Guys sorry im late to the party i was fishing the past couple days.
Backing up in this thread, I use a rotozip with a 1/2" ball rasp to carve the mouth on my top water popper. It makes short work of a round concave indention in a piece of wood.
I bought a hand held belt sander from a garage sale several years ago. I flip it upside down and clamp it in my bench vice. It makes a very efficient sanding station. And it packs away when not in use.
I'm a park ranger and keep the extras in my work truck. I give my extras to kids and or regulars of the park I work at. It gives me an excuse to talk fishing at work a lot.
I made my first Crankbait from a scrap of treated 2x4 I found on a construction site. I used regular screw in eyes from a hardware store for hook hangers and thumb tacks for eyes. It was ugly and didn't work. That was 20 yrs ago. I've gotten a little better since then.
Apparently Janns Netcraft was confused they originally told me that they would be out of stock of the square bill circut board lips until december. I just checked the site and they are showing in stock. I ordered some. i will let you know if they delay shipment.
Matt