UKandy

As dave said above, use weight for the microballoons, also I found with my glides that there really is no fast way to perfection you just have to keep testing all elements until you reach something you're happy with, the biggest thing that caused my glides to either work or not was weight placements & a level sink rate Andy.

Hi all, back after a long lay off & looking to start getting back into my lure making, firstly I hope you're all well Okay so I'm after a little information on the different types of woods you all use for different styles of baits, why do you choose a certain type of wood for let's say a glide bait & another type for a crank bait? What are the important factors in making your decision? I'm looking at making some top water baits, some glide/swim baits & some crank baits, so I'm hoping you guys can give me a heads up on the best woods too choose from for each application? These baits will be 5" upwards mainly for pike. I remember seeing a chat that someone had created for lure builders which stated all the popular wood densities against water, which was helpful, unfortunately due to a major computer failure I have lost nearly all of my lure documentation if anyone knows of that chart i have mentioned and can send me a copy it would be much appreciated. Thanks guys, I look forward to your input Andy.

Hi, have you definitely got your centre line on point & is the weight you're adding dead centre? This would be my first point too check if the bait is leaning over to one side. There are so many differing variations in lure design, be it, store, hobby, custom or hand made that too pin point why you can't always match them for action & weight would be a nightmare, if you think about it, store lures can be made from a completely different wood or material, such as plastic, some can be hollowed out have rattle chambers in them etc, different top coat weights, paints, ballasts the list goes on! I would suggest making something you're happy with yourself, do your own thing and learn along the way, ask lots of questions on here & the guys will help out & trust me they know their stuff! I was in a similar position too you a few years back and as most suggest you just have to try stuff out, if you do want to get as near to store bought lures as possible then maybe resin molds may be an option for you. Andy.

Nice going, good job Andy.

Thank you I will have a look through the links Andy.

Amazing! How do you guys think of these things Andy.

Thanks for the video link, wow that is one heck of a setup right there & inspiring, is there still a place in the market were custom/handmade lure makers can make a living/good profit? The video made me question that aswell Andy.

Thank you for the info provided, I have also been looking down the 3d printing route & resin printing, I'm just not sure what too do with all the choices involved, if I could sell a few baits it would make more sense that's for sure! Andy.

Hi Pete, sorry for my late thanks on this, I've been out of action for a good while now! That was very interesting, I would think it can be modified on to a smaller machine also, will have a think. Andy.

That's a good idea, I like that, so basically make 2 identical half's of a lure and then glue together after insering a through wire etc, makes sense and definitely worth a look into! Andy.

Agree with what you are saying, good points you have made, the link that you shared was interesting, I've never seen that type of machine before, baffles me how it even works! Some more learning is needed I need to swat up on things. Andy.

Some really good points, thank you for sharing, the wood filament sounds very interesting. Andy.

Hi dave, thanks for your input my friend, I have been more and more interested in the 3D printing side of things, as always though I don't want to make an expensive mistake, I will have too take a look into CAD design and see how I go with that, I've worked on a whole lot of computer softwares during my career so hopefully I could pick it up at a basic level okay. The point you made regarding the different types of plastics has got me head scratching though! Would definitely need to do some research as I would have no idea where to start regarding materials. Many thanks Andy.

Hi all, I was speaking to a guy yesterday about making lures & he asked if I'd thought about using a 3d printer for making them, I said that for now I would like to stay down the resin/wood master route at present as I am still very much learning that side of things at the moment. He then asked if there is a desktop lathe/router that would basically do the same idea as the 3d printer but by carving wood spindle blanks, to be fair I was unsure of this, but assume it would be an expensive machine to buy & some kind of cad programme would be needed to run it? Interested to know if you guys know of any options about this, at least I will have that knowledge then Many thanks Andy.

Sorry for my late reply! Thank you for the information you have supplied it's really appreciated, all good advice & I like the ideas you have suggested trying out, as soon as I have time I will get back to the lure blanks & do more testing. On my next batch of testing I will add some pictures from start to finish so everyone has a better visual of the testing stages! Many thanks again for your help, Andy.