest of us.

I typically try to buy my balsa at half of the final thickness of the lure. For example, if I am making a lure who's final thickness will be 1/2", i try to find balsa that is 1/4" thick. This is assuming I am going to be doing a thru-wire construction, of course. I just find it easier than buying a piece 1/2" thick and having to split it. I cut out two rectangular pieces and then "tack" them together with some of the 3M mounting spray that is like the sticky part of a Post-It Note, draw my outline, cut out the shape, and begin from there. It is easy to split the two pieces apart when it is time to thru-wire, and you don't have to worry about measuring the half-thickness line around the bait. Hope this helps, its just my 2 cents.