T-Bone Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hi-- I have some Fir that I would like to use for topwaters. Anyone have any experience using this. It seems to turn ok on the lathe . Thanks for any info you can share. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 The first punker type gliders I made were from Douglas Fir, because I had a bunch of kd fir left over from a job. The good news is it's strong, works well, and needs less weight for balast. The bad news is it's heavy enough that I couldn't make a taller profile bait with it rolling, unless I put so much weight in the belly that it almost sank. I would say try it, and see if you lure design works with it. If it does, great. It works great for big striper pencil poppers and low profile surface gliders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Thanks Mark. I was going to attempt to make a prop bait or two with the fir. We'll see how things go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Sounds good. Let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesehead Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I am under the impression that fur is hard to care for and does not stand up to submersion very well. That being said there are many lures made from fir that are many years old and still in top working order. I myself would have no reservations about using fir for lure building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I've had no problems with the lures I made from fir so far. I did seal them first with polyacrylic, before I painted them, and then top coated them with Etex, so they're pretty protected from the water. And they are punker type one piece lures, floaters, not jointed lures. I used the fir because it was a strong, relatively easy wood to work with that I had a lot of, and it was kiln dried, so I knew there would be no residual moisture problems. I've since moved on to first pine, and now poplar. I will stick to those two woods in the future, because they are both lighter and easier to work than fir, and yet they're strong enough to hold hinges and hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted March 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I have sealed it with thinned Etex and will probably paint this weekend. I'll keep you informed, thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrothead127 Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 T-Bone, I have used fir and spruce for topwaters with great success. I seal all my lures before painting, and seal with 3 coats of sealer after painting. I have had no problems at all with waterlogging or anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted April 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2008 So far so good, I made one prop bait from the Fir and it functions well, and seems like it could take a lickin, hopefully we'll find out in about 3 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
