Musky Crankbait Question

[out2llunge]

I do something very similar Pete with some deep diving models that I make. It appears that a wise man once said something like:

Make a JIG for every aspect of lure making you can (that goes for wire harness, furniture, wood turning, toys etc), it initially takes a lot of time to make some jig

[RiverMan]

Hey that is great!

jed v.

[out2llunge]

Jed, for the larger baits that we make you might want to have a face parallel (on the jig) to the surface that the lure blank is resting on in the above pic. That way you could put a large spring clamp across the blank and the second parallel face to avoid having the blank move on you while cutting. Could prove especially useful if you're using hardwood blanks. A spring clamp would go on and off really quickly while changing blanks.

[hazmail]

'Out2llunge- there is another picture here , shows different blank/ jig and different angle.

http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10686

The blank is 'Kauri Pine' - it's a ancient native pine , grows in Queensland. Pete

[MadisonWI]

Hey Guys,

It looks like a lot of the large trolling baits have a double wire for a line tie which is secured in the bait. How is the wire secured to the lip itself? It almost looks like the wire is molded into the lip. Or maybe it is just epoxied.

Thanks

[RiverMan]

Pete (Hazmail), that is a really cool tutorial.......you are truly a woodworker. Thanks for sharing that with all of us.

Jed V.

[fatfingers]

I do something similar to what Pete does...I clamp the bait to the "pusher" thing and just push it over the blade:

As to the lip question, any lip template can easily be resized with a simple photo program, which is what I do. You could literally make a lip ten inches long if you wanted to. Once you have a set of templates, simply pick the lip you want and resize it if necessary. Print a copy of the lip first, cut it out with scissors and hold it in the lip slot to determine if you think it should be larger or smaller. For anyone without a set of lip templates, I'll post a link for you later.

Also, not to contradict out2lunge, but I have never used stainless steel screws to secure the musky lip to the baits and I've never had one fail in any way. If the lip is properly epoxied to the bait with Devcon 2 ton epoxy, the lip is inextricable from the bait...the wood will splinter and separate before that lip will ever come off the bait.

The lip should be thoroughly scored with a couple of holes drilled in the scored area. The scoring (as shown below) creates a surface which will chemically bond to the epoxy and the holes create a "post" which passes through the lip and is secured to the lip slot on the top and bottom of the slot. It is an extremely strong bond. I've handed older baits to my buddy who is a moose and asked him to see if he could tear the lip from the bait by twisting it, wiggling it, any way he could. The wood on the bait will break before that lip will come out. Stainless steel screws could help, but like through-wiring hardwoods, its probably overkill, in my opinion.

First make the lip template from paper and use rubber cement to glue it to the polycarbonate:

Next cut it out of the polycarbonate with a bandsaw. You could also use a coping saw. Just "rough cut" it, it doesn't need to be perfect because you'll be shaping later (read on):

Next, fire up the belt sander and sand the edge right up against the lines on your paper template:

Finally, place the lip in the lip slot and score a line around the lip where the bait touches the lip. Then score the area which will be inserted into the lip and drill a couple holes to form an epoxy "post".

Smear some epoxy down inside the lip slot and carefully apply some epoxy to the scored area of the lip. Make sure you fill the holes you drilled in the scored area with epoxy also.

In the photo above you can see the lines I scribed around the lip after inserting it in the bait temporarily. I then remove it and score it thoroughly before gluing it into the bait as described above.

That area inside the lines, can be roughed up or "scored" with a rotary tool, or a sharp knife. I use a rotary tool with a sandstone inserted.

[hazmail]

Vince - Looks great, I think will use this (lip templates idea) on the new 'Six Inchers" I am planning to make, I don't think I could be bothered making another jig for just a few lips. Thanks mate . pete

[hazmail]

Thanks riverman- I should have mentioned in this tutorial - If you do not have a small router bit, a saw cut (3mm wide x 1.5 deep) will do just about as good a job for the wire slot. This is a standard tungsten saw blade width. pete

[fatfingers]

Here's some templates, Pete:

http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/download/making_crankbait_lips.pdf

[out2llunge]

FF, the baits we're making are meant for very large muskies and that's why the use of the SS screws. Agreed, probably overkill, but I don't think one can over engineer a bait made for muskies of WR proportions.

[MadisonWI]

Hey Guys,

It looks like a lot of the large trolling baits have a double wire for a line tie which is secured in the bait. How is the wire secured to the lip itself? It almost looks like the wire is molded into the lip. Or maybe it is just epoxied.

Thanks

[out2llunge]

Those double line ties usually just pass through a slot in the lip. The slot is marginally larger than the wire hoop passing through it. Usually no epoxy, just a continuous piece of wire through the lip and body.

[MadisonWI]

Thanks for the response. If am using Screw eyes for the line tie is it possible to just drill out a hole in the body and epoxy the wires in the drill hole? This way I can use the screw eyes for convinience but also have the lip and line tie very secure?

Thanks

[out2llunge]

One slight mod to the way those lips are cut that I do is to carefully cut the template such that the straight edge of the lip (the edge that goes inside the bait) is accurately aligned on the edge of the poly before gluing down. That way, that edge needs no further cutting or sanding provided your band saw skills are half decent.

[MadisonWI]

Sorry,

I didn't mean to say line tie in my last post. I meant to say hook hangers. My line tie will be the wire in the lip itself but if I am not goign to use the thru wire as the hook hangers can i just epoxy the wire 1/4 of the way into the bait in a drilled out hole?

Thanks