northrivergeek Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I made a OAk crank today at work .. not enuff to do .. found a piece of oak pallet.. and drew out a pattern, and stuck in the band saw .. that looked good .. so I threw it on the belt and disk sander .. pretty quickly had about a 4 Inch long and 1 inch wide oak crankbait lol ... looks great not sure how will react in the water .. hoping it is a slow sinking / rising bait for deeper bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coy B Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 i hand carve wood bait both cranks and topwater out of oak all the time. They fish fine for me. I like them a little better than balsi because you do not need to put a resin on the wood before you paint it. P.S. Nice bait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snax Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 All my 2008 Swimbaits are made from oak and I chose it for its toughness and also because it requires less lead weighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Oak's action in water is subdued compared to other woods. I've made cranks from it and they require a bit more rod action , but the upside is that when you pause the bait will tend to suspend nicely. I wouldn't like it for all types of baits, but it has its place, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 I find oak harder to carve. Are you sure the pallet was made out of oak? Most of the pallets I've seen in the last few years are from imported hardwood. That's not to say that it's bad wood for lures, just not oak, at least in the ones I've seen. There are some Malaysian hardwoods that are imported for decking that are almost like teak. They have a very even grain, are full of oil and are very heavy, so they almost don't float, and are hard to tool. We have to predrill them in order to screw them in place. But they wear like iron, and hold up great outdoors. Now that you mention it, they'd probably make great suspending, or slow sink, baits, just by adding hooks and coating them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR KNOW IT ALL KIND OF Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 MORE POWER TO YOU BROTHER!!! I remember Dad building a Barn out of Oak!!! Try hammerin a nail in that stuff!!! Your right its TUFF!! The Rookie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northrivergeek Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 I find oak harder to carve. Are you sure the pallet was made out of oak? Most of the pallets I've seen in the last few years are from imported hardwood. That's not to say that it's bad wood for lures, just not oak, at least in the ones I've seen. There are some Malaysian hardwoods that are imported for decking that are almost like teak. They have a very even grain, are full of oil and are very heavy, so they almost don't float, and are hard to tool. We have to predrill them in order to screw them in place. But they wear like iron, and hold up great outdoors. Now that you mention it, they'd probably make great suspending, or slow sink, baits, just by adding hooks and coating them. Yes its red oak, I know my woods, was in antique restoration business for years. Most of the pallets we get are ruff cut pine some are mixture of pine and oak. some of them are just very old pallets. We get very heavy transformers and other heavy copper pieces ( We make resistance welders ) shipped in and out so most wood wont hold up to the weight of this kind of stuff with out being oak.. Im familiar with the stuff your talking about and I wouldn't use that stuff to build a outhouse even ... its terrible junk wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 we tried oak. its durable wood. it does not accept water. it cracks and is hard to tool.. lures immersed as cranks running miles being trolled it tends to create paint adhesion problems. just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Well, that's a good carving job for it being red oak. I guess I'm just too lazy to work that hard. What are you going to seal it with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northrivergeek Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Here is the finished lure minus hooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike-A-Pike Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 The entire project looks like it went very well and turned out great! Just add hooks and water; and your fishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northrivergeek Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Put hooks on it and went down to the lake after the Thunderstorms, lightning and hail , we had all day finally at about 4pm the sun started to peek out. Of course it weighs a ton ( about 2oz ) casts a mile .. has good action , and it suspends I cast it out from sure in about 12 feet water .. easily dredged the bottom, I'll have to get out in the boat to see what it really will do as far as depth. But for just messing around ended up being a success! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...